Sprint Unlimited 2015 results: Matt Kenseth avoids carnage, scores victory

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Matt Kenseth won a crash-plagued Sprint Unlimited exhibition Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

Never seriously challenged over the final four laps, Kenseth won the annual non-points event for the first time. Martin Truex Jr. finished second, and Carl Edwards was third. Truex made an attempt to pass Kenseth speeding towards the checkered flag, but the two-time Daytona 500 winner never relented.

“This is a great feeling,” Kenseth said. “It’s always fun to win at Daytona for sure -- it’s fun to win anywhere.
“I had a feeling that it was going to be a good week.”

A series of wrecks decimated the 25-driver field, comprised mainly of pole winners and Chase for the Sprint Cup participants from last year. The largest wreck occurred on Lap 46 of 75, when Jamie McMurray broke loose following a tap from Greg Biffle and spun sideways in front of the pack off Turn 4. A total of 14 drivers incurred damage.

Biffle said the culprit for the accident was McMurray’s getting loose, an assessment McMurray disagreed with.

“Well, it was when he had my back tires off the ground. It’s hard to hang onto it,” McMurray said. “He was helping me, and it happened two or three times before; it’s just part of it. When you get a big run like that, you get to the guy and have to start pushing, because if you don’t, you lose all your momentum.”

In the aftermath, McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne were among those knocked out of the race. As Hamlin attempted to cut through the infield grass, the No. 11 caught a dip and briefly took flight.

Biffle was also involved in the scariest accident of the night with seven laps remaining. Tony Stewart bobbled exiting Turn 2, spinning into Biffle and Jeff Gordon. Biffle then spun down, slamming into the inside wall then careening into the path of Kurt Busch, who pounded the No. 16 car.

Fortunately, every driver involved in an incident escaped injury.

The first incident of the night occurred on Lap 23 when Kyle Larson pushed up into Brad Keselowski through the front stretch tri-oval. Keselowski bounced into the wall then spun down towards the infield, sustaining heavy damage.

Keselowski had been one of the strongest cars in the opening segment, passing pole-sitter Paul Menard on Lap 8, and was a consistent presence near the front before deciding to drop back for fear of being caught in a wreck.

“I really need to see a replay to give an honest answer (of what happened),” Keselowski said. “The car is tore up so we are out but it was fast, so that was good.”

The new pit road monitoring with increased enforcement saw the anticipated number of violations. On the first stops of the night, McMurray and Ryan Newman incurred penalties. McMurray’s crew jumped off the pit wall too soon, while Newman drove through more than three pit boxes entering his stall.

During the second round of pits several drivers were penalized. The crews of Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola were determined to have stepped over the wall before their drivers were an appropriate distance away.