2016 STP 500

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2016 STP 500
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 6 of 36 in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
2016 STP 500 logo.jpeg
Date April 3, 2016 (2016-04-03)
Location Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance 500 laps, 263 mi (423.5 km)
Weather Sunny clear blue skies with a temperature of 51 °F (11 °C); wind out of the west/northwest at 9 mph (14 km/h)
Average speed 80.088 mph (128.889 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Team Penske
Time 19.513
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 352
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network FS1
Announcers Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings 2.2/5 (Overnight)[11]
2.5/5 (Final)[12]
4.2 million viewers[12]
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (Backstretch)

The 2016 STP 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on April 3, 2016, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps on the .526 mile (.847 km) paperclip-shaped short track, it was the sixth race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race. A. J. Allmendinger finished second, while Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five.

Joey Logano won the pole for the race and led 21 laps on his way to an 11th-place finish. Busch led a race high of 352 laps on his way to scoring the victory. The race had 11 lead changes among five different drivers and eight caution flag periods for 51 laps.

This was the 35th career victory for Busch, first of the season, first at Martinsville Speedway and ninth at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing. With the win, he moved up to third in the points standings. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Toyota left Martinsville trailing Chevrolet by three-points in the manufacturer standings.

The STP 500 was carried by Fox Sports on the cable/satellite Fox Sports 1 network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Report

Background

Martinsville Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

Entry list

The entry list for the STP 500 was released on Monday, March 28 at 1:50 p.m. Eastern time. Forty cars were entered for the race.

No. 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 Joey Gase (i) 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
55 Reed Sorenson Premium 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 Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice

Brian Vickers was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.485 and a speed of 97.182 mph (156.399 km/h).[13] Trevor Bayne went to his backup car after crashing his primary in the final 30 seconds of the session.[14]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 14 Brian Vickers Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.485 97.182
2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.500 97.108
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.504 97.088
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 19.513 and a speed of 97.043 mph (156.176 km/h).[15] He joined Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Darrell Waltrip and Glen Wood as the only drivers to have earned three-consecutive poles at Martinsville.[16] He said afterwards that it was "nice to be able to go up here and do what we know how to do - execute qualifying like we know how to at this racetrack. Ever since we unloaded this morning it was top of the board, it was a fast racecar. We knew that. We just had to keep our heads in the game and do what we know how to do."[17] He also added that he was "excited, pumped up, jacked up to come to this racetrack and show what we’re made of."[18] After qualifying second, Kasey Kahne said that his performance felt "good. The car was really fast, this Great Clips Chevrolet. The guys did a nice job in practice and in qualifying. I just kept getting better with my laps…The car is fine. Just let me get my laps a little better. I feel good about it (the car). We had a top-10 here the last race, last year; with the backup car because I crashed it in qualifying and this car is better than our primary car was last time.”[19] He also added that Logano "barely got us. But it is definitely a good starting spot. That was one of my goals today was to help out on pit road. Pit road is huge here. We have the best pit crew for stops, than anyone, in my opinion. And if I can help them on pit road, myself, and get a better spot, I think all that will be beneficial on Sunday."[20] After qualifying third, Brian Vickers said he was "so close; the No. 22 was really strong. I thought we had it when he ran a 51 (19.51) I thought we could beat that. We made a small adjustment going into the last round and I don’t know maybe that hurt us a little bit. It is so tight. We are fighting for hundredths of a second, thousandths of a second, but everybody on the No. 14 Chevrolet did a good job. I’m really proud of everyone. Mike (Bugarewicz, crew chief) gave me a great race car. Everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing, Chevy, it’s an honor to put the Arnie’s Army and Janssen Chevrolet in the top three.”[21]

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 19.474 19.386 19.513
2 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.655 19.516 19.515
3 14 Brian Vickers Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.479 19.513 19.549
4 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.533 19.458 19.551
5 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.597 19.552 19.575
6 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 19.527 19.522 19.587
7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.592 19.579 19.591
8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.640 19.572 19.594
9 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.588 19.552 19.635
10 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.623 19.588 19.679
11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 19.584 19.574 19.683
12 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 19.565 19.571 19.690
13 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.644 19.595
14 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.578 19.598
15 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.700 19.599
16 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 19.580 19.609
17 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.602 19.628
18 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 19.631 19.629
19 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.540 19.651
20 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 19.698 19.675
21 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.678 19.715
22 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 19.663 19.729
23 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.640 19.767
24 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.701 19.784
25 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.708
26 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 19.742
27 95 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 19.743
28 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.748
29 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.751
30 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 19.758
31 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 19.775
32 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 19.805
33 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.809
34 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 19.819
35 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 19.871
36 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 19.880
37 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 19.971
38 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 20.092
39 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 20.098
40 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kasey Kahne was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 19.710 and a speed of 96.073 mph (154.615 km/h).[22]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 19.710 96.073
2 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.756 95.849
3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 19.788 95.694
Official second practice results

Final practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 19.835 and a speed of 95.468 mph (153.641 km/h).[23]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 19.835 95.468
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19.862 95.338
3 14 Brian Vickers Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 19.869 95.304
Official final practice results

Race

First half

Start

Under clear blue Virginia skies, Joey Logano led the field to the green flag at 1:19 p.m. The first caution of the race flew on the fifth lap for a single-car spin in turn 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. bounced off the side of David Ragan's car and spun out.[24]

The race restarted on lap 10. Going into turn 3, Paul Menard dove under Logano to take the lead on lap 22. Kyle Busch dove under Menard going into turn 3 to take the lead on lap 33. The second caution of the race flew on lap 91 for a single-car spin in turn 2. Menard got into the left-rear corner of Brian Scott, sent him into Michael Annett and sent him spinning. Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski were tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.[25]

The race restarted on lap 98. Kevin Harvick drove under Busch to take the lead on lap 101. He retook the lead on lap 107. Matt Kenseth drove by his teammate exiting turn 2 to take the lead on lap 133. The third caution of the race flew on lap 136 for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Regan Smith sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning into the wall.

Second quarter

The race restarted on lap 145. Busch drove by the outside of Kenseth going into turn 3 to retake the lead on lap 147. Harvick drove by Busch going into turn 1 to take the lead on lap 156. Aric Almirola retired from the race on lap 208 due to engine issues and would go on to finish last.[26] The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 222 for a single-car wreck in turn 1. Hamlin's wheel hopped going into the turn and slammed the wall.[27] He said afterwards that it was the "first time ever doing it here, so it’s a little embarrassing, but I mean we were the fastest car those last 30 laps and we got back to the top-five and I was making up a lot of my speed on entry. As the tires wear, the rears get hotter, less grip, you can’t brake at the same amount – it was really out of the blue. I didn’t ever have a hint of it up until that moment, so a bit of a rookie move on my part. Been around here too much to do something like that, but learning for the fall and I’m really encouraged about how good our car came up through the pack and I really thought we had a car that could win.”[28] Harvick and Kenseth swapped the lead on pit road and the latter exited with the lead.

The race restarted on lap 228. Busch retook the lead on lap 230. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 312 for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Josh Wise suffered a tire blowout and slammed the wall. Reed Sorenson was tagged for having too many crew members over the wall and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

Second half

Halfway

The race restarted on lap 321. Busch worked past Kenseth to retake the lead on lap 325. The sixth caution of the race flew with 117 laps to go for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Exiting the turn, Michael Annett got loose and spun out. Logano was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.[29]

Fourth quarter

The race restarted with 110 laps to go. The seventh caution of the race flew with 45 laps to go for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Regan Smith suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall. Chase Elliott was tagged for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.[30]

The race restarted with 34 laps to go. The eighth caution of the race flew with 17 laps to go for a single-car spin on the backstretch. Jamie McMurray suffered a left-front tire blowout, got hit in the rear and turned.

The race restarted with 14 laps and went green for the rest of the race. Busch drove on to score the checkered flag.[31]

Post-race

Driver comments

Busch said after the race that he "had a really good car through practice and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made some really good adjustments overnight to keep us where we need to be in order to run up front all day, led a lot of laps, probably led the most laps there and to win here in Martinsville is pretty cool – finally get to take a clock home."[32] He also added that he "can't say enough about this whole JGR team. The M&M's Camry was awesome in practice. We had a really good car through practice, and Adam made some really good adjustments overnight to keep us where we needed to be, running up front all day."[33]

A. J. Allmendinger said of his second–place finish and his strong runs of late that they're "something that really started on the West Coast swing and coming through here, I feel like we've been at our best at the end of these races. We've maximized. That's the biggest thing we always say — if we can just maximize our finishes, whether they're top-fives or you're running 20th and you can get 18th an out of it, that's what we want to do.”[34]

“It was a solid weekend for myself. I was able to do double-duty this week and I think that helped me get my rhythm early in the weekend,” Larson said. “It bettered myself each time I was on the track. Normally a truck does not drive anything like a Cup car. This is the only race track probably where it does. Getting more laps on this racetrack is the most important part for myself."[35]

Race results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 45
2 6 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 500 39
3 17 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 500 38
4 29 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 37
5 11 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 500 36
6 25 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 35
7 3 14 Brian Vickers Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 34
8 4 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 34
9 24 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 32
10 5 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 31
11 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 500 31
12 14 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 500 29
13 23 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 28
14 21 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 27
15 9 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 500 27
16 28 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 25
17 19 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 500 25
18 16 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 500 23
19 12 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 500 22
20 10 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 499 21
21 22 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 499 20
22 2 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 499 19
23 15 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 499 18
24 27 95 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 498 17
25 30 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 497 16
26 26 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 496 15
27 32 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 496 14
28 33 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 495 13
29 35 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 495 12
30 31 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 495 11
31 18 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 494 10
32 13 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 494 9
33 36 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 491 8
34 34 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 491 7
35 38 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 490 6
36 37 32 Joey Gase (i) Go FAS Racing Ford 490 0
37 40 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 490 4
38 39 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 326 3
39 8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 221 2
40 20 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 206 1
Official STP 500 results

Race summary

  • Lead changes: 11
  • Cautions: 8 for 51
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 17 minutes, and 2 seconds
  • Average speed: 80.088 miles per hour (128.889 km/h)

Media

Television

Fox Sports was covering their 16th race at the Martinsville Speedway. Mike Joy, nine-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon and 11-time Martinsville winner Darrell Waltrip called in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled pit road duties for the entire race.

FS1
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon
Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip
Jamie Little
Vince Welch
Matt Yocum

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which would also be simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and seven-time Martinsville winner Rusty Wallace called the race in the booth as the cars were on the fronstrecth. Dave Moody called the race from atop the turn 3 stands as the field is racing down the backstretch. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post worked pit road for the radio side.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Backstretch: Dave Moody Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

Standings after the race

References

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