The 2016 GEICO 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race scheduled that was held on May 1, 2016, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested over 188 laps on the 2.66 mile (4.28 km) superspeedway, it was the 10th race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski won the race. Kyle Busch finished second. Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five, The race had 37 lead changes among different drivers and ten cautions for 41 laps.
Report
Background
Talladega Superspeedway is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Entering the race, Carl Edwards leads the points with 331, while Kevin Harvick is 7 points back, Jimmie Johnson is 21 points back, Kyle Busch is 29 points back, and Joey Logano is 32 points back.
Entry list The entry list for the GEICO 500 was released on Monday, April 25 at 10:42 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-one cars are entered for the race. Driver Team Manufacturer1Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet2Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord3Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet5Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord7Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet10Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota13Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet14Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet15Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord17Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord18Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota19Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota21Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord22Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord23David RaganBK RacingToyota24Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet31Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Bobby LabonteGo FAS RacingFord34Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord35David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord38Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord41Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet42Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet43Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord44Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord46Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet47A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet55Michael WaltripPremium MotorsportsToyota78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Jamie McMurray was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 47.943 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 47.943 199.737 2 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47.945 199.729 3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 48.022 199.409Official first practice results
Final practice Joey Logano was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 48.785 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 48.785 196.290 2 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 48.798 196.238 3 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48.811 196.185Official final practice results
Qualifying
Chase Elliott scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.704 and a speed of . He said afterwards that like he "said in Daytona, this is all team guys. This had nothing to do with me and they have brought a fast car back. This is our same car that we ran at Daytona. Unfortunately I didn’t bring it home in one piece (at Daytona), they had to fix it, but they did a great job doing that and hopefully we can just try to be smart, try to cut down on some of the dumb mistakes I made in February and try to give ourselves a shot and be there at the end.”
Austin Dillon, who qualified second, talked about how the No. 24 team "has won all the poles the last two years at speedways it seems like. To be that close to him and we know we can get a little better here and there, but that is just the big pick up. I think we qualified 24th here the last race. Huge pick up for us and we are excited for the race.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who qualified third, said he "picked up a little bit. I was just talking with Kasey (Kahne) about our lines and what we did different. We think we saw a little bit out there that makes a difference. We were able to pick up a little bit. It’s hard to move forward in the second round at speedways. Usually what you’ve got in the first round is what you’ve got in the second round, but we jumped a couple of guys and got a better starting spot.”
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 124Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49.76649.70423Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet49.66949.765388Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49.85349.799420Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota49.82449.828548Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49.91849.845617Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord49.77549.85272Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord49.83149.873811Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota49.97949.887919Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota49.98449.9221027Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet49.90749.924115Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49.80249.9301278Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota49.97349.984 136Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord49.988 1414Tony Stewart Stewart Haas RacingChevrolet 50.000 1531Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet50.058 1616Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord50.086 1718Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota50.093 1841Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet50.126 1921Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord50.157 2013Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet50.196 2144Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord50.207 2222Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord50.299 2343Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord50.331 2442Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet50.356 257Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet50.371 2632Bobby LabonteGo FAS RacingFord50.409 2734Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord50.420 2847A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet50.421 294Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet50.453 301Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet50.472 3195Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet50.528 3238Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord50.541 3355Michael WaltripPremium MotorsportsToyota50.583 3415Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet50.660 3583Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota50.664 3698Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsToyota50.677 3710Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet50.679 3846Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet50.807 3935David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord50.810 4023David RaganBK RacingToyota51.035Did not qualify 4130Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet51.573Official qualifying results
Race
First half
Start Under overcast Alabama skies, Chase Elliott led the field to the green flag at 1:04 p.m. By the end of the first lap, most of the field was racing three-wide. Matt Kenseth used the bottom line coming to the line to take the lead on lap 15. By lap 24, he settled on the bottom with teammate Denny Hamlin in tow. Elliott used the middle line to pass Kenseth on the backstretch and retake the lead on lap 29. A number of cars began pitting on lap 36. Elliott hit pit road on lap 38 and handed the lead to Michael Waltrip. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back Kyle Busch. Brian Scott and Landon Cassill were tagged for their crews being over the wall too soon and Trevor Bayne and Casey Mears were tagged for speeding and all were forced to serve pass-through penalties.
Second quarter The first caution of the race flew on lap 49 for a three-car wreck on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got loose, turned up the track and slammed the wall. This also collected Kasey Kahne and Matt DiBenedetto. Earnhardt said afterwards that the car's "splitter was on the ground real bad the whole first run and we took some rounds out of the back and that really made the car too loose off the corner. Same thing we did at Daytona. We’ve just go to look at our adjustments a little bit different.” Waltrip opted not to pit and assumed the lead. Under the caution, Tony Stewart pulled onto pit road to get out and allow Ty Dillon to take over. Stewart said afterwards that the whole situation "sucks, to be honest. I know why we got to do it, but it sucks. It still sucks that you have to do it, but if I hadn’t broke my back at the end of January, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Good news is this is the last time we have to do it, and I am back in next week.”
The race restarted on lap 58. Kenseth used the outside line to retake the lead the next lap. The second caution of the race flew the same lap for a three-car wreck in turn 3. Going down the backstretch, Waltrip was shoved onto the apron. He came back up and side-swiped Mears. Aric Almirola was also caught in the wreck.
The race restarted on lap 63. Brad Keselowski used the outside line to take the lead on lap 73. From lap 83 to lap 90, Keselowski and Hamlin swapped the lead back and forth multiple times. Eventually, Keselowski jumped ahead and started blocking the advances of the three lines of cars. As the field closed in on the halfway point of the race, rain began being reported. The third caution of the race flew on lap 97 for a multi-car wreck on the backstretch. During that wreck, Chris Buescher flipped multiple times, causing the car to land back on all fours. Michael Annett, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Austin Dillon were also involved. Buescher said afterwards that the wreck "was so quick I never had any time to react. We got clipped in the right rear and as soon as it turned it went up on its lid. I thought we were clear of the wreck. I saw it happening in front of us and checked up and the next thing I knew I was upside down. I am pretty sick and tired of speedway racing at this point. It has been a rough year for that. We felt we were decent this race. We were holding our own and waiting but here we are. It is unfortunate. I really hate it for the guys.”
Second half
Halfway The race restarted on lap 103. Kevin Harvick took over the lead on lap 101. Elliott took the lead on lap 104. Harvick took back the lead on lap 108. Trevor Bayne took the race lead on lap 110. The fourth caution of the race flew with 79 laps to go for a multi-car wreck in turn 1, involving Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards after he suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall collecting Earnhardt. Edwards said afterwards that something on his car "just let go there and you hate to collect anybody, so definitely sorry to the 88 guys for getting their car involved in that. We had something torn up there, drove down into turn one, and I just felt the right front fall down and that was it. You’re kind of just along for the ride.” Earnhardt would go on to finish 40th.
The race restarted with 73 laps to go. Harvick beat Bayne to the line to take the lead with 72 laps to go. Bayne worked his way back to the lead on the bottom with 70 laps to go. Harvick retook it with 69 to go. Bayne took back the lead with 65 laps to go. The fifth caution of the race flew with 62 laps to go for a single-car spin in turn 4 involving Kahne.
The race restarted with 55 laps to go. Kyle Larson used the middle line to take the lead with 51 laps to go. Bayne retook it with 49 laps to go. Larson pulled ahead of Bayne the next lap. Kenseth pulled ahead to the lead with 43 laps to go. The sixth caution of the race flew with 35 laps to go after David Ragan blew an engine in turn 2.
Fourth quarter