The 2016 Pennsylvania 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 1, 2016, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Having been delayed from July 31 due to rain, the race – the 21st race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – was also shortened due to fog, with only 138 out of the scheduled 160 laps of the speedway being completed.
At the race's early conclusion, rookie Chris Buescher took his first Cup Series victory and the first win for Front Row Motorsports since 2013. The race had 19 lead changes among different drivers, 7 cautions for 31 laps, and a red flag period.
Entry list The preliminary entry list for the race included 41 cars and was released on July 25, 2016 at 2:55 p.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 RacingChevrolet32Jeb Burton (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 MotorsportsChevrolet55Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota88Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Paul Menard was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 50.722 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 50.722 177.438 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.731 177.406 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 50.842 177.019Official first practice results
Final practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 51.027 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime178Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota51.027176.37722Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord51.097176.13634Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet51.133176.012Official final practice results
Qualifying
Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole with a time of 50.211 and a speed of . “The car felt really good for me today,” Truex said. “We’ve obviously got speed now we’ll use the rest of the weekend to fine tune some things and get ready for Sunday. Love this track and looking forward to having some fun on Sunday and trying to get to Victory Lane.”
Carl Edwards, who qualified second, said as he "crossed the line, I felt like, 'That’s it.' But after seeing what (Truex) ran, I thought 'Well, maybe I could go back and change this or that,' but that was a really good lap for me. It just was. You can always go back and pick your lap apart, but the last two weeks, Indy and here, I was pretty proud of my lap, and they just got us."
Paul Menard, who qualified third, said ''we are not where we expected to be and need to be in points, so we had to make a change. Danny (Stockman) came in here and gave us a good car right off the truck. We stuck in qualifying trim all day. We know we have to improve our qualifying that just starts your race off way better. A good way to start it off.”
Qualifying was delayed 20 minutes due to a "glitch" with the laser inspection station. “We had a little bit of a glitch this morning at the opening of inspection with our laser platform,” Scott Miller, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition and racing development, told NBCSN. “We got it rectified quickly.”
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 178Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota50.72850.41150.211 219Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota50.59650.45950.315 327Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet50.97950.53550.372 411Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota50.96950.53250.409 531Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet50.93950.61950.439 614Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet51.18950.67050.450 72Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord50.98850.71250.460 824Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.02750.61750.684 920Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota51.04550.53550.729 1022Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord50.88550.71450.804 1142Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet51.14250.69250.824 123Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet51.02350.70950.895 1347A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet51.24250.755 1417Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord51.05050.767 1541Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet51.06850.795 1618Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota50.81750.832 174Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet50.79850.851 1821Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord50.76450.882 191Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet51.19750.970 2013Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet51.16050.998 2148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet50.96951.110 2234Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord51.14051.112 235Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.11751.165 2488Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.203 51.222 2516Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord51.252 2610Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet51.310 2743Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord51.433 2815Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet51.648 2995Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet51.654 307Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet51.776 316Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord51.863 3238Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord51.876 3323David RaganBK RacingToyota52.000 3483Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota52.061 3544Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord52.262 3698Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevrolet52.412 3732Jeb Burton (i)Go FAS RacingFord52.500 3830Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet52.801 3946Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet53.019 4055Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet56.741 Official qualifying results
Race
First half The race was postponed from July 31 to August 1 due to rain. Under overcast Pennsylvania skies, Martin Truex Jr. led the field to the green flag at 12:10 p.m. The field mostly rode around until the first caution of the race flew on lap 16. It was a scheduled competition caution for overnight rain. Brad Keselowski opted not to pit and assumed the lead. Jimmie Johnson 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 20. Greg Biffle got the jump on Keselowski and assumed the lead as the second caution of the race flew for Martin Truex Jr. suffering a right-front tire blowout and slamming the wall in turn 2. “A lug nut bounced off the ground, fell in behind the wheel behind a pit stop,” Truex said. “It’s just bad luck honestly. I knew something wasn’t right in (turn) one and two and I got real tight off of two on that restart and went down the back and was like, ‘Ah, it feels okay.’ And, as I got closer to the tunnel turn I felt it start to go down and by the time I let off and tried to slow down it was just going straight for the fence.” He was spared a last-place finish by Reed Sorenson, who exited the race on lap 29 with engine issues.
The race restarted on lap 23. Biffle maintained a quarter to half a second gap over the second-place car for a large portion of the run until Joey Logano drove under him in turn 2 to take the lead on lap 33. Bad luck continued for Truex as he cut down his left-front tire and was forced to make an unscheduled stop on lap 41. A number of cars began hitting pit road on lap 49. Jeff Gordon was tagged for speeding and was forced to serve a pass through penalty. He was eventually black-flagged. Kevin Harvick passed Logano going into turn 1 to take the lead on lap 52. He surrendered the lead to pit the next lap and handed it back to Logano. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Austin Dillon. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Keselowski. Danica Patrick, Michael McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were tagged for speeding on pit road and were forced to serve pass through penalties. Patrick was shown the black flag with the white cross, which meant she was no longer being scored until she served her pass through.
Harvick passed by Keselowski to retake the lead on lap 62. The third caution of the race flew on lap 66 for a two-car wreck on the frontstretch. Exiting turn 3, Aric Almirola made contact with Jeb Burton, came across his nose and made contact with the wall. Kyle Larson opted not to pit when the leaders pitted and assumed the lead.
The race restarted on lap 73. Larson and Dillon battled back and forth for eight laps until Dillon made contact with Larson in turn 3 on lap 82. This allowed Logano to slip by and retake the lead on lap 83. Larson said after the race that he doesn't think "you ever want to expect contact, but obviously we were racing really hard. I was doing all I could to stay in front of him, and he was doing all he could to get by me. We battled hard down the frontstretch one time, and then he got back to my inside into Turn 3. I left him plenty of room. I was just going to try and run side-by-side with him again and try and slow him down on the frontstretch. I guess he got loose underneath me and got into our door. That was pretty frustrating at the time, but it happens to not even really matter. That part of the race doesn't matter at all. It doesn't mean one thing to me." The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 85 for rain in turn 1.
Second half
The race restarted on lap 92. Matt Kenseth, who stayed out under the third caution, hit pit road from second on lap 96. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 100 for Truex suffering a tire blowout in turn 1. Larson opted not to pit and assumed the lead.
The race restarted with 57 laps to go. The sixth caution of the race flew for a two-car wreck in turn 2. Rounding the turn, Logano was racing Ryan Newman to his outside and Denny Hamlin to his inside when Chase Elliott got to his inside, got loose, got into Logano and sent both of them into the wall. Elliott continued spinning down the track into the inside wall. Elliott said he "came off (Turn 1) and those guys were three-wide, I thought Denny had the best run so I elected to push him and I thought that would be a good move to kind of get him past them and hopefully he would drag me by. I just got next to (Logano) and got in there. I thought I slowed down enough to not get loose, but I got loose and collected him. I apologize to the No. 22 guys – it was completely my fault. I apologized to my guys as well. They gave me a really good car today.”