The 2016 AAA Texas 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on November 6, 2016, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 293 laps on the intermediate quad-oval, it was the 34th race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, eighth race of the Chase and second race of the Round of 8. Shortened from 334 laps due to rain, the race was won by Carl Edwards for Joe Gibbs Racing, taking his 28th Cup Series victory.
Entry list 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 RacingChevrolet32Joey Gase (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 MotorsportsToyota78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota88Alex Bowman (i) Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet93Ryan Ellis (i) BK RacingToyota95Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevroletOfficial entry list
First practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.455 and a speed of . Kyle Busch went to a backup car after hitting the wall exiting turn 4 on his first lap in practice. He said afterwards that he "got into Turn 3 and the car felt good. It loaded really well, but we got back into the throttle and got to the bumps and it bottomed me out a little bit. It got me up the track. From there the whole car just kind of came off the track. I couldn't get it checked up or slowed down in time before it slapped the wall. Speeds are really high here at Texas and when you lose that grip, it happens in a hurry and it got away from me. I wish I would have taken it a little easier but I wasn't even trying that hard to be honest so it was a shock that it happened."
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.455 196.685 2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.512 196.278 3 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.561 195.929Official first practice results
Second practice Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.645 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime121Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord28.645188.515247A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet28.646188.508317Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord28.747187.846Official second practice results
Final practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.319 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime12Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord28.319190.685278Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota28.453189.787318Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.458189.753Official final practice results
Qualifying
Austin Dillon scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.081 and a speed of . He said afterwards that he couldn't "be happier for RCR and everybody back at the shop. A lot of hard work and effort goes on. We missed the Chase by just two feet. We want to prove that we can win a race by the end of this year. This is big for us. I thought I messed up the lap, truthfully. I got a lot of good speed off of (Turn) 2, but Turn 3 I turned in and missed my corner, but it worked out. Proud of these guys and everybody back home."
Joey Logano, who qualified second, said he "didn’t think it would be anywhere close to the pole" after he "got done with that last run," and that he "didn’t have a very good run in (turn) 2 at all; I missed the bottom. And then realizing how close you were to the pole afterward is the most frustrating part of it, especially after last week.
Kyle Busch's crew chief Adam Stevens, who took the No. 18 car to the garage for a water leak after advancing into the second round, said he thought the leak was "a byproduct of pounding the fence before we even completed a lap in practice. In our hurry to change the motor and all the drivetrain afterwards, apparently we didn't get the lower radiator hose completely clamped on the water neck out of the block and proceeded to dump all the water out of it on pit road after our first run. We’re going to start 24th and get after them from there.”
After a crash during Saturday's Xfinity Series race, Matt DiBenedetto entered concussion protocol and was not cleared to run the Sprint Cup race. His substitute in the No. 83 was Jeffrey Earnhardt.
Chase Elliott experienced flu-like symptoms during the weekend. Justin Allgaier was named as his standby.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 13 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.960 27.979 28.081 222 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 27.797 27.982 28.087 34 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.855 27.826 28.099 42 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 28.095 28.231 28.106 542 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.952 28.237 28.131 627 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.007 28.020 28.195 720 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.062 28.208 28.216 821 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.027 28.202 28.232 919 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.977 27.844 28.274 1041 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 27.981 28.173 28.340 1124 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.863 28.093 28.357 1278 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 27.941 28.163 28.487 1313 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 28.118 28.238 1447 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.055 28.244 151 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.138 28.265 1688 Alex Bowman (i) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.132 28.288 1711 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.957 28.298 1831 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.012 28.335 1948 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.071 28.493 2017 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.243 28.542 2143 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.121 28.623 2210 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.134 28.742 2314 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.090 281.286 2418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.827 0.000 2516 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.251 266 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.308 2715 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.312 2895 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 28.343 2944 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.372 3034 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.374 315 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.389 327 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.435 3383 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 28.436 3438 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.561 3593 Ryan Ellis (i) BK Racing Toyota 28.648 3623 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 28.778 3746 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 28.903 3855 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 29.316 3932 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 29.660 4030 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 29.877 Official qualifying results
Race First half
The start of the race was delayed for nearly six hours due to rain. The aged surface compounded the drying time. Austin Dillon led the field to the green flag at 7:56 p.m. under yellow flag conditions as the track surface was still not completely dry. The race went green at lap 7. Dillon was no match for Joey Logano who beat him on the restart to take the lead. The second caution of the race flew on lap 29. It was a scheduled competition caution.
The race restarted on lap 34. Green flag stops started on lap 73. Logano pitted from the lead on lap 76 and handed it to Dillon. He pitted the next lap and gave the lead to Denny Hamlin. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Kyle Busch who pitted the same lap on the next trip by, and the lead cycled back to Logano.
The third caution flew on lap 109 for Brian Scott spinning out in turn 4.
The race restarted on lap 116. Debris on the backstretch, a piece of hose, brought out the fourth caution on lap 117. The piece of debris punched a hole through the front bumper of Busch's car.
The race restarted on lap 121. The fifth caution flew on lap 143 for Paul Menard spinning in turn 3. Adding to his drama, a tire appeared to "explode" in his stall when it was something related to the inner liner. “When a car spins it generally flat spots the tires, which is exactly what happened here,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of race tire sales. “It flat spotted both front (tires). The damage that was done to the left front as he drove around the race track looked like it partially unseated the inner liner. So it was actually the inner liner that let go on pit road. It wasn't the tire itself. The tire was already down.”
Second half The race restarted on lap 149. Green flag stops commenced on lap 188. Logano pitted on lap 189 and the lead cycled to Martin Truex Jr.
He and Edwards were fighting for the lead when both decided to pit on lap 224 and Chase Elliott took over the lead. He pitted the following lap and the lead cycled back to Truex.
The sixth caution flew with 80 laps to go for David Ragan turning Dillon in turn 3. Edwards exited pit road first.
The race restarted with 74 to go. A three-car wreck on the frontstretch involving Dillon, Casey Mears and Scott brought out the seventh caution with 72 to go. Dillon said afterwards that Harvick "sucked down on my door tighter than anybody had all night. He knew how tight he was at my door, that’s why I slid up in front of him. He didn’t check (up). He had the opportunity to. He didn’t like it that the silver spoon kid was outrunning him tonight, so we’ll be alright. We’ve got two weeks left. We just want to come out and win a race.” Harvick said after the race that "there was no intent there. I like racing with Austin. I like everything that they do. There was no reason [to hit him]. I was running seventh [or] sixth. He slid up and got loose and I hit the back of him."
The race restarted with 64 to go. Rain brought out the eighth caution with 45 to go. The race was red-flagged with 41 to go, declared official a few minutes later and Edwards was declared the winner. It would end up being the final win of his career, before he abruptly retired following the season.
Post-race
Driver comments Edwards said in victory lane that he "actually enjoyed [the race]. Obviously this is what we had to do. The guys got me off pit road first and that's what won it for me. We've got a shot at the championship at Homestead and that's all we wanted."