The 2016 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 20–21, 2016 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. 48 laps were completed during the evening of August 20 before the race was stopped due to rain and completed on August 21, 2016. Contested over 500 laps on the short track, it was the 23rd race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Kevin Harvick scored his third win of the season, The race had eight lead changes among different drivers and nine cautions for 106 laps, as well as 3 red flags for a total of 18 hours, 21 minutes and 4 seconds.
Report
Background
Bristol Motor Speedway is a oval short track in Bristol, Tennessee.
Entry list The preliminary entry list for the race included 40 cars and was released on August 15, 2016 at 9:25 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 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 RacingToyota88Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 14.878 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.878 128.969 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.915 128.649 3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 14.921 128.597Official first practice results
Final practice Kyle Busch was fastest in the final practice session with a time of 14.796 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.796 129.684 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 14.807 129.587 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.830 129.386Official final practice results
Qualifying
Carl Edwards scored the pole for the race with a time of 14.602 and a speed of . He stated afterwards that his chances of sweeping Bristol after sweeping both poles "is good. The car is very fast. Our team just responds to anything thrown at us. (Crew chief) Dave Rogers isn’t afraid to make changes. We will see if we can finish this deal tomorrow night and be talking about how we were able to do it in the race."
Denny Hamlin, who qualified second and broke the previous track record – that he also held – with a time of 14.573 and a speed of , said that he couldn't "believe we’ve qualified as good as we have this year and not gotten a pole. I think we did all we could. We just came up a tiny bit short."
"Third is a pretty solid place to start," Kyle Busch said after qualifying third. "Our car handled well today. Of course the pole position would’ve been awesome, but we’ll take third and give it our best shot tomorrow night."
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 119 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.769 14.779 14.602 211 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.573 14.704 14.625 318 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.647 14.804 14.655 421 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 14.746 14.778 14.688 520 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.741 14.726 14.690 624 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 14.892 14.837 14.777 778 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 14.858 14.732 14.812 847 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 14.924 14.786 14.819 92 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 14.836 14.856 14.836 1022 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 14.735 14.842 14.855 1188 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 14.862 14.823 14.870 1234 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 14.828 14.867 14.956 133 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 14.902 14.872 1441 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 14.837 14.883 1531 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 14.925 14.913 1648 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 14.915 14.918 1743 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 14.905 14.918 1883 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 14.955 14.932 195 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 14.754 2027 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 14.843 2113 Casey Mears Germin Racing Chevrolet 14.943 226 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 14.894 2342 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 14.863 244 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 14.943 2517 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 14.958 2695 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 14.975 2714 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15.010 281 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 15.013 2910 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15.032 3044 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 15.039 3115 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 15.109 3238 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 15.110 337 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 15.162 3416 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 15.163 3598 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 15.291 3655 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 15.306 3723 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 15.331 3832 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 15.436 3946 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 15.521 4030 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 15.694 Official qualifying results
Race
Saturday
The start of the race was delayed by rain and lightning in the vicinity of the speedway for nearly 30 minutes. The drivers were called to their cars at 8:40 p.m. and rolled off pit road around 8:57. Under night Tennessee skies, Carl Edwards led the field to the green flag at 9:03. Teammate Denny Hamlin got a much better start and led the first lap. Chase Elliott worked his way up to Hamlin and passed him for the lead on the ninth lap. Kyle Busch reeled him in to pass under him in turn 4 to take the lead on lap 23. The first caution of the race flew on lap 30 for rain. It picked up in intensity to the point that the race was red-flagged on lap 38. The red flag period lasted for one hour, 24 minutes and four seconds before engines were refired at 10:42 and the cars rolled back onto the track. After eight laps riding around, the rain returned with greater intensity and the race was red-flagged a second time at lap 48. Just past 11:00, the rest of the race was postponed to Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Sunday Further rain off and on caused NASCAR to delay the restart of the race three and a half hours from the originally rescheduled start time to 4:33 p.m. on Sunday, August 21, for nearly 17 1/2 hurs of weather delays. The race restarted on lap 58. Competitors were told by NASCAR on the restart, there would be no refueling would be prohibited, as a competition caution was planned for Lap 85, roughly after 28 laps of racing to evaluate tire wear on the concrete circuit. Half the field was running the bottom line of the track while the other half was running the high line to "rubber-in" the untreated higher lane. The field largely rode around until the second caution of the race flew on lap 85. It was a planned competition caution. Brian Scott opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the lead. Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were both tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 91. Ryan Newman edged out Scott at the line to take the lead on lap 92. Busch drove around Newman on the high line to retake the lead on lap 102. The third caution of the race flew on lap 158 for a single-car wreck in turn 2 involving Regan Smith. Edwards exited pit road with the race lead.
The race restarted on lap 165. Edwards sat in command of the race for 27 laps before Busch took back the lead on lap 193. Debris in turn 3 brought the fourth caution of the race on lap 254, just after the race was deemed official, meaning they would not have to return Monday if there was another weather incident. The race restarted on lap 262. Kevin Harvick took the lead for the first time on lap 288. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 308 for a single-car spin by Kyle Larson in turn 4. Hamlin was tagged for speeding and restarted the race from the tail end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 316. Busch controlled the race for the next 32 laps before losing the lead to Harvick on lap 348. Busch radioed to his team that a part on his car had failed. His car got loose going into turn 1, slid down the track, turned back up the track and came to a stop backwards. Justin Allgaier, driving in place of Michael Annett, clipped the left-front of Busch's car. He went up the track and collected Larson and Martin Truex Jr., which brought out the sixth caution. Busch said afterwards that the part failure was "a shame. The last few times we’ve been here, we’ve had really fast M&M’s Toyota Camrys and we haven’t been able to finish. We’ve been having parts failures here, so something we’ve got to address and fix. I’m really tired of losing races here with parts falling apart, so they’ll hear about it on Tuesday." He also said that the "biggest moron out there is the spotter of the 46 and the driver of the 46 (Justin Allgaier). I’ve been wrecking for half a lap and they just come on through and clean us out. That’s stupid, so I don’t know – frustrating day. Let’s go home." Allgaier went on to finish 40th. Kurt Busch assumed the race lead.
The race restarted with 129 laps to go and a multi-car wreck brought out the seventh caution of the race. It started when Busch spun out and collected Brad Keselowski. Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson and Elliott all suffered damage in the wreck. Busch said afterwards that he thought he "just missed the bottom groove by a few inches, got loose and the wreck was on. The way that our car was restarting it felt comfortable, it felt good. That inside with the rosin and the VHT, if you don’t hit it exactly right you lose a lot of time. I tried to make up for it and got loose. I feel really bad for the Monster Energy guys. We had a win in our sights and I just drove the car at 101 percent instead of that 99 that I probably needed to be at." Joey Logano assumed the race lead.
The race restarted with 111 laps to go. Harvick took the lead back from Logano with 95 laps to go. The eighth caution of the race flew when Clint Bowyer got into the wall. Hamlin exited pit road with the race lead.
The race restarted with 77 laps to go. The ninth caution of the race flew with 55 laps to go for rain. The cars were brought back down pit road as the race was red-flagged for a third time. After six minutes and 54 seconds, the race resumed under caution.