The 2016 Hollywood Casino 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 16, 2016, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate speedway, it was the 31st race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, fifth race of the Chase and second race of the Round of 12.
Entry list 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 RacingChevrolet32Joey Gase (i)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 MotorsportsChevrolet55Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevrolet78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota88Alex Bowman (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.750 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.750 194.595 2 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.818 194.119 3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.821 194.098Official first practice results
Second practice Paul Menard was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 29.241 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime127Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.241184.67224Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet29.288184.376342Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet29.344184.024Official second practice results
Final practice Matt Kenseth was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.976 and a speed of . Kurt Busch went to a backup car after he suffered a right-front tire blowout, spun out exiting turn 4 and damaged the front end of his car going through the infield grass. PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime120Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.976186.361242Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet29.057185.842341Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet29.064185.797Official final practice results
Qualifying
Matt Kenseth scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.112 and a speed of . After qualifying, Kenseth said it was "nice to get a pole. I feel like our qualifying hasn't been nearly as good this year as it has been in the rest of the years I've been at JGR. We barely got it -- it was by a thousandth, or something like that. Obviously, our Camrys have been fast ... Round one we were pretty decent -- it was off a little bit -- and then round three it was just right. We almost got beat, but it was as good of a lap as we were going to run. They did a good job today."
Kyle Busch, who qualified second, said his car "was pretty good. We certainly felt pretty happy with it earlier today and through practice and having a fast car there. So that was really strong in showing the speed that we have. Just trying to mimic that here today in qualifying. I felt like we did a really good job of that in the second round and I felt even better about my lap in the third round but Matt was just able to get a little bit more out of it. Certainly messed up a little bit just the way the car was balanced through 1 and 2 being prepared for it and being able to get the most out of it. I had to re-lift and get out of the gas in turn two so that’s probably where our time was."
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 120 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.298 28.243 28.112 218 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.332 28.106 28.113 319 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.451 28.408 28.270 478 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.481 28.372 28.304 588 Alex Bowman (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.609 28.346 28.374 622 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.371 28.318 28.388 711 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.570 28.417 28.393 82 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.524 28.419 28.408 931 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.527 28.353 28.432 1047 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.603 28.369 28.445 114 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.455 28.292 28.484 123 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.596 28.377 28.486 1324 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.625 28.428 1414 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.463 28.430 1541 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.462 28.455 1627 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.527 28.457 1721 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.514 28.490 1817 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.609 28.513 1910 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.483 28.535 205 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.556 28.541 2148 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.486 28.575 2216 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.581 28.582 231 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.601 28.709 2442 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.653 29.027 256 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.774 267 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.774 2793 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 28.788 2823 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 28.798 2913 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.809 3034 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.826 3115 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.839 3244 Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.905 3395 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 28.967 3438 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.181 3543 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 29.217 3655 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 29.482 3746 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 29.687 3832 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 29.907 3998 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 29.933 4030 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 30.025 Official qualifying results
Race First half
Under mostly sunny Kansas skies, Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag at 2:34 p.m. Debris on the backstretch brought out the first caution of the race on lap 26. Brian Scott was sent to the tail end of the field on the restart for speeding on pit road.
The race restarted on lap 31. The second caution flew for a three-car wreck in turn 4 involving Aric Almirola, David Ragan and Scott. Almirola went on to finish 40th.
The race restarted on lap 42. The third caution of the race flew on lap 44 after Jamie McMurray suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in turn 3 following contact with Alex Bowman in turn 2.
The race restarted on lap 48. Green flag stops started on lap 83. Kenseth pitted from the lead on lap 87 and handed it to Joey Logano. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Denny Hamlin. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Casey Mears. He pitted on lap 95 and the lead cycled back to Kenseth.
Martin Truex Jr., who was running in the top-10 and had a problem that prevented him from getting his car completely fueled up, made an unscheduled stop on lap 114. Truex said after the race that he "pitted when [he] had to and hoped for the best. It’s really all you could do. We had a good car when we were up front. It wasn’t great. We were too tight on the short runs to loose on the long runs and we battled the whole run just to try to be OK. And once we lost track position, that made everything worse and magnified it and just really fought all day to get back where we were and then pitted the last stop and only gave up a couple more spots and could never get it back.” Adding insult to injury, Josh Wise slammed the wall in turn 4 and brought out the fourth caution of the race. A. J. Allmendinger was sent to the tail end of the field on the restart for speeding on pit road.
The race restarted on lap 121. Kevin Harvick worked by the outside of Kenseth on the frontstretch to take the lead on lap 128. After working on Harvick for 15 laps, Chase Elliott got a run on him going into turn 1 and took the lead on lap 169. He pitted from the lead on lap 173 and handed it to Carl Edwards. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back to Elliott. However, he made an unscheduled stop for a left-rear tire rub. When asked what caused the tire rub, Elliott said he "really [didn't] know. I don't know if we got the left rear getting up on the race track, or something and it got into the fender and cut it down. I don't know what to do man, we were trying as hard as we can. We had such a good car today again, and....I don't know what to do. Just keep after it and try to move on." The lead went to Edwards on lap 176. At the same time, Kyle Larson slammed the wall in turn 2 and brought out the fifth caution of the race.
Second half The race restarted on lap 184. The sixth caution flew with 77 laps to go after Keselowski got loose exiting turn 4, drove through the infield grass and destroyed the front-end of his car. Keselowski said after that he "spun out, got in the grass and tore the nose off. I probably could have raced a little bit less hard; you know, I had a big points gap coming here, with this format it's probably the smart thing to do. But I don't want to race like that. I want to race my guts out, I want to go for wins. I don't want to points race. I don't care what the damn format is, I'm going to go out and give it my best.”
The race restarted with 69 laps to go. When Keselowski returned to the race with 45 laps to go, his engine let go, dropped fluid on the track in turn 3 and brought out the seventh caution of the race. Austin Dillon exited pit road first after taking right-side tires. Hamlin was sent to the tail end of the field on the restart for an uncontrolled tire.
The race restarted with 42 laps to go. Edwards made easy work of Dillon on the restart to retake the lead. The eighth caution of the race flew with 34 laps to go after Regan Smith slammed the wall in turn 3.
The race restarted with 30 laps to go. Harvick got the better of Edwards on the restart and retook the lead. Elliott's day went from bad to worse when he suffered a left-rear tire blowout, started losing speed and made another unscheduled stop. Harvick drove on to score the victory.
Post-race
Driver comments