The 2016 AAA 400 Drive for Autism was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on May 15, 2016, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps on the 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete speedway, it was the 12th race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The race had 19 lead changes among different drivers, and twelve cautions for 65 laps, along with a red-flag period of 11 minutes, 22 seconds.

Report

Background

Dover International Speedway is a oval track in Dover, Delaware. Entering the race, Kevin Harvick leads the points with 390, while Kyle Busch is 4 points back, Carl Edwards is 23 points back, Jimmie Johnson is 37 points back, and Kurt Busch is 40 points back.

Entry list Forty cars are entered for the race. 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 RacingChevrolet32Jeffrey Earnhardt (R)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 RacingToyota88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevrolet Official entry list

Practice

First practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 21.799 and a speed of . Four minutes into the session, Danica Patrick's engine expired, dumped oil onto the track, spun and caught fire on the frontstretch. Jamie McMurray and Tony Stewart were caught in the oil and slammed the wall. All three went to backup cars. Patrick said afterwards that "there was oil, a fire and the car spun and was caught by the wall. I'm not sure what happened, but this is obviously not something we normally see. You don't see a lot of failures like that. I'm sure they will figure out what it is. It sucks when it takes other people with you."

Harvick, speaking on his teammate's wreck on a part of the outside wall not reinforced with SAFER barriers, said that they've been put "in the groove at Darlington and it's two-and-a-half cars wide. So, there's really no excuse not to have it in my opinion. ... We don't wear our helmets and HANS devices for the impacts that we are prepared for. We wear those things for the instances where those one-off things can happen like happened today."

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 21.799 165.145 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.857 164.707 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21.886 164.489Official first practice results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 22.808 and a speed of .

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.808 157.839 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.878 157.356 3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.929 157.006Official second practice results

Final practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.882 and a speed of .

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 22.882 157.329 2 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 23.011 156.447 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23.023 156.365Official final practice results

Qualifying Kevin Harvick claimed the pole after a rained out qualifying session. The starting grid was set on times from the first practice. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who started second, said he hoped "we will get some practice tomorrow to get to work on the race set-up a little bit. We just ran in qualifying trim today. The car was not real close when we came off the trailer, but they made some great adjustments and got some good speed out of it, got it real comfortable. I like this track. It is challenging to run the way you want to run every lap, lap after lap, and that is a fun challenge."

Qualifying results

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 8 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 10 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 11 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 13 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 14 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 1543 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 16 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 18 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 19 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 22 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 25 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 26 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 27 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 28 95 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 29 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 30 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 31 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 32 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 33 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 34 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 35 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 37 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 38 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 39 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 40 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet Official starting lineup

Race

First half

Start Under mostly sunny Delaware skies, Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 1:16 p.m. After five laps, he pulled to a one-second lead over Carl Edwards. After 15 laps, that gap grew to two seconds. After 30 laps, the gap grew to four seconds. The first caution of the race flew on lap 41. It was a scheduled competition caution due to overnight rain. Edwards exited pit road with the race lead.

The race restarted on lap 46. Harvick dove underneath Edwards going into turn 1 to retake the lead on lap 48. The second caution of the race flew on lap 118 for a single-car wreck on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Matt DiBenedetto got loose and slammed the wall. He would go on to finish 40th. Edwards exited pit road with the race lead. Denny Hamlin was tagged for improper fueling and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

Second quarter The race restarted on lap 125. Matt Kenseth took the lead on lap 132 before ceding it back to Edwards on lap 133. The third caution of the race flew on lap 143 for a single-car spin in turn 4. Rounding the turn, Regan Smith got loose and made contact with the wall. Martin Truex Jr. opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the race lead.

The race restarted on lap 152. Debris in turn 1 brought out the fourth caution of the race on lap 172. Greg Biffle opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the race lead. Ryan Newman was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

The race restarted on lap 179. Kyle Larson drove underneath Biffle into turn 3 to take the lead on lap 182. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 183 for a single-car wreck in turn 3. Going into the turn, Austin Dillon suffered a right-front brake rotor failure and slammed the wall. He said afterwards that he thought "it was the brakes. I was complaining about them before that, having to pump them up. I am just frustrated. We had the same issue at Bristol and we come here and we have another issue with the brakes. I'm frustrated, but we had a good car. Our Chevrolet was fast and we had good shot of running top 10, top-five depending on track position."

The race restarted on lap 191. The sixth caution of the race flew on lap 212 for a single-car spin in turn 1. Reed Sorenson blew an engine in turn 1 and spun around. Jimmie Johnson ran through the oil and spun out as well. Hamlin opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the race lead. Jamie McMurray was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

Second half

Halfway The race restarted on lap 220. The seventh caution of the race flew for a single-car wreck on the frontstretch. Exiting turn 4, McMurray got into Michael Annett and sent him into the outside wall. Annett's car then came down across the track and slammed the inside wall.

The race restarted on lap 231. Brad Keselowski got by Hamlin in turn 3 to take the lead on lap 232. After 20 laps of battling back and forth, Larson drove by Keselowski exiting turn 2 to retake the lead on lap 281. Debris on the frontstretch brought out the eighth caution of the race with 113 laps to go.

The race restarted with 107 laps to go. Debris on the frontstretch brought out the ninth caution of the race with 102 laps to go.

Fourth quarter

The race restarted with 98 laps to go. After battling for 10 laps, Martin Truex Jr. passed Larson rounding turn 2 to take the lead with 70 laps to go. The 10th caution of the race came with 58 laps to go after Tony Stewart broke a track bar, which punctured the rear gear, spilling rear end grease in turn 1 and Chris Buescher spun out. Johnson exited pit road with the race lead. Under the caution, Johnson led his three-thousandth career lap at Dover.