2016 Kobalt 400

The **2016 Kobalt 400** was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on March 6, 2016, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 mi (2.4 km) asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the third race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski won the race. Joey Logano finished second. Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon rounded out the top–five.

Kurt Busch won the pole for the race and led 31 laps on his way to a ninth-place finish. Johnson led a race high of 76 laps on his way to finishing third. There were 20 lead changes among 10 different drivers, as well as six caution flag periods for 36 laps.

This was the 18th career victory for Keselowski, first of the season, second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and second at the track for Team Penske. Keselowski left Las Vegas sixth in points. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Ford left trailing Toyota by 11-points in the manufacturer standings.

The Kobalt 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

## Report

### Background

**Las Vegas Motor Speedway**, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

## Entry list

The entry list for the Kobalt 400 was released on Monday, February 29 at 3:10 p.m. Eastern time. Thirty-nine cars are entered for the race. The only driver change from the previous race is Brian Vickers returning to the seat of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

## Test sessions

### Session 1

Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the first test session with a time of 27.982 and a speed of 192.981 mph (310.573 km/h).

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### Session 2

Aric Almirola was the fastest in the second test session with a time of 27.988 and a speed of 192.940 mph (310.507 km/h). Denny Hamlin slammed the wall during the session and will use a backup car for the race. Because the change took place prior to qualifying, he won't start from the rear of the field. He said that the car "just snapped loose first lap after the changes.”

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## First practice

Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.646 and a speed of 195.327 mph (314.348 km/h).

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## Qualifying

 File:TSM350 - Kurt Busch 3 - 2015 - Stierch.jpg
Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.505 and a speed of 196.328 mph (315.959 km/h). He said the car "was insanely fast. It’s amazing all the detail that goes into qualifying with finding that perfect lap three times out there. My second outing we were way tight and I didn’t know where it came from. “(Tony) Gibson, (crew chief) and crew went to town. They just adjusted on it. We gambled and we made that last session, which was great. That was icing on the cake to be able to go out into the third round. I was first or 12th it didn’t matter.” Joey Logano said that second for him was "so close. Second always stings the most. I felt like that last run I just – I told Todd that our car was close I just had to want it more. I pushed as hard as I could and got a little tight in one and two and that was enough to give up that speed we needed to get the pole tonight. I am so proud of what this Pennzoil team has done to pick up over last week. Dang it. It is so close. It was a lot of fun out there tonight and we are looking forward to Sunday.” Kyle Busch, who described his car as being "out of control" after qualifying 23rd, said that his "front tires were chattering, and there wasn’t much we were going to do to fix that out there." Carl Edwards switched to a backup car after making contact with the wall in the session. Because this took place after qualifying, he'll start from the rear of the field. He said that going to his backup was "frustrating because the car was really fast but they say the back-up is just as fast. I guarantee that car will be as good as this one."

## Practice (post-qualifying)

### Second practice

Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.189 and a speed of 191.564 mph (308.292 km/h).

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### Final practice

Matt Kenseth was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.502 and a speed of 189.460 mph (304.906 km/h).

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## Race

Team Penske confirmed their status as NASCAR Sprint Cup series favorites Sunday with a one-two finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Kobalt 400. Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag, capturing the lead with 6 laps to go. Joey Logano finished second with a last lap pass of Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney in the Wood Brothers Ford took sixth. Keselowski overcame a penalty for speeding on pit road, to give the Captain his 97th win on NASCAR’s premier series. The race was run with winds gusting to 50 mph, drivers had to deal with a pre-race rain shower, and a mid-race sand storm that covered the backstretch in a fog like haze.

For the second week in a row a short field took the green flag with only 39 cars on the starting grid. Jimmie Johnson led a race high 76 laps, giving up the lead to Busch on a restart with less than 50 laps to go, Johnson finished third behind Logano, who led 75 times around the 1 ½ mile circuit. After three races, Ford drivers hold 5 of the 16 spots in the Chase playoff standings.

### Race summary

* Lead changes: 20
* Cautions/Laps: 6 for 36
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 2 hours, 53 minutes and 55 seconds
* Average speed: 138.17 miles per hour (222.36 km/h)

## Media

### Television

Fox Sports will be covering their 16th race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, 2001 race winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip will have the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum will handle the pit road duties for the television side.

### Radio

PRN will have the radio call for the race which will also be simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini will call the race in the booth when the field is racing through the tri-oval. Rob Albright will call the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field is racing through turns 1 and 2. Pat Patterson will call the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field is racing through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble and Steve Richards will work pit road for the radio side.

 **Lead announcer:** Doug Rice**Announcer:** Mark Garrow**Announcer:** Wendy Venturini | **Turns 1 & 2:** Rob Albright**Turns 3 & 4:** Pat Patterson | Brad GillieBrett McMillanJim NobleSteve Richards

## Notes

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1. ↑ Carl Edwards started from the rear of the field after switching to a backup car post-qualifying.
2. ↑ Jamie McMurray started from the rear of the field after switching to a backup car post-qualifying.

## References

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