2016 FireKeepers Casino 400

The 2016 FireKeepers Casino 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 12, 2016, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the fifteenth race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

2016 FireKeepers Casino 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Race 15 of 36 in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date June 12, 2016 (2016-06-12)
Location Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Permanent racing facility
2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Weather Mostly sunny skies with a temperature of 72 °F (22 °C); wind out of the northeast at 10 mph (16 km/h)
Average speed 134.241 mph (216.040 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Team Penske
Time 36.080 seconds
Most laps led
Driver Joey Logano Team Penske
Laps 138
Winner
No. 22 Joey Logano Team Penske
Television in the United States
Network FS1
Announcers Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dave Moody (1–2) and Mike Bagley (3–4)

The race had 14 lead changes among different drivers and nine cautions for 46 laps.

Background

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Layout of Michigan International Speedway, the track where the race was held.

The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).

Aero package

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Two weeks prior to the race, NASCAR announced they will test changes to the aero package.[11] In addition to the aero changes used in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, there will be a reduction in spoiler size from 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) to 2.5 inches (6.4 cm), a two-inch (5.1 cm) reduction of the splitter and resizing the deck fin.[12]

NASCAR Executive Vice-president and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said that NASCAR looks "at it as a never-ending journey; if we can improve we’re going to do that. We wanted to go the direction of low downforce, see how that worked, not kind of go all the way in and hope that we are directionally right. And we are seeing that play out. We’ve seen some great racing at the beginning of the year. But we also knew that we had some more levers that we could pull if the direction kind of proved out, so we’ve tried some of those things. We’ve tested it and what we’ve also wanted to do is lower some of the corner speeds to allow for even more passing. That was one of the areas where we’ve seen minimal change, but there are some levers we can pull to really drive that down.”[12]

Entry list

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The preliminary entry list for the race included forty cars and was released on June 3, 2016, at 12:29 pm ET.

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 Tony Stewart 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
55 Cole Whitt 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 Ty Dillon (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet
98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
Official entry list
Key Meaning
(R) Running for Rookie of the Year
(i) Not eligible for Sprint Cup Series points

First practice

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Chase Elliott was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.709 and a speed of 201.630 mph (324.492 km/h).[13]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.709 201.630
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 35.765 201.314
3 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 35.782 201.218
First practice results

Qualifying

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Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 36.080 and a speed of 199.557 mph (321.156 km/h).[14] He said afterwards that starting first "feels good. Finally, we were able to break through. The last two weeks have stunk for me and my team. We have won the first two rounds the last few weeks and qualified second. Now we figured out how to be second in the first round and first in the last two. That is a good move. I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the effort they put into this new package. This is such an unknown showing up here so it is cool to show what all the engineers and simulation department were able to do to put together a good package off the truck. I am very happy to be driving this car.”[15]

“A lot of fun out there,” Martin Truex Jr. said after qualifying second. “Slipping and sliding as the track got hot a slick. I like where we are with this package and tomorrow we’ll fine tune what we have, take the tape off and get dialed in for the race.”[16]

After qualifying third, Tony Stewart said his team is "gaining on it. We've just got to get a little break here to get going. We were going good last week. The guy that won the race, our teammate [Kurt Busch], we were running the same lap times as him the whole race until we had our problem."[17]

The session was halted in the first round after David Ragan spun out and tagged the wall with his right-rear corner.[18]

Qualifying results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 36.181 36.001 36.080
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 36.412 36.363 36.178
3 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.380 36.308 36.190
4 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.104 36.160 36.222
5 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 36.245 36.337 36.256
6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.450 36.381 36.296
7 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 36.545 36.317 36.328
8 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.457 36.265 36.361
9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.449 36.237 36.397
10 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.468 36.301 36.483
11 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.191 36.148 36.632
12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.583 36.300 36.902
13 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.485 36.387
14 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 36.489 36.409
15 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 36.619 36.443
16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.661 36.456
17 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.541 36.515
18 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.404 36.575
19 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.491 36.635
20 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 36.671 36.643
21 95 Ty Dillon (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 36.460 36.696
22 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 36.539 36.709
23 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.482 36.711
24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 36.547 36.780
25 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.700
26 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 36.710
27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.720
28 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 36.742
29 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 36.747
30 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 36.775
31 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 36.846
32 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.960
33 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 37.177
34 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 37.359
35 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 37.363
36 55 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 37.652
37 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 37.930
38 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 38.071
39 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 38.358
40 98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 38.789
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

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Second practice

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Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 36.406 and speed of 197.770 mph (318.280 km/h).[19]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.406 197.770
2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.412 197.737
3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 36.466 197.444
Second practice results

Final practice

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Austin Dillon led the final practice session with a lap time of 37.056 and speed of 194.301 mph (312.697 km/h).[20]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 37.056 194.301
2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 37.111 194.013
3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 37.142 193.851
Final practice results

Race

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First half

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Start

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Joey Logano won the race from the pole position.

Under mostly sunny Michigan skies, Joey Logano led the field to the green at 1:19 p.m. He got loose in turn 1 and Martin Truex Jr. took the lead. In the first 10 laps, a number of drivers were reporting being "incredibly loose" because of the changes made to the aero package. Logano made his back to the lead on lap 11. By lap 25, Truex began reeling him in for the race lead. Green flag stops began around lap 39. Logano pitted from the lead two laps later and handed it to teammate Brad Keselowski. Landon Cassill was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Keselowski ran out of gas on the frontstretch on lap 46. He was saved by Truex spinning out in turn 3 which brought out the first caution of the race. He made it to pit road and the lead cycled back to Logano.

Second quarter

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The race restarted on lap 51. Kyle Busch's car caught fire in the engine area and blew up on the backstretch.[21] This brought out the second caution of the race on lap 54. He said afterwards that he felt "the motor kind of going south for about 30 laps or so and finally let go. At least there was plenty of warning and I knew it was going to get hot in there and it certainly did once it let go and it was on fire. It’s just been a dismal month, just haven’t been able to hit anything and get good finishes going."[22] He would go on to finish 40th.[23]

The race restarted on lap 61. The third caution of the race flew on lap 62 for a two-car wreck on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Chris Buescher got loose and tapped the left-rear corner of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He got loose, came across the nose of A. J. Allmendinger and sent them both into the wall. Earnhardt continued down the backstretch and spun down the track.[24] Earnhardt said afterwards that he "knew I was going to hit the wall. The No. 34 (Buescher) just drove into the left front quarter panel. Oh, man. I don’t know; them restarts and all that. You’ve got a responsibility to try and take care of everybody out there even when you’re three-wide. I’m disappointed in that. But, we had a pretty good car and we were just kind of taking our time, there. And the car was great. So, it’s a shame.”[25] When asked about the wreck from his point of view, Allmendinger said he wasn't “really sure. I think Junior got hit and I was on the outside of him and that was it. It was kind of weird back there. I’m not really sure what kind of car we had. I thought in clean air we weren’t too bad, but I guess a lot of people could say that. Just not a lot of fun racing there.”[26]

The race restarted on lap 69. A number of cars began pitting on lap 93. Logano pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Kyle Larson. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Keselowski. He pitted on lap 99 and handed the lead to Jimmie Johnson. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 102 for Jeffrey Earnhardt slamming the wall in turn 2. Johnson pitted under the caution and the lead cycled back to Logano. Aric Almirola was tagged for having too many crew members over the wall and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

Second half

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Halfway

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The race restarted on lap 107. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 109 after Jeffrey Earnhardt's car caught on fire after slamming the wall a second time on the backstretch.

The race restarted with 84 laps to go. Logano didn't get a good restart and lost the lead to Chase Elliott. The sixth caution of the race flew with 53 laps to go after Regan Smith made contact with the wall and debris was scattered on the backstretch. Elliott and Logano swapped the lead on pit road, but Elliott exited with the lead.

Fourth quarter

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The race restarted with 47 laps to go. Elliott got a lousy restart and lost the lead to Logano. The seventh caution of the race flew with 46 to go after a multi-car wreck on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Casey Mears got into the wall, clipped Danica Patrick who then clipped Brian Scott and sent him head-on into the outside wall.

The race restarted with 40 laps to go. The eighth caution of the race flew with 38 laps to go for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Rounding the turn, Ryan Blaney got loose and slammed the wall. Not far behind, Trevor Bayne got into Johnson and he was slight contact with the wall.[27] During the caution, Johnson drove up to the side of Bayne to show his displeasure.[27] Bayne said over the radio that he "just got really loose there. It wasn’t intentional with the 48."[27]

The race restarted with 33 laps to go. In the last 20 laps, Elliott began closing the deficit down to under a second. The ninth caution of the race flew with 12 laps to go for a single-car wreck on the frontstretch. Crossing the start/finish line, Denny Hamlin suffered a left-rear tire blowout, spun through the grass and hit the inside wall.[28]

The race restarted with seven laps to go and Logano drove on to win the race.[29]

Post-race

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Driver comments

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Logano said after the race that it was "a crazy race with the low downforce and with more cautions and more opportunity to screw up pretty much. What a fun race, racing with Chase and Kyle Larson. It is fun to see the young guys up there racing. I am not alone up there as a young guy anymore. I have guys up there younger than me racing for a win.”[30]

Despite earning a career-best finish of second, Elliott said it was "not a good day, nope, not a good day" and that he "can’t do dumb stuff and expect to win this thing. When you do dumb stuff, you don’t win. I did dumb stuff today.”[31]

“It was a solid run for us,” Larson said. “We’ve been consistent as we’ve been in the last year and a half anyways, so it’s nice to be running up front and getting closer to a win. Still got some work to do, but it is nice when we can get a package like this thrown at us just a few weeks before the race, and our guys at the shop and here at the racetrack can look at engineering data and come up with a good piece.”[32]

Earnhardt Jr's career-ending concussion

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On August 1, 2016, Earnhardt admitted on his podcast that he had suffered what would become a season-ending injury at Michigan, but did not know of the seriousness until after the July Daytona race. The U.S. Open break meant drivers had 12 days off before they returned to Sonoma, where he made a trip to Germany before returning to Sonoma. After the ensuing race at Daytona, Earnhardt would be ruled out with concussion symptoms before the Kentucky round, after which he would not be cleared for the rest of the 2016 season, missing half the season. It was found the concussion was a result of a crash in this race.

Media comments

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"If Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 were a school science project it was worthy of a B minus. NASCAR’s latest incarnation of a rules package designed to take away aerodynamic downforce in the pursuit of better racing was on display at MIS. After a weekend of practice and qualifying that didn’t answer many questions prior to the race starting, a feeling of unknown permeated the start of the race. As it turned out the race was won by a driver that dominated in Joey Logano, leading 138 laps on his way to Victory Lane. But the box score doesn’t tell the entire story. The loose feel of the race cars that featured minuscule spoilers and other aerodynamic tweaks created a wild and wooly style of racing at least throughout the field. But at the front of the field the dreaded “clean air” term still was in play and the other drivers that led the 61 laps Logano didn’t clearly had the advantage once they were in the top spot. There were other stretches where the field was strung out around the track for several laps. The experimentation is an ongoing process and NASCAR officials will sift through the data and information of Sunday’s race and no doubt use those takeaways to develop the 2017 rules package. The Michigan rules will be used again next month at Kentucky to provide more feedback. Overall the feeling throughout the garage is one of optimism as NASCAR keeps tinkering with the formula."

Motor Racing Network lead writer and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Pete Pistone giving his thoughts on the FireKeepers Casino 400.[33]

Members of the NASCAR media gave their thoughts on the race itself.

Pete Pistone of the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio said that "it was worthy of a B minus," the cars being loose "created a wild and wooly style of racing at least throughout the field," but that clean air "still was in play and the other drivers that led the 61 laps Logano didn’t clearly had the advantage once they were in the top spot" and that the package is "an ongoing process and NASCAR officials will sift through the data and information of Sunday’s race and no doubt use those takeaways to develop the 2017 rules package."[33]

Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press said that lowering "the downforce on the front of the cars let drivers rip along the long, wide straightways at MIS pushing 220 m.p.h. The increased speed — and alternately slower corner speed — meant drivers had more opportunity to maneuver and actually drive their cars." He also noted that "the speed difference between the turns and the straightaway was as much as 40 m.p.h. This means — in theory — drivers have a chance to really maneuver as they hit the stretch. And that means they need more control of their cars, which NASCAR aimed to give them with the new rules that let teams lower the downforce. The flip side, as Logano pointed out, is that extra speed and more bunched-together drivers — feeling like they have more control — 'is a recipe for disaster.' That recipe might be good for ratings, however. Everyone agrees the sport needs more passing, more jockeying. It’s in the heat of the scrum that reveals personalities, shows us who is willing to live on the edge and who is not."[34]

Matt Weaver of Autoweek said that "one race with the extra-reduced downforce configurations [is] too small of a sample size to reach any sort of definite conclusion," especially "when considering that it was conducted on two-mile Michigan -- an anomaly on the Sprint Cup schedule," that "no package will ever be perfect," unless NASCAR implements "the most wacky of short track promotional tactics, the fastest cars and best drivers will always find their way to the front of the field," that Logano's dominant performance "shouldn't take away from what was a really enjoyable race -- and by most accounts -- a step in the right direction for the entire industry," that this race "was a massive improvement over the high drag package used last summer at Michigan and Indianapolis" and that "NASCAR is starting to move in the right direction and appears primed to make these cars even more unstable."[35]

Race results

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Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Pts.
1 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 200 45
2 10 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 40
3 7 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 39
4 15 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 200 38
5 29 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 200 36
6 11 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 35
7 3 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 200 34
8 8 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 33
9 14 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 32
10 17 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 200 31
11 6 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 31
12 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 200 30
13 23 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 28
14 19 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 27
15 13 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 200 26
16 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 26
17 5 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 200 24
18 32 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 24
19 18 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 200 22
20 22 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 200 21
21 25 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 200 20
22 35 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 200 19
23 34 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 200 18
24 21 95 Ty Dillon (i) Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 200 0
25 28 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 200 16
26 30 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 200 15
27 36 55 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 200 14
28 39 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 200 13
29 12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 199 12
30 37 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 197 11
31 40 98 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 194 10
32 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 189 9
33 4 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 188 8
34 31 83 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 185 7
35 33 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 179 6
36 26 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 154 5
37 38 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt (R) Go FAS Racing Ford 101 4
38 20 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 62 3
39 27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 61 2
40 9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 52 1
Official race results

Race summary

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  • Lead changes: 14 among different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 9 for 46
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 2 hours, 58 minutes and 47 seconds
  • Average speed: 134.241 miles per hour (216.040 km/h)

Media

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Television

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Fox NASCAR televised the race in the United States on FS1 for the second consecutive year. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while three-time Michigan winner, Jeff Gordon and two-time winner Darrell Waltrip were the color commentators. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum reported from pit lane during the race.

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

Radio

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Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and five-time Michigan winner Rusty Wallace announced the race in the booth while the field is racing on the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform outside of turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Pete Pistone reported from pit lane during the race.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Pete Pistone

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ "2016 Sprint Cup Series schedule" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  2. ^ "Michigan International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 6, 2016. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 10, 2016. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  5. ^ "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 10, 2016. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  6. ^ "Second Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 11, 2016. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  7. ^ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 11, 2016. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  8. ^ "FireKeepers Casino 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. June 12, 2016. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  9. ^ "Point standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 12, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 15, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  10. ^ "Manufacturer standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 13, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  11. ^ Scott, David (June 10, 2016). "NASCAR tweaking aero package for Michigan race". The Charlotte Observer. Brooklyn, Michigan: The McClatchy Company. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  12. ^ a b White, Tucker (May 26, 2016). "Changes coming to aero package for Michigan and Kentucky". SpeedwayMedia.com. Concord, North Carolina: USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  13. ^ Spencer, Lee (June 10, 2016). "Rookie Chase Elliott tops Michigan practice". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  14. ^ Lage, Larry (June 10, 2016). "Logano wins pole at Michigan, 2nd of season, 16th of career". Associated Press. Brooklyn, Michigan: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  15. ^ White, Tucker (June 10, 2016). "Joey Logano scores the pole at Michigan". SpeedwayMedia.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  16. ^ Pistone, Pete (June 10, 2016). "Logano On Pole at Michigan". MRN.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  17. ^ Pockrass, Bob (June 10, 2016). "Tony Stewart wants 'average luck' when he starts 3rd at Michigan". ESPN.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  18. ^ Brudenell, Mike (June 10, 2016). "NASCAR at MIS: Joey Logano wins pole for Sunday; hectic qualifying day". Detroit Free Press. Brooklyn, Michigan: Gannett Company. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  19. ^ Spencer, Lee (June 11, 2016). "Carl Edwards tops second Michigan practice". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  20. ^ Spencer, Lee (June 11, 2016). "Austin Dillon leads final practice". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network, LLC. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  21. ^ Scott, David (June 12, 2016). "Kyle Busch's up-and-down NASCAR season down again". The Charlotte Observer. Brooklyn, Michigan: The McClatchy Company. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  22. ^ Wackerlin, Jeff (June 12, 2016). "Bad Luck Continues for Kyle Busch". MRN.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  23. ^ Beard, Brock (June 12, 2016). "CUP: Kyle Busch trails June's Cup race at Michigan for second-straight year". brock.lastcar.info. LASTCAR.info. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  24. ^ Spencer, Lee (June 12, 2016). "Dale Jr. crashes out early at Michigan". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network, Inc. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  25. ^ Pistone, Pete (June 12, 2016). "Earnhardt Jr. Upset with Buescher". MRN.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  26. ^ White, Tucker (June 12, 2016). "Earnhardt Jr. taken out in early wreck". SpeedwayMedia.com. USA Today Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  27. ^ a b c Christie, Toby (June 12, 2016). "Christie: Frustrations Beginning to Boil Over for Jimmie Johnson". motorsportstribune.com. Motorsports Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  28. ^ James, Brant (June 12, 2016). "Joey Logano wins from the pole at Michigan". USA Today. Brooklyn, Michigan: Gannett Company. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  29. ^ Lage, Larry (June 12, 2016). "Joey Logano wins at Michigan, helps make NASCAR history". Associated Press. Brooklyn, Michigan: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 13, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
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  34. ^ Windsor, Shawn (June 12, 2016). "Windsor: NASCAR tweaks gave drivers a chance to really race". Detroit Free Press. Brooklyn, Michigan: Gannett Company. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
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