2016 NASCAR RCA Cup Series (Johnsonverse)

Note: This article uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia.

The 2016 NASCAR RCA Cup Series was the 68th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 45th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Sonoma Raceway with the Honda/Save Mart 350, followed by a two-week stop at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, Gatorade 125's, and the 58th running of the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Jeffrey Earnhardt of Earnhardt-Childress Racing won his first drivers' championship. Pontiac won the manufacturer's championship, its first since 1962.

During the season, races were broadcast in the United States by WBC Sports, TNN Motor Sports, and ESPN. The season also saw the addition of a newly-built track in Kantō on the Japanese Isles, Tokyo Superspeedway.

This was also the final season for 2006 champion Kelley Earnhardt.

Teams, drivers and manufacturers

Manufacturers

Company	Marquee	Model	Status
General Motors	Chevrolet	Camaro	Full factory support
		Impala	Full factory support
		SS	Full factory support
Ford Motor Company	Ford	Mustang	Full factory support
		Fusion	Full factory support
		Mustang	Full factory support
		Roush Mustang	In-house variant
		Shelby Mustang	Full factory support
	Lincoln (RETURNING)	Continental	RETURNING, full factory support
Johnson Motors	Dodge	Charger	Full factory support
		Challenger	Full factory support
		Dart	FINAL YEAR, full factory support
	Pontiac	Trans-Am	Full factory support
		G8	Full factory support
Toyota Motor Corporation	Toyota	Camry	Full factory support
		Corolla	Full factory support
		Avalon	Full factory support
Honda Motor Company	Honda	Accord	Full factory support
		Civic	Full factory support

Complete schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Crew chief	Model	Primary Sponsor
Chevrolet	Earnhardt-Childress Racing *	01	Brad Keselowski		2016 Impala	U.S. Army
		3	Jeffrey Earnhardt			Wrangler
		8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.			National Guard
		38	Kelley Earnhardt			Pennzoil
		81	Martin Truex Jr.			Bass Pro Shops
	Hendrick Motorsports	5	Kasey Kahne	Alan Gustafson	2016 Camaro	Farmers
		24	Kyle Larson	Steve Letarte		Axalta
		25	Shane Hmiel			Lowe's
		52	Casey Atwood	Chad Knaus		M&M's
	Tommy Baldwin Racing	36	Greg Biffle	Tommy Baldwin Jr.	2016 SS	Golden Corral
Dodge	AK Racing	7	James Kulwicki		2016 Avenger	Zerex by Valvoline
		11	Jamie McMurray			Microsoft
	Bill Davis Racing	22	Renee Walters		2016 Charger	Caterpillar
		23	Scott Wimmer			Google
	Chip Ganassi Racing	1	Jimmie Johnson		2016 Challenger	UAW-Delphi
		41	Emily Senn			Target
		46	Bryan Clauson			Tums
	Elliott-Evernham Motorsports	9	Chase Elliott (R)		2016 Dart	Coors Light
		13	Matt DiBenedetto (R)			Nickelodeon
		94	Casey Elliott			Flonase
	Furniture Row Racing	78	Emi Charendoff	Cole Pearn	2016 Charger	5-Hour Energy
	Moroso-Rudd Racing	82	Denzel Lane		2016 Charger	Mountain Dew
		83	Michelle Basone			Tide
		84	Boston Reid			RCA
	Petty Enterprises	43	Adam Petty	Mike Shiplett	2016 Challenger	STP
		44	Chad McCumbee	Kevin Buskirk		McDonald's
	Team Penske	02	Joey Logano		2016 Challenger	Verizon
		2	James Buescher			Miller Lite
	Team SABCO	40	Jane Brewer		2016 Charger	Kmart
		42	Blaise Alexander			Juicy Fruit
		45	Alana Houston			UPS
Ford	Allison-Yates Racing	28	Robbie Allison	Jimmy Fennig	2016 Fusion	Texaco/Havoline
		88	Stephen Leicht			Citi Financial
		98	Ryan Newman			AT&T
	Brett Favre Racing	15	Parker Kligerman		2016 Taurus	Nike/Sony
		90	Katrina Goode			FujiFilm
	FAS Lane Racing	32	Jane Ritter	Frank Stoddard	2016 Fusion	Federated Auto Parts
	Front Row Motorsports	34	Clint Bowyer	Jay Guy	2016 Mustang	Love's Travel Stops
		35	Landon Cassill			Long John Silver's
	Roush Racing	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Drew Blickensderfer	2016 Roush Mustang	Best Buy
		16	Chris Buescher (R)	Donnie Wingo		3M
		99	Trevor Bayne	Bob Osborne		Office Depot
	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ryan Blaney	Donnie Wingo	2016 Shelby Mustang	Motorcraft
Honda	Andretti Autosport	27	Kurt Busch		2016 Accord	DHL
	Germain Racing	30	Aric Almirola	Bootie Barker	2016 Civic	GEICO
	JTG Daugherty Racing	47	Brett Moffitt	Todd Berrier	2016 Accord	Kroger
	Michael Waltrip Racing *	00	Brian Vickers	Rodney Childers	2016 Civic	Aaron's Dream Machine
		17	Macy Waltrip (R)			NAPA Auto Parts
Pontiac	Combos Racing	73	Alana Burleson		2016 G8	Facebook
	HScott Motorsports	51	Alex Bowman	Nick Harrison Jimmy Elledge	2016 G8	Marvel Comics
	Stewart-Foyt Racing	4	Kevin Harvick		2016 Trans-Am	Budweiser
		10	Kyle Busch	Tony Gibson		Valvoline
		14	Tony Stewart	Greg Zipadelli		Home Depot
Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing *	18	Matt Kenseth	Mike Ford	2016 Camry	DeWalt Tools
		19	Kelly Watson			Circuit City
		20	Denny Hamlin	Steve Addington		FedEx
		80	Carl Edwards	Darian Grubb		Rheem
	Swan Racing	37	Johanna Long	Steve Lane	2016 Avalon	Petco
	Team Red Bull	85	Ryan Truex	Jimmy Elledge	2016 Avalon	Red Bull
		86	Michael McDowell	Ryan Pemberton		Red Bull

Limited Schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Crew chief	Model
Chevrolet	The Motorsports Group	130	Josh Wise	Dave Fuge Wayne Carroll	2015 SS
			Gray Gaulding
Dodge	Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing	59	Michael McDowell	Dave Winston	2016 Charger
	Premium Motorsports	49	Reed Sorenson	Pat Tryson Maurice Hester	2015 Dart
			Cole Whitt
			Cody Ware
			Alex Kennedy
			D.J. Kennington
		198	Cole Whitt	Mark Hillman Ben Leslie Pat Tryson
			Reed Sorenson
			Ryan Ellis
			Timmy Hill
Ford	Roush Racing	99	Ryan Reed	Phil Gould	2016 Roush Mustang
Lincoln	Front Row Motorsports	135	David Gilliland	Joe Lax Todd Anderson	2016 Continental
Toyota	BK Racing	26	Robert Richardson Jr.		2016 Avalon
		49	Matt DiBenedetto
		93
			Ryan Ellis
			Dylan Lupton

Schedule

No.	Race title	Track	Date	TV
1	Honda/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma	January 24	WBC
2	San Jose 500	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy	January 31	WBC
	Busch Clash	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 13	WBC
	Gatorade 125's		February 18	WBC
3	Daytona 500		February 21	WBC
4	Subway Fresh Fit 400	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham	February 28	WBC
5	Kobalt 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas	March 6	ESPN
6	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	March 13	ESPN
7	TranSouth Financial 400	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	March 20	ESPN
8	Harley-Davidson 250	Road America, Lake Elkhart	March 27	WBC
9	STP 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	April 3	TNN
10	Texas 400	Texas World Speedway, College Station	April 10	WBC
11	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	April 17	TNN
12	Pontiac Excitement 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	April 24	TNN
13	GEICO 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	May 1	WBC
14	Wells Fargo 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	May 7	ESPN
15	AAA 400 Drive for Autism	Dover International Speedway, Dover	May 14	TNN
	RCA Open	Virginia International Raceway, Alton	May 21	TNN
	RCA All-Star Challenge XXXII			WBC
16	Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	May 29	WBC
17	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400	The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis	June 5	ESPN
18	Motorcraft 400	Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth	June 12	WBC
19	Music City USA 420	Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville	June 19	TNN
20	Budweiser 400	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside	June 26	WBC
21	Coke Zero 400	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	July 2	WBC
22	Tokyo 500	Tokyo Superspeedway, Tama	July 9	WBC
23	New Hampshire 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon	July 17	WBC
24	Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway	July 24	WBC
25	Pennsylvania 400	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond	August 1	ESPN
26	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen	August 7	ESPN
27	Chanticleer 400	Walt Disney World Speedway, Lake Buena Vista	August 14	ESPN
28	Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	August 20/21	TNN
29	Denver Post 400	Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain	August 28	TNN
30	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	September 4	WBC
31	Federated Auto Parts 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	September 10	TNN
32	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400	Chicago Motor Speedway, Cicero	Setpember 18	ESPN
33	Tyson Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	September 25	WBC
34	Citizen Soldier 400	Dover International Speedway, Dover	October 2	TNN
35	Bank of America 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	October 9	WBC
36	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City	October 16	TNN
37	Hellmann's 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	October 23 *	WBC
38	Iowa Corn 400	Iowa Speedway, Newton	October 30	TNN
39	Nintendo Switch 400	Tokyo Superspeedway, Tama	November 6	WBC
40	Can-Am 500	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale	November 13	TNN
41	Ford EcoBoost 400	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead	November 20	ESPN
42	Pokémon Go 500	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy	November 27	WBC
43	Sprite 500	Denver International Speedway, Denver	December 4	WBC
44	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario	December 11	WBC

• The Hellmann's 500 was delayed due to heavy rains all week, and had to be moved to December 18

Changes

• The new Tokyo Superspeedway was added to the schedule.
• Kentucky Speedway was completely removed from the NASCAR schedule and lost its NASCAR sanctioning, due to Tim Johnson deeming the speedway "the single-worst track on the schedule". Its date became Tokyo's summer date.
• Rockingham Speedway, after years of failing to sell out its two races, gave up its fall date to Tokyo. The remaining spring date has consistently sold out since 2016.
• Denver's spring date was placed late-March between Darlington and Martinsville, instead of mid-April between Martinsville and Texas as in recent years.
• The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona returned to its usual Saturday night date.
• The spring race at Richmond moved from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon.
• Pikes Peak and Bristol swap their August race dates.
• The first race at Dover and the Memorial Day week swapped dates, so the last race before the All-Star Challenge is Dover instead of North Wilkesboro.

Race results

No.	Race	Pole position	Most Laps Led	Winner	Make/Model
1	Honda/Save Mart 350	Kyle Busch	Kevin Harvick	Jamie McMurray	Dodge Challenger
2	San Jose 500	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Brad Keselowski	Adam Petty	Dodge Challenger
	Busch Clash	Jimmie Johnson	Denny Hamlin	Denny Hamlin	Toyota Camry
	Gatorade 125's	Chase Elliott	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet Camaro
		Matt Kenseth	Kyle Busch	Kyle Busch	Toyota Camry
3	Daytona 500	Chase Elliott	Denny Hamlin	Denny Hamlin	Toyota Camry
4	Subway Fresh Fit 400	Carl Edwards	Macy Waltrip	Macy Waltrip	Honda Civic
5	Kobalt 400	Kurt Busch	Jimmie Johnson	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am
6	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500	Kurt Busch	Kevin Harvick	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet Camaro
7	TranSouth Financial 400	James Kulwicki	Macy Waltrip	Carl Edwards	Toyota Camry
8	Harley-Davidson 250	Chase Elliott	Chase Elliott	Danica Patrick	Pontiac Trans-Am
9	STP 500	Joey Logano	Kyle Busch	Kyle Busch	Toyota Camry
10	Texas 400	Macy Waltrip	Chase Elliott	Macy Waltrip	Honda Civic
11	Food City 500	Carl Edwards	Carl Edwards	Carl Edwards	Toyota Camry
12	Pontiac Excitement 400	Kevin Harvick	Carl Edwards	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am
13	GEICO 500	Chase Elliott	Brad Keselowski	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet Camaro
14	Wells Fargo 400	Martin Truex Jr.	Macy Waltrip	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am
15	AAA 400 Drive for Autism	Kevin Harvick	Kevin Harvick	Matt Kenseth	Chevrolet Camaro
	RCA Open	Chase Elliott	Chase Elliott	Kyle Larson	Dodge Challenger
	RCA All-Star Challenge XXXII	Kevin Harvick	Brad Keselowski	Kyle Larson	Dodge Challenger
16	Coca-Cola 600	Martin Truex Jr.	Martin Truex Jr.	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet Camaro
17	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400	Tony Stewart	Kevin Harvick	Shane Hmiel	Chevrolet SS
18	Motorcraft 400	James Kulwicki	Adam Petty	Adam Petty	Dodge Challenger
19	Music City USA 420	Chase Elliott	Kyle Larson	James Kulwicki	Dodge Challenger
20	Budweiser 400	Carl Edwards	Denny Hamlin	Alana Burleson	Pontiac G6
21	Coke Zero 400	Greg Biffle	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am
22	Tokyo 500	Brad Keselowski	Chase Elliott	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet Camaro
23	New Hampshire 301	Kevin Harvick	Kevin Harvick	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am
24	Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard	Kyle Busch	Kyle Busch	Chad McCumbee	Dodge Challenger
25	Pennsylvania 400	Martin Truex Jr.	Joey Logano	Chris Buescher	Lincoln Continental
26	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	Carl Edwards	Brad Keselowski	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am
27	Chanticleer 400	Adam Petty	Chase Elliott	Macy Waltrip	Honda Civic
28	Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race	Carl Edwards	Kyle Busch	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet Camaro
29	Pure Michigan 400	Joey Logano	Kyle Larson	Kyle Larson	Dodge Challenger
30	Southern 500	Kevin Harvick	Kevin Harvick	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet Camaro
31	Federated Auto Parts 400	Denny Hamlin	Martin Truex Jr.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota Camry
32	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400	Tony Stewart	Jimmie Johnson	Macy Waltrip	Honda Civic
33	Tyson Holly Farms 400	Carl Edwards	Martin Truex Jr.	Danica Patrick	Pontiac Trans-Am
34	Citizen Soldier 400	Macy Waltrip	Martin Truex Jr.	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet Camaro
35	Bank of America 500	Kevin Harvick	James Kulwicki	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet Camaro
36	Hollywood Casino 400	Matt Kenseth	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am
37	Iowa Corn 400	Martin Truex Jr.	Matt Kenseth	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet Camaro
38	Nintendo Switch 400	Ryan Blaney	Chase Elliott	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet Camaro
39	Can-Am 500	Alex Bowman	Alex Bowman	Joey Logano	Dodge Charger
40	Ford EcoBoost 400	Kevin Harvick	Joey Logano	Alana Burleson	Pontiac G6
41	Pokémon Go 500	Adam Petty	Chase Elliott	Ryan Blaney	Dodge Charger
42	Sprite 500	Tony Stewart	Austin Dillon	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet Camaro
43	Los Angeles Times 500	Jimmie Johnson	Chase Elliott	Ryan Truex	Pontiac Trans-Am
44	Hellmann's 500	Martin Truex Jr.	Brad Keselowski	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Trans-Am

Cars Used in 2016 (incomplete)

Chevrolet Camaro

Chevrolet Impala

Ford Mustang

Ford Fusion

Shelby GT500 (only used by Wood Brothers Racing)

Dodge Charger

Dodge Challenger

Toyota Camry

Honda Accord

Honda Civic

Event Logos

|}