2016 Quaker State 400

2016 Quaker State 400
Race details
Race 18 of 36 in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date July 9, 2016 (2016-07-09)
Location Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (640.8 km)
Average speed 128.580 mph (206.929 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Stewart-Haas Racing
Time No time trials; set by owners' points
Most laps led
Driver Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps 128
Winner
No. 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network NBCSN
Announcers Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Nielsen Ratings 1.8/3 (Overnight)
1.9/3 (Final)
3.2 million viewers
Radio in the United States
Radio PRN
Booth Announcers Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini
Turn Announcers Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2016 Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on July 9, 2016, at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 18th race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The race had 16 lead changes among 9 different drivers and eleven cautions for 53 laps.

Report

Background

Layout of Kentucky Speedway

The sixth running of the Quaker State 400 was held in Sparta, Kentucky at Kentucky Speedway on July 9, 2016. The track is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) tri-oval speedway owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Kentucky Speedway, which has also hosted the ARCA Racing Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the Indy Racing League, has a grandstand seating capacity of 107,000.

Aero package

During Coca-Cola 600 race weekend, NASCAR announced they would test changes to the aero package at Michigan and Kentucky. In addition to the aero changes used in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, there will be a reduction in spoiler size from 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) to 2.5 inches (6.4 cm), a two-inch (5.1 cm) reduction of the splitter and resizing the deck fin.

NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said that NASCAR looks "at it as a never-ending journey; if we can improve we're going to do that. We wanted to go the direction of low downforce, see how that worked, not kind of go all the way in and hope that we are directionally right. And we are seeing that play out. We've seen some great racing at the beginning of the year. But we also knew that we had some more levers that we could pull if the direction kind of proved out, so we've tried some of those things. We've tested it and what we've also wanted to do is lower some of the corner speeds to allow for even more passing. That was one of the areas where we've seen minimal change, but there are some levers we can pull to really drive that down."

Track changes

The track was completely repaved during the first half of the Sprint Cup Series season, turns 1 and 2 were narrowed from 76 ft (23 m) to 56 ft (17 m) and the banking was raised from 14 to 17 degrees.

Entry list

The preliminary entry list for the race included forty cars and was released on July 1, 2016, at 3:17 pm ET.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota
24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford
34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford
38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford
41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota
83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Ty Dillon (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet
98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

First practice

Carl Edwards was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.962 and a speed of 186.451 mph (300.064 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.962 186.451
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.004 186.181
3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 29.155 185.217
Official first practice results

Second practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.680 and a speed of 188.285 mph (303.015 km/h). Jimmie Johnson went to his backup car after slamming the wall exiting turn 4 early in the session.

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.680 188.285
2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.705 188.121
3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.710 188.088
Official second practice results

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole position after qualifying was rained out.

Starting lineup

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
5 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota
8 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
11 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
12 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
14 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
15 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford
16 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
17 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
19 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
20 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
22 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
23 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
24 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
25 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
26 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
28 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet
29 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford
30 95 Ty Dillon (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet
31 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota
32 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
33 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
34 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford
35 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota
36 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet
38 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford
39 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
40 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
Official starting lineup

Practice (post qualifying)

Third practice

Carl Edwards was the fastest in third practice with a time of 28.627 and a speed of 188.633 mph (303.575 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.627 188.633
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.758 187.774
3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.802 187.487
Official third practice results

Final practice

Carl Edwards was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.808 and a speed of 187.448 mph (301.668 km/h). Kurt Busch dropped to the rear of the field after switching to his backup car because of a wreck in the closing minutes of final practice.

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.808 187.448
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.950 186.528
3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.972 186.387
Official final practice results

Race

First half

Start

Under clear evening Kentucky skies, Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 7:50. After making contact with the wall in turn 4 the prior lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. cut a tire, slammed the wall and brought out the first caution of the race on lap 11. He went on to finish 40th.

The race restarted on lap 15. A scheduled competition caution brought out the second caution of the race on lap 26. Kurt Busch opted not to pit and assumed the lead.

The race restarted on lap 32. The third caution of the race flew the same lap for a single-car wreck on the frontstretch. Exiting turn 4, Jimmie Johnson made contact with Ryan Blaney and sent himself spinning into the wall.

The race restarted on lap 37. Harvick passed his teammate exiting turn 2 to retake the lead on lap 38. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 54 after Joey Logano suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in turn 3. He said afterwards that he "got loose off of four and knocked the right-rear quarter off it and then got real loose. When you get loose you have to slow down more and you use a lot of brake to slow down. Usually, the next thing to go is the right-front tire and that happened. Unfortunately, I put us in a bad spot here. It's not where we want to be and we'll figure out next week." Brad Keselowski opted not to pit and assumed the lead.

Second quarter

Brad Keselowski won the race.

The race restarted on lap 60. Martin Truex Jr. out-raced Keselowski to the line to take the lead on lap 63. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 80 for Matt DiBenedetto after his car slammed the wall in turn 3. David Ragan opted not to pit and assumed the lead. He eventually pitted and handed the lead back to Harvick.

The race restarted on lap 88 and a two-car wreck in turn 3 involving Blaney and Chase Elliott brought out the sixth caution of the race. Blaney said that the "restart was pretty hectic from the beginning with the 78 getting loose and it kind of put everybody in a bad spot, and it wound up with us being in the middle of three-wide into three. It's so hard to get into that corner all night with a car close to behind you and outside of you, and no one lifting either, and it's just an unfortunate spot we got put in and I hate to see two really good cars tore up. We were both very fast tonight (24 and 21) and it's just a really unfortunate deal, but we'll try to get it fixed and get back out there and make some laps."

The race restarted on lap 92. A multi-car wreck on the backstretch brought out the seventh caution of the race on lap 94. Exiting turn 2, Brian Scott got loose, saved the car, got turned by Kyle Larson and got t-boned by Chris Buescher. A. J. Allmendinger, Buescher, Ty Dillon, Larson, Danica Patrick, Regan Smith, Scott and Cole Whitt were all collected in the melee.

The race restarted on lap 103. A number of cars began hitting pit road on lap 142. Harvick hit pit road on lap 147 and handed the lead to Austin Dillon. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Danica Patrick. She pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Truex just as the eighth caution of the race flew for Regan Smith who suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in turn 3.

Second half

Halfway

The race restarted with 110 laps to go. The ninth caution of the race flew with 108 laps to go for a single-car spin in turn 3 involving Clint Bowyer.

The race restarted with 102 laps to go. The 10th caution of the race flew with 96 laps to go for a single-car wreck on the frontstretch involving A. J. Allmendinger.

The race restarted with 91 laps to go. Harvick passed Truex in turn 3 to retake the lead with 90 laps to go. The 11th caution of the race flew with 74 laps to go after Landon Cassill slammed the wall in turn 2. Truex was forced to serve a pass-through penalty for passing Harvick on entry to pit road. He said after the race that he "did the same thing guys do every week. You get to your timing line, you step on the gas and you head straight towards your pit. So obviously I turned left and came up next to [Harvick] as I did it, as I was driving to my pit which guys do every week. I don't know why it was different today. I would think that if they didn't want us to do that any more they'd tell us in the driver meeting. But hell, it's every week. I've been passed on pit road 15 times this year the same exact way. I didn't see it get penalized. I guess when you're doing it for a win it's different circumstances or something." "Everybody does it," a visibly disappointed Truex added on pit road. "I've had people pass me the same way at Bristol and Martinsville. They'll drive right by you through the pit. Everybody does it, so I don't know why all of a sudden they're making an example out of me. It's frustrating when you don't win. I feel like I've had a lot not go the right way the last couple years, especially. It is what it is. We'll move on."

Fourth quarter

The race restarted with 68 laps to go. Keselowski took the lead with 67 laps to go. In the final 10 laps, a number of cars began pitting so to have enough fuel to make the finish. Kenseth briefly took the lead from Keselowski before he pitted with four laps to go and handed the lead back to Keselowski. Keselowski decreased his speed dramatically to conserve fuel. This allowed Carl Edwards to pull to within a car-length with one lap remaining. He blocked Edwards's advance as he re-fired his engine and drove on to score the victory.

Post-race

Driver comments

Keselowski said in victory lane that he felt "terrible that I couldn't do a burnout for the fans. I didn't have enough gas," Keselowski said after going the final 71 laps on fuel. Yeah, this is our best stretch and I'm really, really proud of that. We've got to keep it going through the fall, that's really important, but this is great. I'm just so proud of my guys. I feel terrible for the fans because I didn't get to do a burnout. I didn't have any gas. The car wouldn't run, but we're back here in Victory Lane and what a great Saturday night."

After a runner-up finish, Edwards said he "thought I had him, too. He played it perfectly and he did it – he won at the absolute slowest possible speed he could. I thought he was out of fuel and that was that. I just appreciate the crowd coming out here, it's always neat to come to Kentucky. It's the site of my first win 13 years ago and it's a special place…That's a tough one to be that close. We were getting such good fuel mileage with our TRD (Toyota Racing Development) engine, I think we might have had a little extra there. That's going to be the hard part, going to bed knowing you could have gone a little faster." He added that he thought Keselowski "was out of fuel, and he wasn't. He played it perfectly. He let me get to him and then stood on it. We had a shot at it, we just weren't able to do it. Saved a little too much."

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 267 44
2 5 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 39
3 14 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 38
4 3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 38
5 22 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 36
6 23 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 35
7 16 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 34
8 11 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 34
9 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 267 34
10 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 267 32
11 17 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 30
12 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 29
13 13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 28
14 18 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 27
15 10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 26
16 12 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 26
17 27 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 266 25
18 24 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 266 23
19 20 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 266 22
20 26 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 266 21
21 36 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 266 20
22 31 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 265 20
23 25 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 265 18
24 40 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 264 17
25 30 95 Ty Dillon (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 264 0
26 37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 264 15
27 39 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 262 14
28 38 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 262 13
29 29 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 261 12
30 28 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 246 11
31 8 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 210 10
32 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 208 9
33 32 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 151 8
34 33 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 150 7
35 15 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 143 6
36 19 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 103 5
37 34 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 92 4
38 35 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 79 3
39 4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 52 2
40 21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 9 1
Official race results

Race summary

  • Lead changes: 16 among 9 drivers
  • Cautions: 11 for 53 laps
  • Red flags: none
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 6 minutes and 55 seconds
  • Average speed: 128.580 miles per hour (206.929 km/h)

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

NBCSN
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen
Color-commentator: Jeff Burton
Color-commentator: Steve Letarte
Dave Burns
Mike Massaro
Marty Snider
Kelli Stavast

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

PRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Doug Rice
Announcer: Mark Garrow
Announcer: Wendy Venturini
Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright
Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson
Brad Gillie
Brett McMillan
Jim Noble
Steve Richards

Standings after the race


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