2015 MAVTV 500
The 2015 MAVTV 500 IndyCar race was an open-wheel motorsport event held on June 27, 2015, at the 2.000-mile (3.219 km) oval course at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It marked the 11th round of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season and unlike the previous season, was not the championship's final race of the season.
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 11th round of the 2015 IndyCar Series season | |
| Date | June 27, 2015 |
| Official name | MAVTV 500 |
| Location | Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi / 3.219 km |
| Distance | 250 laps 500.000 mi / 804.672 km |
| Weather | 89 °F (32 °C), dry, overcast |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske) |
| Time | 1:05.7679 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Takuma Sato (A. J. Foyt Enterprises) |
| Time | 33.0027 sec. - 218.164 mph (351.101 km/h) (on lap 229 of 250) |
| Podium | |
| First | Graham Rahal (RLL Racing) |
| Second | Tony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Third | Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) |
The race featured an IndyCar Series record 80 lead changes. The race was the first race since the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship to feature pack-style racing, although race-winner Graham Rahal disputed that it should be considered a pack race because the cars were able to run in different lanes. While many observers applauded the race as being the most exciting race in IndyCar history (Jan Wagner of the Del Mar Times called it "one of the best IndyCar races ever"), others questioned the racing as being too dangerous. The race ended with a spectacular airborne crash from Ryan Briscoe, who was uninjured.