The 2016 Kobalt 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on March 6, 2016, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the third race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski won the race. Joey Logano finished second. Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon rounded out the top–five.
Kurt Busch won the pole for the race and led 31 laps on his way to a ninth-place finish. Johnson led a race high of 76 laps on his way to finishing third. There were 20 lead changes among 10 different drivers, as well as six caution flag periods for 36 laps.
This was the 18th career victory for Keselowski, first of the season, second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and second at the track for Team Penske. Keselowski left Las Vegas sixth in points. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Ford left trailing Toyota by 11-points in the manufacturer standings.
The Kobalt 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Report
Background
Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a tri-oval intermediate speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Entry list The entry list for the Kobalt 400 was released on Monday, February 29 at 3:10 p.m. Eastern time. Thirty-nine cars are entered for the race. The only driver change from the previous race is Brian Vickers returning to the seat of the No. 14 Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Brian Vickers Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports ChevroletOfficial entry list
Test sessions
Session 1 Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the first test session with a time of 27.982 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.982 192.981 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.002 192.843 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.105 192.137Test session 1 results
Session 2 Aric Almirola was the fastest in the second test session with a time of 27.988 and a speed of . Denny Hamlin slammed the wall during the session and would use a backup car for the race. Because the change took place prior to qualifying, he won't start from the rear of the field. He said that the car "just snapped loose first lap after the changes.”
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.988 192.940 2 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.029 192.658 3 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.175 191.659Test session 2 results
Practice
First practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.646 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.646 195.327 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.655 195.263 3 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.659 195.235Official first practice results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.189 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime119Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.189191.56423Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.288190.894313Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet28.317190.698Official second practice results
Final practice Matt Kenseth was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.502 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime120Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.502189.460219Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.594188.851341Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.616188.706Official final practice results
Qualifying
Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.505 and a speed of . He said the car "was insanely fast. It’s amazing all the detail that goes into qualifying with finding that perfect lap three times out there. My second outing we were way tight and I didn’t know where it came from. “(Tony) Gibson, (crew chief) and crew went to town. They just adjusted on it. We gambled and we made that last session, which was great. That was icing on the cake to be able to go out into the third round. I was first or 12th it didn’t matter.” Joey Logano said that second for him was "so close. Second always stings the most. I felt like that last run I just – I told Todd that our car was close I just had to want it more. I pushed as hard as I could and got a little tight in one and two and that was enough to give up that speed we needed to get the pole tonight. I am so proud of what this Pennzoil team has done to pick up over last week. Dang it. It is so close. It was a lot of fun out there tonight and we are looking forward to Sunday.” Kyle Busch, who described his car as being "out of control" after qualifying 23rd, said that his "front tires were chattering, and there wasn’t much we were going to do to fix that out there." Carl Edwards switched to a backup car after making contact with the wall in the session. Because this took place after qualifying, he'll start from the rear of the field. He said that going to his backup was "frustrating because the car was really fast but they say the back-up is just as fast. I guarantee that car will be as good as this one."
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.498 27.649 27.505 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.640 27.623 27.575 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.737 27.670 27.582 4 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.735 27.613 27.598 5 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.809 27.733 27.604 6 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.732 27.733 27.628 7 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 27.777 27.683 27.651 8 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.781 27.724 27.652 9 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.749 27.711 27.681 10 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 27.881 27.663 27.696 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.661 27.725 27.837 12 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 27.870 27.682 27.961 13 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.870 27.740 — 14 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.806 27.741 — 15 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.906 27.784 — 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.820 27.792 — 17 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.850 27.851 — 18 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.871 27.889 — 19 14 Brian Vickers Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.732 27.893 — 20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.912 27.915 — 21 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.911 27.931 — 22 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 27.820 27.989 — 23 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.946 28.009 — 24 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.678 0.000 — 25 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 27.972 — — 26 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.989 — — 27 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.015 — — 28 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.019 — — 29 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.075 — — 30 95 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 28.122 — — 31 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 28.144 — — 32 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.251 — — 33 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.291 — — 34 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 28.398 — — 35 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.566 — — 36 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 28.659 — — 37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.661 — — 38 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 28.747 — — 39 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 29.062 — —Official qualifying results
Race
First half
Start
Under clear Nevada skies, Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag at 4:11 p.m. After 10 laps, he pulled to a 1.5 second lead over Joey Logano. By lap 25, Logano cut the deficit in half. A number of cars began reporting pieces of trash lying all over the track due to the gusts of wind. The first caution of the race flew on lap 31. It was a scheduled competition caution due to rain. Denny Hamlin exited pit road with the lead. Busch was tagged for being too fast on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field. Clint Bowyer was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 36. Logano drove under Hamlin going into turn 3 to take the lead on lap 45. After 10 laps, he pulled to a two-second lead over Matt Kenseth. By lap 70, teammate Brad Keselowski chipped away half his lead. Kenseth was running fourth when he made an unscheduled stop on lap 74 for a loose wheel. He rejoined the race in 35th one lap down. A number of cars began pitting on lap 82. Logano hit pit road on lap 83 and handed the lead to Kevin Harvick. He pitted the next lap and Austin Dillon took the lead. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Keselowski. A. J. Allmendinger was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Chris Buescher was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty.
Second quarter Debris on the backstretch brought out the second caution of the race on lap 99. Keselowski and Logano swapped the lead on pit road with the former pitting before the start/finish line, but Jimmie Johnson exited pit road with the lead after taking just right-side tires.
The race restarted on lap 105. Logano took the lead from Johnson on lap 133, but Johnson passed him back the next lap. A number of cars began pitting on lap 141. These were the cars that took the wave-around under the second caution. It didn't stop Johnson from pitting on lap 149 and handing the lead over to Logano. He pitted on lap 151 and handed the lead to teammate Keselowski. He pitted on lap 154 and the lead cycled back to Johnson. Greg Biffle, Dillon, Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were all tagged for speeding on pit road and were forced to serve pass-through penalties.
Second half
Halfway