The 2016 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 7, 2016 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. Contested over 90 laps on the road course, it was the 22nd race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Denny Hamlin won the race, his second of the season. Joey Logano finished second. Brad Keselowski, A. J. Allmendinger and Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five.
The race had nine lead changes among eight different drivers, eight cautions for 20 laps and two red flags for 30 minutes and three seconds.
Entry list The preliminary entry list for the race included 40 cars and was released on August 1, 2016 at 9:55 a.m. Eastern time.
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 RacingChevrolet32Boris SaidGo 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 MotorsportsChevrolet55Alex KennedyPremium MotorsportsChevrolet78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota88Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsToyotaOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list
Practice
First practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 1:09.513 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 1:09.513 126.883 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1:09.810 126.343 3 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 1:10.058 125.896Official first practice results
Final practice A. J. Allmendinger was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 1:09.149 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1:09.149 127.551 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 1:09.187 127.481 3 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1:09.222 127.416Official final practice results
Qualifying
Carl Edwards scored the pole for the race with a time of 1:09.689 and a speed of . He said afterwards that "the track is a little strange. It started out really slippery the first run. But, just really proud of my guys and everybody on this Stanley Toyota team. Dave Wilson from TRD (Toyota Racing Development, president) just came down. They’re a huge part of this. My teammates they’re really fast. Kyle (Busch) is really fast and Martin’s (Truex Jr.) is really fast. You’ve got to work a little bit in race trim but we’re starting upfront and we’ve got a great pit crew and hopefully we can put that Stanley in Victory Lane."
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 119Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota70.037 69.689 242Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet70.274 69.871 314Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet70.557 69.902 420Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota70.192 69.942 518Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota70.351 69.945 611Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota70.331 69.999 722Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord69.880 70.042 831Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet70.481 70.094 947A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet70.162 70.210 101Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet70.172 70.259 1195Michael McDowellCircle Sport-Leavine Family RacingChevrolet70.248 70.352 122Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord70.135 70.571 1348Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet70.571 1478Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota70.578 154Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet70.652 1624Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet70.747 1741Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet70.795 183Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet70.804 1921Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord70.810 2013Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet70.825 2188Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet70.866 2298Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsToyota70.975 235Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet70.987 2416Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord71.038 2534Chris Buescher (R)Front Row RacingFord71.060 2623David RaganBK RacingToyota71.220 2744Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord71.340 2815Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet71.438 297Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet71.443 3017Ricky Stenhouse JrRoush Fenway RacingFord71.448 3110Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet71.481 326Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord71.502 3327Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet71.616 3443Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord71.643 3583Matt DiBenedetto BK RacingToyota71.927 3655Alex KennedyPremium Motorsports Chevrolet72.181 3732Boris SaidGO FAS Racing Ford72.202 3846Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet72.771 3930Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet73.965 4038Landon CassillFront Row RacingFord0.000Official qualifying results
Race
First half
Under clear blue New York skies, Carl Edwards led the field to the green flag at 2:53 p.m. The race proceeded orderly for the first five laps before Jeff Gordon sent Austin Dillon spinning in the inner loop on the fifth lap. The race continued under green. Debris in the outer loop brought out the first caution of the race on lap 11. The debris was a piece of hose. A few cars opted to pit under the caution. Aric Almirola and Kasey Kahne were tagged for their crews being over the wall too soon, and Regan Smith was tagged for speeding. All three restarted from the tail end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 16. Michael Annett overshot the inner loop, but continued on and was subsequently forced to serve a pass through penalty. A number of cars began pitting on lap 22. Jimmie Johnson was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and speeding. Ryan Blaney was tagged for speeding. Both were forced to serve a pass through penalty. Edwards pitted from the lead on lap 26 and handed the lead to Martin Truex Jr. Edwards was tagged for an outside tire violation and A. J. Allmendinger was tagged for speeding. Both were forced to serve pass through penalties. Truex pitted on lap 27 and handed the lead to Joey Logano. He pitted on lap 33 and handed the lead to Danica Patrick. He was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a pass through penalty. She made her stop at lap 45 and the lead cycled to Kyle Busch.
Second half The second caution of the race flew on lap 47 for a rogue tire on pit road. It came from the No. 83 of Matt DiBenedetto. Kurt Busch opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the lead. Chris Buescher and Paul Menard were tagged for their crews throwing equipment and restarted the race from the tail end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 53. Logano passed Busch climbing the esses to retake the lead. The third caution of the race flew on the same lap for a multi-car wreck on the shot chute. Exiting the outer loop, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose and slid across the track into the guardrail. He bounced back and was t-boned by Johnson. Dillon, trying to avoid him, got into Greg Biffle and sent him into the guardrail. "The cars started checking up in front of me and they all moved out of the way and the 17 (Stenhouse) was sitting there, stopped," Johnson said. "I remember seeing a door number and I was so thankful it was the passenger-side door and not the driver-side door because I plowed him. I really hit the car hard. I was afraid that I might have injured him. But, thankfully he’s okay and everybody is all right." Johnson would go on to finish 40th, his first last-place finish of his career. The red flag was displayed for cleanup on the track. After 13 minutes and 19 seconds, it was lifted and the race was continued under caution.
The race restarted with 34 laps to go with Brad Keselowski in the lead. The fourth caution of the race flew for a multi-car wreck in the outer loop. It started when Ryan Newman got loose and turned David Ragan around, and also collected Clint Bowyer, Edwards and Alex Kennedy.
The race restarted with 31 laps to go. Landon Cassill went through the grass in the inner loop and spun out. The race remained green but then the fifth caution of the race came out with 26 laps to go for debris in the inner loop.
The race restarted with 23 laps to go. The sixth caution of the race came out with 15 laps to go for Kennedy losing an engine on the frontstretch.
The race restarted with 10 laps to go. Keselowski got in too hot into turn 1 and went into the runoff area. He lost the lead to Denny Hamlin as the seventh caution of the race flew for a two-car spin at the bottom of the esses involving DiBenedetto and Newman.
The race restarted with seven laps to go. The eighth caution of the race flew for a multi-car wreck in the outer loop. Exiting the inner loop, Buscher's car threw up a rooster tail of smoke and caused Menard to slow down. Kevin Harvick slowed down, rammed into him, got turned by Brian Scott and was rammed by Ragan. The red flag was displayed for the second time. After 16 minutes and 44 seconds, it was lifted and the race was continued under caution.