The 2015 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup got underway on Sunday afternoon with the MyAfibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick started on the pole after qualifying was rained out and the grid being set based on speeds from practice.
The first caution of the day came early as Denny Hamlin and Aric Almirola both spun on just the third lap. Neither car sustained any damage, and after just three laps under caution, Martin Truex Jr. led the field back to green. He would maintain the lead until Lap 46 when Kyle Busch passed him to take over at the front.
Busch then led for 79 laps - the longest stretch of green flag racing NASCAR has seen this season.
Included in the green flag stretch were two green flag pit stop cycles. Carl Edwards had issues on his second stop, as he was forced to stay out an extra lap because his pit stall was blocked. By the time he was able to get to pit road, he essentially ran out of fuel, and when he came back onto the racetrack, he was two laps down.
Kyle Busch led the field to the green at the restart but was passed within the first lap by Harvick. The green flag did not last long, as the caution came out on just the second lap of the run when Austin Dillon blew a tire and hit the wall. The field then went back to green with Harvick leading, but Kyle Busch passed him to retake the lead.
The next caution then came out on Lap 137 when Harvick hit the wall after contact with Jimmie Johnson. The accident sent Harvick to the garage, while Kyle Busch remained in the lead. The green flag returned on Lap 144, and Jeff Gordon got a great restart to pass Busch - although NASCAR did review the restart to see if Gordon restarted too early; after reviewing it, NASCAR decided that the restart was clean, and Gordon kept the lead.
Gordon was the leader when it was time for another round of green flag pit stops, and once it was finished, Carl Edwards had the lead. He maintained the lead until another caution came out on Lap 192 for debris. This caution allowed a lot of the lap down cars to get their lap back via the wave around. When the green flag returned, Kyle Busch took the lead over his brother and was able to maintain the lead for 26 laps before he was passed by his brother, Kurt Busch, who kept his lead until Lap 239 when drivers started making their final round of green flag pit stops.
When he left the pits, he was able to quickly reassume the lead, which he held until a caution came out with just 10 laps to go for debris in Turn 1. That set up a restart with just five laps to go. Denny Hamlin had a fantastic restart, as he took the lead from Kurt Busch coming out of Turn 2. Hamlin was able to hold off a furious charge from Carl Edwards to win the race and clinch his spot in the second round of the chase.
Edwards finished second, with Kurt Busch third. Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five, with Kyle Busch, who led the most laps on the day, finishing in ninth position.
Next week, the series moves to Kentucky for a Saturday night race.
Stevie Larson is a writer for the VAVEL USA NASCAR section. Follow him on Twitter at @littletwinsfan.