The 2016 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on February 13, 2016, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 79 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
Report
Background
Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees. Format and eligibility The race was 75 laps in length, and divided into two segments; the first was 25 laps and the second was 50 laps. The race was open to those drivers who won a pole in the 2015 season or had won the Sprint Unlimited previously.
Entry list The entry list for the Sprint Unlimited was released on Friday, February 12 at 2:20 p.m. Eastern time. Twenty-five drivers were entered for the race. Tony Stewart was slated to run the Sprint Unlimited, but after suffering a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra, Brian Vickers drove in his place. While Vickers was not technically eligible because he does not fit any of the criteria for eligibility, he was cleared by NASCAR to compete in the event.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray (C) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (P) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (D) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Danica Patrick (D) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Casey Mears * Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Brian Vickers * Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer (C) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 16 Greg Biffle (D) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. * Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Carl Edwards (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth (P) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22 Joey Logano (P) Team Penske Ford 27 Paul Menard (C) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman (C) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (P) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson * Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola * Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger (P) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 78 Martin Truex Jr. (D) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (W) Hendrick Motorsports ChevroletOfficial entry list Key Meaning (P) Eligible as a pole winner in 2015 (W) Eligible as a past winner of the race (D) Eligible as a past Daytona 500 pole winner (C) Eligible for being in the Chase in 2015 * Eligible via points or other reasons
Starting lineup The starting lineup was determined by a random draw, with Jimmie Johnson drawing the top spot.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 5 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 6 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 8 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 10 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 11 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 12 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 13 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 16 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 18 14 Brian Vickers Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 19 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 22 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 23 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 25 22 Joey Logano Team Penske FordOfficial starting lineup
Practice
First practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 45.148 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 45.148 199.344 2 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 45.190 199.159 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 45.211 199.067Official first practice results
Final practice Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 45.242 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 45.242 198.930 2 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 46.094 195.253 3 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46.181 194.885Official final practice results
Race
First half
Start Under a clear Florida night sky, Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag at 8:35 p.m. Brad Keselowski used a push from the outside line to lead the first lap. After five laps, the field settled into a single line until Jamie McMurray went under Casey Mears in turn 3 to move up to fourth. Eventually, Keselowski found himself working the top and bottom line to maintain the lead. Unfortunately, he had to drag the brake to let McMurray pass him going into 3 to get a piece of debris off the grill of his car. This gambit failed and fell back to 15th. The first caution of the race flew on lap 13 for a two-car wreck in turn 2. Rounding the turn, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. suffered a right-rear tire blowout and spun down into the side of Denny Hamlin. The front half of the field opted to stay out while the back half opted to pit.
Second quarter The race restarted on lap 18. McMurray got a jump on the field, but was swallowed up and passed by teammate Kyle Larson. He was, however, able to hold the lead and pull in front of his teammate on the backstretch. The second caution of the race flew on lap 23 for a multi-car wreck in turn 1. Going into the turn, Brian Vickers suffered a right-rear tire blowout, hit the side of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car and ripped the side of his car off, turned back up the track, hit teammate Kevin Harvick, slammed the wall, slid back down the track and clipped Clint Bowyer. A. J. Allmendinger, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch also sustained damage in this wreck. Vickers said he didn't "know how it happened. The '18' and I got together going four-wide early in the race and had a little smoke for a lap and it went away. I suspect that could have been it or I could have just ran over something, there's no telling.” Harvick would go on to finish last. Hamlin opted not to pit and assumed the lead.
Second half
Halfway The race restarted on lap 30. Hamlin took command of the field and moved ahead of the No. 2 car. Eventually, Keselowski moved by him coming to the line and took the lead on lap 34. Hamlin shot ahead of Keselowski on the backstretch to take the lead back the next lap. Keselowski used a push from teammate Joey Logano to retake the lead on lap 37. Just like his first stint in the lead, he picked up another piece of debris that covered his grill. The third caution of the race flew on lap 44 for a single-car spin on the backstretch. Going down the backstretch, Johnson made contact with Mears that sent him spinning through the grass. His car dug into the ground and ripped off the front fender. He said afterwards that he "did a decent job of backing out of there and not causing a big one as the door shut on me." Keselowski opted to stay out while the rest of the field opted to pit.
The race restarted on lap 48. Hamlin powered ahead of Keselowski to take over the lead on lap 49. The fourth caution of the race flew with 20 laps to go for a multi-car wreck on the backstretch. Going into turn 3, Kasey Kahne got turned by McMurray and slammed into the side of Allmendinger.
Fourth quarter The race restarted with 14 laps to go. Keselowski got a run on Hamlin in the tri-oval to take the lead back with 12 laps to go. The fifth caution of the race flew with 10 laps to go after Kahne lost an engine in turn 2.
The race restarted with six laps to go. Hamlin was able to hold off charges from his teammate Matt Kenseth and Logano. The sixth caution of the race flew with three laps to go for a multi-car wreck on the backstretch. In a classic restrictor plate racing accordion effect, Carl Edwards got turned into the wall and a number of cars spun out. This would lead to the debut of the new overtime rules NASCAR put into play two days prior.
Overtime The race restarted with two laps to go. The field passed the overtime line and the race was official at that point. After a multi-car wreck in turn 1, Hamlin was declared the race winner.
Post-race Hamlin said after the race in victory lane that he's "gotten better at speedway racing over the last few years and really learned a lot from my teammates. But realistically you can go back and look at this race a million times, and had my teammates not stuck with me at the right times, we wouldn't have been able to stay up front." He added he "wanted to get to the (overtime) line, because we probably didn’t have enough fuel to go five more laps."
After a runner-up finish, Logano said that he thought he had Hamlin "if that caution didn’t come out at the end." He followed up by saying had "I got that push from the 42, [Kyle] Larson, I might have done it. It just didn’t line up perfectly.”
After finishing 10th, Biffle spoke on the new overtime rule saying he thought "it was OK. I get what they're trying to do. They're trying to prevent people from changing the outcome of the race and make that mark back there, and that makes sense. It'll take us a little bit to get used to that, but I understand it."
After finishing 11th, Danica Patrick said that she doesn't "think it'll end up making a humongous difference. I mean, the likelihood of having a lot of accidents within the first corner, they're not super-high. I don't know. I think it'll be fine. I don't think we'll really notice a huge difference."
After finishing 13th, Martin Truex Jr. said that "in this day and age, we always judge everything on the fans' reaction. So I guess we'll wait and see what they say about it."
Race results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 79 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 79 3 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 79 4 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 79 5 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 79 6 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 79 7 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 79 8 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 79 9 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 79 10 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 79 1110 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 79 12 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 79 13 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 14 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 78 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 75 16 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 72 17 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 72 18 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 72 19 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 69 20 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 64 21 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 56 22 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 43 23 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 23 24 14 Brian Vickers Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 22 25 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 22Unofficial race results
Media
Television FoxBooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Mike JoyColor-commentator: Jeff GordonColor commentator: Darrell Waltrip Jamie LittleChris NevilleVince WelchMatt Yocum
Radio MRN RadioBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Joe MooreAnnouncer: Jeff StriegleAnnouncer: Rusty Wallace Turns 1 & 2: Dave MoodyBackstretch: Mike BagleyTurns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey Alex HaydenWinston KelleySteve Post
See also