The 2016 Pure Michigan 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 28, 2016, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the D-shaped oval, it was the 24th race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Kyle Larson won his first career Cup Series race, the race had thirteen lead changes among different drivers and four cautions for 17 laps.
Report
Aero package NASCAR announced in late July that the modified aerodynamic package used at Michigan in June and Kentucky in July was used one more time this past weekend at Michigan. In addition to the aero changes used in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, there was a reduction in spoiler size from , a reduction of the splitter and resizing the deck fin.
Entry list The preliminary entry list for the race included 40 cars and was released on August 22, 2016, at 3:36 p.m. Eastern time. Alex Bowman drove in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr. this weekend as he recovers from a concussion.
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 RacingToyota88Alex Bowman (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.724 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 35.724 201.545 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.797 201.134 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 35.827 200.966Official first practice results
Second practice Tony Stewart was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 35.622 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime114Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet35.622202.122221Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord35.745201.427324Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet35.786201.196Official second practice results
Final practice Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 36.386 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime111Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota36.386197.878224Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet36.403197.786348Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet36.420197.694Official final practice results
Qualifying
Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 35.697 and a speed of . Logano said afterwards that he was "excited (about the pole). I thought our car was really good in race trim earlier. ... In qualifying trim, I didn’t think we would make it happen today, but on the last run, Todd Gordon (crew chief) made some good adjustments and gave me a pep talk, and game on. I was ready to go. I was going to drive the heck out of it and hope for the best. Once you get into the last round (of qualifying) and you are eighth on the board, what is the difference between eighth and 12th? You might as well hammer down.” He also added that Michigan "is very unique. For one, you're going 220 mph. That's freaking insane. But it's a lot of fun."
"It was just an awesome day for this Lowe's race car and this Lowe's race team," Jimmie Johnson said after qualifying second. "We keep stacking pennies and making this car better and better. My hat's off to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports and all the hard work they're putting into things. Great practice and great qualifying. We need some more practice sessions (Saturday) and roll them into a good race."
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 122 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 35.999 35.884 35.697 248 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.797 35.810 35.728 311 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 35.863 35.801 35.747 44 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.086 35.818 35.753 524 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.951 35.692 35.767 688 Alex Bowman (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.963 35.891 35.784 721 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 36.054 35.833 35.785 81 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 36.026 35.722 35.814 919 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.035 35.900 35.820 1031 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.140 35.909 35.917 115 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.078 35.908 35.995 1242 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 35.884 35.665 36.119 1320 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.000 35.930 1478 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 35.964 35.936 1514 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.113 35.942 1618 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.102 35.956 173 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.212 35.981 182 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 36.168 35.997 1941 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.004 36.135 2027 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 35.923 36.144 2134 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 36.270 36.197 2216 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.159 36.219 2310 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.300 36.227 246 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.306 36.330 2547 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 36.315 2643 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 36.331 2715 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 36.340 2813 Casey Mears Germin Racing Chevrolet 36.446 2917 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.454 3044 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 36.715 317 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 36.719 3223 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 36.724 3338 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 36.816 3483 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 36.893 3595 Sam Hornish Jr. (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 37.026 3646 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 37.337 3798 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 37.486 3830 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 37.512 3955 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 38.102 4032 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 0.000 Official qualifying results
Race
First half Under mostly cloudy Michigan skies, Joey Logano led the field to the green flag at 2:18 p.m. The field started to string out after five laps as is typical at a track like Michigan. Chris Buescher reported engine issues early on that turned out to be a broken spark plug. He said after the race that he knew "it isn’t fun opening a hood of a race car that is as hot as it is and trying to work on it. Kudos to my guys for keeping their heads down and working at it and getting it fixed. Usually when you have engine trouble you are along for the ride. It ended up being something a little more simple than I guess we originally figured. We got back up and running and made some laps, and made a really terrible day into just an okay day. We will have to get it back at the shop and tear it down and take a look at it — and diagnose from there to see if it was a freak accident or something we need to look at going forward.” The first caution of the race flew on lap 21. It was a scheduled competition caution for overnight rain. Regan Smith opted not to pit and assumed the race lead. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead back to Logano. Brian Scott was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and restarted the race from the tail end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 25. Kevin Harvick took the lead from Logano going into turn 1. The second caution of the race flew the same lap for a single-car spin. Exiting turn 4, Kyle Busch got loose and spun out.
The race restarted on lap 30. By lap 39, Alex Bowman – who was subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. – fell from sixth to out of the top-10 in what was later determined to be an ignition issue. Denny Hamlin radioed in electrical issues, but these subsided after a while. Martin Truex Jr. powered by Harvick on the frontstretch to take the lead on lap 59. Ryan Blaney hit pit road on lap 63 and triggered a rush of green flag pit stops. Truex pitted from the lead a lap later and handed the lead to Harvick. Truex lost time on pit road after his car fell off the jack. Harvick pitted from the lead on lap 67 and handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. He pitted on lap 71 and the lead cycled to Jimmie Johnson.
The routine of strung-out racing was the norm for the next 36 laps until Blaney kicked off the next round of green flag stops on lap 107. Johnson pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Chase Elliott. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Keselowski. He would stay out for another eight laps before pitting on lap 117 and the lead cycled to Elliott before debris brought out the third caution of the race on lap 118.
Second half
The race restarted on lap 126. Kyle Larson beat Elliott going into turn 1 to take the lead. After that, the field settled into place until Logano kicked off the final round of green flag stops with 47 laps to go. Larson pitted from the lead, along with Elliott, with 44 laps to go and handed the lead to Keselowski. Elliott beat Larson off pit road, which allowed him to take the lead when the pit stop cycle concluded. Keselowski pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth. He pitted with 35 laps to go and handed the lead to Ryan Newman. He pitted with 33 laps to go and handed the lead to Greg Biffle. He pitted with 32 laps to go and the lead cycled to Elliott. During the pit cycle, Aric Almirola was black-flagged for an uncontrolled tire and was forced to serve a pass through penalty.
A tire carcass that came off the No. 46 of Michael Annett brought out the fourth caution of the race with 13 laps to go.
The race restarted with nine laps to go. Larson was pushed to the lead by Keselowski and drove on to score the victory.
Post-race
Driver comments Larson said in victory lane that his team has "worked hard to get a win, and we just haven't done it Finally, all the hard work by everybody, the hundreds of people at our race shop, people who have gotten me to the Cup Series all paid off. I couldn't quite catch my breath there after I got out of the car because I spent two minutes screaming. I was so pumped up. It was pretty special, and I will remember it forever. I have been close a few times in my career and to get it before my 100th career start next week is pretty awesome." He also took time to dedicate the victory to his friend, the late Bryan Clauson, saying "This one is for the Clauson family. We really miss Bryan. We love you guys. We’re going to miss him. We parked it for him, so that’s really cool."