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 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
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 to , a 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 to 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. 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 MotorsportsChevrolet95Ty Dillon (i)Circle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevroletOfficial 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 .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 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 29.155 185.217Official 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 . Jimmie Johnson went to his backup car after slamming the wall exiting turn 4 early in the session.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 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 28.710 188.088Official second practice results
Practice (post qualifying)
Third practice Carl Edwards was the fastest in third practice with a time of 28.627 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime119Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.627188.633278Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota28.758187.774342Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet28.802187.487Official 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 . 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. PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime119Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.808187.448278Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota28.950186.528342Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet28.972186.387Official final practice results
Qualifying Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole position after qualifying was rained out.
Starting lineup Driver Team Manufacturer 14Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 22Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord 341Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 422Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord 519Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota 618Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota 778Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota 824Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 948Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 1011Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota 1120Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota 123Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 1388Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 1431Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 1521Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord 161Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet 176Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord 185Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 1947A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet 2042Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet 2117Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord 2214Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 2316Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord 2427Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 2515Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet 2643Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord 2710Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 2813Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet 2938Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord 3095Ty Dillon (i)Circle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet 3123David RaganBK RacingToyota 3244Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord 337Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet 3434Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord 3583Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota 3698Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevrolet 3746Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet 3832Jeffrey Earnhardt (R)Go FAS RacingFord 3955Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet 4030Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevroletOfficial starting lineup
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
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.