Topic summary
2015 MAVTV 500
34°05′19″N117°30′00″W / 34.08858°N 117.50000°W
2.000 mi / 3.219 km
500.000 mi / 804.672 km
The 2015 MAVTV 500 was an IndyCar Series motor race held on June 27, 2015, at the Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, California. It was the eleventh round of the 2015 IndyCar Series season and the fourteenth and final Indy car race held at the speedway. The race, which was contested over 250 laps, was won by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal, his first win since 2008. Tony Kanaan, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, finished second, and Marco Andretti finished third driving for Andretti Autosport.
Simon Pagenaud was awarded the pole position by posting the fastest average cumulative speed in qualifying. He was immediately passed for the race lead by his Team Penske teammates, Hélio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya, the former of whom dominated the early portions of the race, leading 43 laps. However, Castroneves was taken out just past the midway point of the race due a crash. Due to the aero package for this race, many drivers, such as Sage Karam, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, and Takuma Sato, would content for the race lead. Will Power soon became the strong contender for the win, leading a race-high 62 laps. However, Power was taken out in a crash with 9 laps to go. Graham Rahal led the final ten laps and held off Kanaan to grab his second IndyCar win. On the final lap, Ryan Briscoe suffered a violent flip, but walked out unhurt.
Six caution flags were issued for 46 laps, and 80 lead changes were recorded, which broke the record for the most lead changes in an IndyCar race. The final result saw Montoya increase his Drivers' Championship lead over teammate Power. Scott Dixon remained in third, and Rahal had passed Castroneves for fourth. Despite Honda's victory, Chevrolet continued enlarging their Manufacturers' Championship lead with five races remaining in the 2015 season.