The 2016 Coca-Cola 600, the 57th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on May 29, 2016, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 400 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.42 km) asphalt speedway, it was the thirteenth race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The race had nine lead changes among four different drivers and four cautions for 19 laps.
Report
Background
The race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is located in Concord, North Carolina. The speedway complex includes a quad-oval track.
Entry list The initial entry list for the race was released on May 23, 2016, at 8:54 am ET with forty cars.
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 RacingChevrolet32Jeffrey Earnhardt (R)Go FAS RacingFord34Chris Buescher (R)Front 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 MotorsportsChevrolet55Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevrolet Official entry list
Practice
First practice Kurt Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.002 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.002 192.843 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.235 191.252 3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.266 191.042 Official first practice results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Kurt Busch continued to be quickest into the second practice session with a time of 28.272 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime141Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.272191.002248Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.329190.617378Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota28.412190.061Official second practice results
Final practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.972 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime178Martin Truex, Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota28.972186.387241Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet29.074185.733348Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.126185.401Official final practice results
Qualifying
Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.077 and a speed of . He said after qualifying that he "liked what I felt last year and I’ve been thinking about this race a lot since then. We had a really good car that day and thought we were going to go to victory lane and got beat on fuel mileage. Just excited for all my guys and for Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats, Furniture Row, Denver Mattress and everybody that works so hard on this deal – Toyota Racing, TRD – just awesome race cars. We had to work hard today, we were not that good in practice and made a lot of changes throughout this qualifying session. Hats off to my guys for some really good work and lucky to be with this group for sure.”
Joey Logano, who qualified second, said he "got a little bit tight landing in (Turn) 1 and then a little bit free off (the corner). It wasn't much. And then (Turns) 3 and 4, I actually thought was a pretty good corner. So I would say most of it was down in 1 and 2 – probably at landing and through the center is where I lost most of my momentum. It's not much. Half-a-tenth of a second doesn't take long."
“Being in the top four in every session there was really big for us,” Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said after qualifying third. “We’ve been fast at times in qualifying, but never put every round together and stayed that consistent, so I’m really proud of the team for the adjustments that they made throughout the qualifying session there. We just missed it a little bit, but we know where to go work on it to get it better. Now our job is to get it better on Saturday for a long 600 miles and make sure that we’ve got some adjustability in it.”
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 178Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota28.38328.22928.077 222Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord28.22428.15928.124 317Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord28.30628.18528.209 411Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.47028.29428.215 52Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord28.34528.22228.277 616Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord28.33328.18028.346 748Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.42228.27428.379 84Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.37628.24028.381 919Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.47328.37828.443 106Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord28.54628.28028.483 1127Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.38228.28528.547 1224Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.35528.39228.729 1341Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.24528.404 1431Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.47528.432 1547A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet28.54128.443 1618Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.32528.448 1713Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet28.43628.448 1821Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord28.23828.450 1910Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.55628.492 2043Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord28.32628.530 2114Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.50428.543 2234Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord28.58128.621 231Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet28.58128.646 2442Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet28.53528.734 2588Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.594 2615Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet28.623 2720Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.642 283Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.645 295Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.666 3044Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord28.721 317Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet28.803 3295Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet28.836 3338Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord28.846 3483Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota28.884 3523David RaganBK RacingToyota28.911 3698Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevrolet29.097 3730Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet29.479 3846Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet29.494 3932Jeffrey Earnhardt (R)Go FAS RacingFord29.881 4055Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet30.095 Official qualifying results
Race
First half
Start Under cloudy North Carolina skies, Martin Truex Jr. led the field to the green flag at 6:12 p.m. The first caution of the race flew on lap 26. This was a scheduled competition caution due to overnight rain. Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott were tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.
The race restarted at lap 31. Truex hit pit road on lap 78 and handed the lead to Jimmie Johnson. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back to Truex.
Second quarter The second caution of the race flew on lap 114 for a single-car spin in turn 2. Rounding the turn, Brian Scott got loose and spun down the track.
The race restarted on lap 121. David Ragan was tagged for a restart violation and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Truex pitted from the lead on lap 165 and handed the lead to Johnson. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Joey Logano, who pitted the following lap as well, with the lead cycling back to Truex. Ragan was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty.
Second half
Halfway Reed Sorenson retired from the race due to clutch issues and finished 40th. The third caution of the race flew on lap 204 for a single-car wreck in turn 4. Rounding the turn, Jeffrey Earnhardt got loose and slammed the wall.
The race restarted on lap 210. During the green flag cycle of stops on lap 266, Logano was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Logano said after the race that his team, and others, are "trying to make pit stops so fast and you’re gonna push everything to the edge. I guess we jumped off the wall a little bit too soon. I haven’t seen it, but unfortunately, that kind of made us make a green flag pit stop, which is really hard to overcome. Overall, we were able to get our lap back by racing up there, which was kind of cool. We didn’t have to take a lucky dog or any of that. We actually raced back to the lead lap, but we lost the balance a little bit on the last run and I couldn’t make much time once we got going."
Truex pitted on lap 299 and handed the lead to Paul Menard. He pitted on lap 302 and the lead cycled back to Truex. Carl Edwards was tagged for speeding and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. He was tagged for speeding again while serving the penalty and was forced to serve a stop and go penalty.
Fourth quarter With 85 laps to go, Truex began running into lapped traffic. This allowed Johnson to pull up to within three-tenths of a second of him. He was unable to get past Truex and lost second to Kevin Harvick. Debris on the backstretch brought out the fourth caution of the race with 61 laps to go, within the fuel window allowing the entire field to reach the scheduled distance on one more full tank of fuel. In the ensuing caution, Aric Almirola was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.
The race restarted with 56 laps to go. Johnson briefly took the lead from Truex after the restart, but Truex quickly reclaimed the lead and then led the remainder of the race, ultimately leading a race-record 392 of the 400 laps en route to the victory. At 3 hours, 44 minutes, and 8 seconds, with an average speed of , it set an all-time record for the fastest 600 mile race.
Post-race
Driver comments Truex said afterwards that he was "proud of my team, everybody that made this possible, that believed in me, gave me this opportunity. Cole Pearn (crew chief), Jazzy (team engineer Jeff Curtis), my guys are something special. I want to thank all of them. This is a big day. Got the troops on the cars, this is a special weekend. It’s really neat to bring that name home to Victory Lane. Just a lot of emotion right now. Not really sure it’s sunk in yet. Just an amazing day, an amazing weekend for all of us. It’s a weekend you dream about."