The 2016 Coke Zero 400 powered by Cola-Cola was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that was held on July 2, 2016 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 161 laps - extended from 160 laps due to overtime, on the superspeedway, it was the 17th race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
The race had 26 lead changes among different drivers and five cautions for 28 laps.
Report
Entry list The preliminary entry list for the race included forty-one cars and was released on June 3, 2016 at 2:31 pm ET. 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 RacingChevrolet32Bobby LabonteGo FAS RacingFord34Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord35David GillilandFront 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 MotorsportsToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice Brian Scott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 45.147 and a speed of . With nine minutes remaining in the session, Kyle Busch suffered a cut in his right-rear tire, got loose, turned up the track and slammed the wall head-on in turn 1. After being released from the infield care center, he said the crash "was a huge impact. I thank NASCAR for all their advancements in the safety aspects of the car in the things that drivers wear and the SAFER Barriers as well today. That could have been a heck of a lot uglier than what it was. I'm pretty confident in Joe Gibbs Racing and their ability to build good race cars. I'm not very confident in Goodyear in giving us good tires to go out there and race on." He later clarified his statement on Goodyear saying from his "vantage point, we’ve had a lot of tire issues this year. That’s probably, I don’t know, four or five or six tires that we’ve blown this year. That’s what the most frustrating part is. We also did the tire test at Kentucky and didn’t necessarily have the best of results I felt like from my vantage point with what we’ve got to do for next week. That’s where the frustration probably stemmed from and came from. Goodyear probably didn’t deserve what they got from me earlier today.’’ The damage forced him to switch to his backup car.
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 45.147 199.349 2 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 45.148 199.344 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 45.292 198.711Official final practice results
Qualifying
Greg Biffle scored the pole for the race with a time of 46.643 and a speed of . He said the pole "feels good for our team. Not only did we win the pole but the car is in race trim right now, so it shows you how fast it’ll be Saturday night and that's one thing we're really happy about." He added that his team has "been working really, really hard. Just really excited for the whole team. I'm just happy to be driving it.”
Carl Edwards, who qualified second, said he's "got a fast race car" and that he's "happy for Greg and the Roush group though. It's good to see them succeed and congratulations on the pole." He added that he "would have loved to be on the pole, but starting up front will be great and hopefully we can stay up front. I need to get a win in that column, we have a big zero there from my career here at Daytona so I would like to get a win.”
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 116Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord46.72246.643219Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota46.85546.693318Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota46.98846.793417Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord46.90946.79752Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord46.77346.81363Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet46.85146.813720Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota46.86046.818848Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet47.01446.836911Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota47.04546.8811041Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet47.04346.9081122Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord46.87647.0221221Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord47.01947.058136Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord47.0731443Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord47.0921578Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota47.0951688Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet47.1031742Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet47.137185Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet47.1741914Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet47.2022013Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet47.250214Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet47.2582210Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet47.2592331Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet47.2752424Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet47.2792534Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord47.3002647A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet47.3992727Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet47.4452835David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord47.501291Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet47.5663044Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord47.6283115Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet47.6883232Bobby LabonteGo FAS RacingFord47.7733346Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet47.7853438Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord47.8093598Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsToyota47.9673683Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota47.9843795Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet48.0053823David RaganBK RacingToyota48.0193955Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet48.122407Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet0.000Did not qualify4130Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet48.885Official qualifying results
Race
First half
Under clear Florida evening skies, Greg Biffle led the field to the green flag at 8:14. The honor of leading the first lap, however, went to Carl Edwards. Brad Keselowski passed Edwards on the outside line to take the lead on the ninth lap. Riding along, the field raced two and three wide through the entire pack. The first caution of the race flew on lap 21 for a stalled car on the frontstretch. The car was the No. 38 of Landon Cassill and he was reporting engine failure. Because this came out the same lap as a scheduled competition caution, the teams were allowed to refuel. David Ragan opted to stay out when the leaders pitted and assumed the lead. He pitted the next time through and Keselowski cycled back to the lead. Jimmie Johnson was tagged for too many crew members over the wall and Casey Mears was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon. Both restarted the race from the tail end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 26. Biffle drag-raced Keselowski to the start/finish line to take the lead on lap 30. Keselowski took it back on lap 31. The field settled into a single-file train running the high side of the track. That only lasted a few laps, however, as the bottom line – led by Joey Logano – began to close in on Keselowski. A number of cars, including race leader Keselowski, began pitting on lap 65. This handed the lead to Denny Hamlin, who pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Mears. He pitted on lap 68 and Kevin Harvick assumed the lead. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Clint Bowyer. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Kyle Busch. Danica Patrick was tagged for driving through too many pit boxes on pit road and was forced to serve a pass through penalty.
Second half Denny Hamlin passed teammate Busch on the top and took the lead on lap 77. Keselowski passed to his outside to take back the lead on lap 83. The second caution of the race flew on lap 90 for a multi-car wreck in turn 1. It started when Jamie McMurray bounced off Kyle Larson, got hooked into the wall by Johnson and collected up to 22 cars. McMurray said he didn't "know what happened. I think somebody got into my left rear, and I don't know if I cut a tire down. After I felt that happen, I just didn't have any control. ... It's unfortunate. It's part of [restrictor] plate racing." Johnson said that there was "light contact" and that "the momentum carried me into the back of [McMurray] and turned him sideways. It was a matter of inches, and once it started, it collected everybody." "Just a bunch of cars crashing -- pretty much that was it," said Matt Kenseth. "I was just trying to make my way back toward the front a little bit there. We had a bad pit-stop exchange and came out way, way behind everybody. Carl was up toward the front and we were running with him before the pit stop. I probably should have just hung in the back, hindsight, but who knows when they're going to wreck, you never know if they're going to wreck. Just trying to get back toward the front and there was a wreck somewhere a few rows up in front of me and just nowhere really to go." Michael Annett, Biffle, Bowyer, Chris Buescher, Matt DiBenedetto, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, David Gilliland, Harvick, Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kenseth, Larson, McMurray, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, Patrick, Ragan, Regan Smith, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney all were involved. Buescher would go on to finish 40th. Logano exited pit road first.
The race restarted on lap 102. A power move to the outside by Keselowski got him by his teammate for the lead at lap 106. Debris brought out the third caution of the race with 30 laps to go. Busch exited pit road first.
The race restarted with 26 laps to go. After racing side-by-side for five laps, Keselowski powered by him on the outside on the backstretch to take back the lead with 21 laps to go. Busch drove underneath him exiting turn 4 to retake the lead with 19 laps to go. Keselowski drove underneath him in turn 2 to retake the lead with 16 laps to go. The fourth caution of the race flew with 12 laps to go for a single-car wreck in turn 1 involving Tony Stewart. “Casey Mears was watching and gave me plenty of room to get up there,” Stewart said. “So I figured it was better if I got to the top. Then three or four laps later I got loose into (Turn) 1, so I hadn't been loose all day there. When I did, I over-corrected and got into the fence.”
The race restarted with six laps to go. The fifth caution of the race flew with five laps to go after Edwards was turned into the wall by Ryan Blaney and collected Bobby Labonte.
The race restarted with two laps to go. Keselowski held off the Busch brothers and teammate Logano to score the victory just as Kurt Busch got turned into the tri-oval grass by Logano. It was the 100th Sprint Cup Series win for Team Penske.
Post-race
Driver comments