The 2016 Ford EcoBoost 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on November 20, 2016, at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Contested over 268 laps – extended from 267 laps due to an overtime finish – on the oval, it was the 36th and final race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Jimmie Johnson won the race, and with it his seventh career Cup championship, tying him with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for the most Cup Series championships of all time.
It was the final race for Sprint as the series sponsor, having been the Cup Series' title sponsor since 2008, after buying out Nextel in late 2005. Monster Energy replaced Sprint as title sponsor for the series for 2017. The race was also the last for future Hall of Famers Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, as well as the final in the Cup Series for Michael Annett.
With NASCAR introducing stage racing in all three national touring series in 2017, this was the last points-paying race in any of those series to be run as a single segment.
Report Tony Stewart's final race The race marked the final start of three-time Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart after a farewell tour (of which he missed the first nine races due to a non-NASCAR racing accident), which took place a year after that of Jeff Gordon. Despite missing the first nine races, Stewart made the Chase with a win at Sonoma, but was eliminated in the first round. He started the race 11th, but finished 22nd.
Championship drivers Jimmie Johnson was the first of the four drivers to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, winning the first race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville.
Carl Edwards clinched the second spot in the Championship 4, winning the second race of the Round of 8 at Texas.
Joey Logano clinched the third spot in the Championship 4, winning the third and final race of the Round of 8 at Phoenix.
Kyle Busch, the defending Cup champion, clinched the final spot, finishing second behind Logano at Phoenix to clinch his spot in the championship race.
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 Busch (CC)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Carl Edwards (CC)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota20Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota21Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord22Joey Logano (CC)Team PenskeFord23David RaganBK RacingToyota24Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30Gray GauldingThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet31Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Dylan Lupton (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 Johnson (CC)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota55Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsToyota59Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Jeffrey Earnhardt (R)BK RacingToyota88Alex Bowman (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Ty Dillon (i)Circle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Ryan Newman was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.789 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.789 175.387 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 30.795 175.353 3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.812 175.256Official first practice results
Second practice Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 30.973 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet30.973174.345224Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet31.154173.332319Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota31.223172.949Official second practice results
Final practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.983 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime178Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota30.983174.289219Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota31.029174.031331Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet31.264172.723Official final practice results
Qualifying
Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.399 and a speed of . He said he was "just so proud of everybody on this Jimmy John's Chevrolet team. They want to come to the race track and bring good race cars and perform well. Just real proud of that. That's awesome. I didn't know if we had a chance at the pole with as fast as the No. 24 (Chase Elliott) had been. But I knew if we could just run the same speed every round, that is half the battle because you never know how much it is going to slow down for everybody else, and it doesn't take much to make a mistake. Really proud of everybody on our Jimmy John's team."
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 14 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.616 30.406 30.399 22 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 30.412 30.456 30.416 331 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.470 30.546 30.442 411 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.758 30.506 30.475 524 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.217 30.243 30.492 678 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 30.698 30.445 30.513 720 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.699 30.492 30.594 821 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 30.678 30.390 30.610 918 Kyle Busch (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.766 30.466 30.689 1019 Carl Edwards (CC) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.595 30.427 30.749 1114 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.717 30.552 30.861 1247 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.652 30.467 30.887 1322 Joey Logano (CC) Team Penske Ford 30.514 30.571 1448 Jimmie Johnson (CC) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.816 30.635 151 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.832 30.636 1641 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.527 30.639 173 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.642 30.661 1817 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.794 30.688 1988 Alex Bowman (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.761 30.742 206 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.773 30.763 2116 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.793 30.854 2244 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.828 30.860 2313 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 30.769 30.862 2442 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.648 31.078 2543 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.841 2659 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 30.862 2734 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 30.863 2827 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.876 295 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.911 3010 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 30.916 3149 Matt DiBenedetto (i) BK Racing Toyota 30.980 3238 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 31.030 3315 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 31.043 3495 Ty Dillon (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 31.071 357 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 31.087 3623 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 31.299 3755 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 31.657 3883 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) BK Racing Toyota 32.012 3932 Dylan Lupton (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 32.523 4046 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 32.558 Did not qualify 4130 Gray Gaulding The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 31.965 Official qualifying results
Race First half Under mostly sunny Florida skies, Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 3:24 p.m. The first caution of the race flew on lap 27 for Ryan Blaney crashing hard into the outside wall in turn 1. Denny Hamlin led a lap under the caution after missing the entrance to pit road. He pitted the next time by and handed the lead back to Harvick.
The race restarted on lap 32. Carl Edwards nudged Harvick in turn 4 to take the lead on lap 33. Harvick took it back on lap 35. A cycle of green flag stops started on lap 68. Harvick pitted from the lead the following lap and handed it to Edwards. He pitted on lap 72 and the lead cycled back to Harvick.
The second caution flew on lap 80 after Jeffrey Earnhardt spun out in turn 4.
The race restarted on lap 86 and Joey Logano beat Harvick to take over the lead. Edwards took the lead on lap 92. Kyle Larson worked his way through the field, catching Carl Edwards and passing him on the outside in turn 4 to take the lead on lap 119 just as another cycle of green flag stops started. Following the cycle, Edwards returned to the lead. A. J. Allmendinger was given a drive-through penalty for an uncontrolled tire.
Second half
Larson retook the lead on lap 126. Kyle Busch made an unscheduled stop for what he thought was a flat right-front tire on lap 137, only to find out a few laps later the tire wasn't flat. Another round of green flag stops commenced on lap 153 and Larson retained the lead through the cycle.
Debris in turn 1 brought out the third caution on lap 171.
The race restarted on lap 171. The fourth caution flew with 61 laps to go for Blaney again crashing hard in turn 1
The race restarted with 55 to go. The fifth caution flew with 15 to go for Dylan Lupton spinning in turn 2.
The race restarted with 10 to go and the sixth caution flew right away for a multi-car wreck in turn 1. On the restart, Edwards went low to block Logano's advance. But in doing so, he came across Logano's nose and got spun into the inside wall. His now destroyed car continued up the track and was lifted into the air after being rear-ended by Kasey Kahne's car. Regan Smith was also collected by the wreck. Logano's car continued, got tapped by Edwards's car and sent into his teammate, Brad Keselowski's car. This sent Brad into the wall along with Ryan Newman. Martin Truex Jr. was also collected and his car burst into flames. It brought out the red flag for 31 minutes and nine seconds. Edwards walked from his wrecked car to the pit box of the 22 team to explain to Todd Gordon (Logano's crew chief) what happened. He said what happened "was just good hard racing, and it was my deal, I own it. I had to block Joey to have any chance at winning the championship. I couldn’t have gone to bed tonight if I had given up that lane to him.” He also told Gordon to "go and get the championship."
The race restarted with five to go and the seventh caution flew for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. getting loose, spinning out in turn 2, turning down the track and hitting the inside wall on the backstretch.
Overtime
The race restarted in overtime with two laps to go. Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Larson coming to the white flag and drove on to score the victory and his seventh Sprint Cup Series championship.
Post-race
Driver comments After the race, an overwhelmed Johnson said "Luck came our way and we were able to win the race and win the championship.” He also stated his desire to go for an eighth championship, saying he didn't "know what the chances [were], but let's go."
Mentor and former teammate Jeff Gordon said he was "just in disbelief the way this race unfolded....Jimmie wanted that thing. He wanted that seventh championship and he got that seventh championship done. He deserves it. Just an amazing experience."