The Duck Commander 500 had a very exciting finish in 2014, and many hoped for a similar result this year. Well, they weren’t disappointed. The race began with two Stewart-Hass Racing drivers at the front, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. And both remained at or near the front for most of the race.

As the race progressed two drivers took turns leading, Kevin, and Jimmie Johnson. Both of them have dominated the recent races at 1.5 mile tracks, and both were favorites coming into this race. And they didn’t disappoint. They led over two-thirds of the laps.

The race was not exactly wild, there were no major wrecks or anything like that, but there were a few surprising accidents. Twice late in the race drivers blew tires, and both slammed the wall very hard, but that is not a very uncommon occurrence. However, when the race came to the final fifty laps, things began to get wild.

Late cautions flew, changing strategy again and again. And some times it seemed that Harvick and Johnson might not be able to get to the front. Thing is, if enough drivers stay out on a pit stop, a top running driver who does pit can be mired in heavy traffic while trying to get back to the front.

So when caution fell in the final thirty laps, drivers had some big decisions to make. Almost all of the leaders came to pit road. But several big names, such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Jamie McMurray, stayed on the track. It was a long shot that any of them would when, but hey, it’s a chance.

As the field restarted both Harvick and Johnson had to claw their way through traffic. However, eventually the two of them were running second and third, chasing the 1 car of Jamie McMurray. Kevin got to Jamie first, but while the two of them were struggling for the lead, Jimmie took advantage of their momentary set backs and blew around both of them. Kevin quickly gave chase, and he was followed by a new contender for the win, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Both Harvick and Earnhardt poured every last bit of energy into their cars, and eventually Kevin began to close the gap to Jimmie. Inch by inch Harvick closed, but suddenly came a disaster. Kevin put so much energy into his car that he hit the wall, destroying all of his momentum. This left Johnson with no one capable of stopping him, and he cruised across the finish line first. Kevin and Dale raced side by side down to the stripe, with Kevin beating him by half a car length. What a finish.