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Revision as of 19:02, 10 February 2016
The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be the 68th season of professional stock car racing in the United States. The season will begin at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited, the Can-Am Duel and the Daytona 500. The season will end with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Busch enters as the defending champion.
The season also marked the second season of a new television contract. During the season, races will be broadcast in the United States on Fox, FS1, NBC, NBCSN, and USA Network (one race).
The season will mark the final year of the partnership between Sprint Corporation and NASCAR[1] and the final season for three-time Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart.[2]
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule
All of these drivers and teams are confirmed at least through the 2016 season.
Limited schedule
| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Race driver | Crew chief | Round(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing | 59 | Michael McDowell | Dave Winston | 1 |
| Hillman Racing | 40 | Reed Sorenson | Pat Tryson | 1 | |
| Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 35 | David Gilliland | TBA | 1 |
| Toyota | BK Racing | 26 | Robert Richardson, Jr. | Mike Ford | 1 |
| 93 | Matt DiBenedetto | Gene Nead | 1 |
Changes
Teams
- Michael Waltrip Racing ceased its operations after 2015, shutting down the No. 15 and No. 55 teams.[5] Waltrip has made plans to run the Daytona 500 with an MWR prepared Toyota. Waltrip will run the 83 for BK Racing, which acquired most of MWR's Toyota fleet. BKR will also feild a third and fourth car in the Daytona 500 for DiBenedetto and Robert Richardson Jr.
- Wood Brothers Racing will return to full-time racing in 2016 for the first time since 2008.[6] Ryan Blaney will remain as driver, marking the first time the team would full-time with one driver since 2006.[6] The team ran 19 races in 2015.[6]
- Front Row Motorsports will downsize to two full-time teams in 2016, shutting down the No. 35 team. The team will also receive technical support as part of an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing.[7]
- BK Racing will downsize to two full-time teams in 2016, shutting down the No. 26 team.
- Circle Sport and Leavine Family Racing merged to form Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing. The team will run the full 36-race schedule with the No. 95 in a Chevrolet, forming a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing.[8] The No. 33 team will shut down. Ty Dillon will again run five races with crew chief Todd Parrott, including the Daytona 500 with Michael McDowell driving the other 31 with crew chief Dave Winston. The team will also field a second car in the Daytona 500 for McDowell.
- Premium Motorsports hired Mike Hillman to head up its operations in 2016, bringing over Hillman – who served as the No. 40's crew chief – and most of the staff from the No. 40 team, therefore shutting that team down. Premium Motorsports will run only one full-time team with Cole Whitt in the No. 98 in 2016 with an additional part-time team. Whitt drove for Front Row Motorsports in the now defunct No. 35 in 2015.
Drivers
- Chase Elliott moves up from the Xfinity Series to the Sprint Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports, replacing Jeff Gordon in the No. 24, who retired after the 2015 season.[9]
- Clint Bowyer will replace Justin Allgaier in the HScott Motorsports No. 15 (renumbered from No. 51) for 2016, and then he will replace the retiring Tony Stewart in the No. 14 for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017.[10]
- Brian Scott will replace Sam Hornish, Jr. in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 44 (renumbered from No. 9). Scott ran for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2015.[11]
- Chris Buescher moves up from the Xfinity Series to the Sprint Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports, replacing Brett Moffitt and other various drivers in the No. 34. Buster ran six races in the No. 34 in 2015 and won the 2015 Xfinity Series Championship with Roush-Fenway Racing in the No. 60. He is on loan from Roush-Fenway Racing, with Roush providing additional technical support for him in 2016.[12]
- Landon Cassill will replace David Gilliland in the Front Row Motorsports No. 38. Cassill ran for Hillman-Circle Sport LLC in the No. 40 in 2015.[13]
- Jeffrey Earnhardt will run 30 races in the No. 32 for Go FAS Racing. Bobby Labonte will continue to run the four restrictor plate races. The team had multiple drivers in 2015.[14]
- David Ragan will replace J. J. Yeley and Jeb Burton in the BK Racing No. 23. Ragan drove full-time for various teams – due to injuries – in 2015, mostly for the now defunct Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55.
- Regan Smith will replace Alex Bowman in the Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7. Smith ran for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series in 2015.
- On February 1, Tony Stewart was sent to the hospital after he injured his back in a non-racing accident in the desert.[15] Stewart-Haas Racing announced on February 4 that Stewart will miss the beginning of the season.[16] It is unknown how many races Stewart will miss or whom will race the No. 14 while he is injured.[17]
Crew chiefs
- Brian Pattie will take over crew chief duties on the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with Greg Biffle, replacing Matt Puccia. Pattie was the crew chief for the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 and No. 55 cars in 2015.[18]
- Matt Puccia will take over crew chief duties on the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with Trevor Bayne, replacing Bob Osborne. Puccia was the crew chief on the No. 16, driven by Greg Biffle in 2015.
- Bob Osborne will take over crew chief duties on the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford with Chris Buescher, replacing Derek Finley. Osborne was the crew chief for Trevor Bayne in 2015.
- Chad Johnston will take over crew chief duties on the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with Kyle Larson, replacing Chris Heroy. Johnston was the crew chief for Tony Stewart in 2015.[19]
- Mike Bugarewicz will take over crew chief duties on the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with Tony Stewart, replacing Chad Johnston. Bugarewicz was the race engineer on the No. 4, driven by Kevin Harvick, the previous two years.[20]
- Billy Scott will take over crew chief duties on the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with Danica Patrick, replacing Daniel Knost. Scott was the crew chief for the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 and No. 55 cars in 2015.[21]
- Randall Burnett will take over crew chief duties on the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet with A.J. Allmendinger, replacing Brian Burns. Burnett was the team engineer on the No. 42, driven by Kyle Larson, in 2015.[22]
- Mike Wheeler will take over crew chief duties on the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Denny Hamlin, replacing Dave Rogers. Wheeler was the crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015.[23]
- Dave Rogers will take over crew chief duties on the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Carl Edwards, replacing Darian Grubb. Rogers was the crew chief on the No. 11, driven by Denny Hamlin, in 2015.[23]
- Chris Heroy will take over crew chief duties on the No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford with Brian Scott, replacing Kevin Manion. Heroy was the crew chief for Kyle Larson in 2015.[24]
- Patrick Donahue will take over crew chief duties on the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota with David Ragan, replacing Joe Williams. Donahue was the crew chief for the third BK Racing car, the No. 26, in 2015.
- Wally Rogers will take over crew chief duties on the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford, replacing Clint Cram. Rogers was the crew chief for the part-time Leavine Family Racing No. 95 in 2015.
Manufacturers
- Furniture Row Racing will change its manufacturer to Toyota with a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing after being with Chevrolet since 2005.[25]
Rule changes
2016 saw the introduction of a charter system. 36 teams would hold a charter, which guarantees them a spot in the field for all 36 races; to be eligible for a charter, a team would have to attempt to qualify for every race in the last three seasons. NASCAR also reduced the size of the Cup field to 40 cars, with the final four spots being determined by standard qualifying.[26]
Schedule
The final calendar – comprised of 36 races, as well as exhibition races, which are the Sprint Unlimited, Can-Am Duel qualifying duel races for the Daytona 500[27] and the Sprint All-Star Race – was released on October 26, 2015. With the schedule announcement also came the announcement of NASCAR securing a five-year contract with each track to continue to host races over the next five seasons.[28] Key changes from 2015 include:
- The Easter off-week is placed late-March between Fontana and Martinsville, instead of the mid-April break between Martinsville and Texas as in recent years.
- The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona will return to its usual Saturday night date.
- The spring race at Richmond will move from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon.
- Michigan and Bristol swap their August race dates.
- The third off-week has been moved to mid-August between Watkins Glen and Bristol, instead of the usual late-August break between Bristol and Darlington. This has been done so as to avoid a scheduling conflict with the 2016 Summer Olympics being hosted on NBC. The aforementioned Olympics conflict will force one race occurring during the games (Watkins Glen) to be moved to USA. (The other race occurring during the games, at Bristol, will still air on NBC.)
- The first race at Dover and the Memorial Day week swapped dates, so the last race before the All-Star Race is Dover instead of Kansas.
- In the Chase for the Championship, the three rounds preceding the final race, originally named the Challenger, Contender and Eliminator rounds, were simply renamed the Round of 16, the Round of 12 and the Round of 8 respectively.
Media coverage
In the United States, Fox and NBC will continue to broadcast the season. The first 16 events will be broadcast on either Fox or Fox Sports 1,[29] and the final 20 events will be shared between NBC and NBCSN.[30] However, the Watkins Glen race will be aired on USA Network due to NBC focusing on the 2016 Summer Olympics.[31]
See also
- 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series
- 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
- 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
- 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
- 2016 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
- 2016 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
- 2016 NASCAR Pinty's Series
- 2016 NASCAR Mexico Series
- 2016 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
References
- ^ "Sprint, NASCAR partnership to end after 2016 season". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. December 16, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ "Tony Stewart planning retirement after one more season". ESPN News Services. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. September 30, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ Spencer, Lee (November 23, 2015). "Johnston to replace Heroy as Kyle Larson's crew chief". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site - NASCAR Sprint Cup News Page". www.jayski.com. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
- ^ Pockrass, Bob (August 22, 2015). "Michael Waltrip Racing to close at season's end". ESPN.com. Bristol, Tennessee: ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ a b c Bruce, Kenny (November 20, 2015). "Wood Brothers going full time in 2016". NASCAR.com. Homestead, Florida: NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ Pockrass, Bob (December 10, 2015). "Roush Fenway Racing, Front Row Motorsports create alliance for 2016". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ DeCola, Pat (January 21, 2016). "RCR forms technical alliance with Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing". NASCAR.com. Charlotte, North Carolina: NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, Gray (October 19, 2015). "Elliott, Hendrick unveil 2016 No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevy". hendrickmotorsports.com. Concord, North Carolina: Hendrick Motorsports. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ Oreovicz, John (October 2, 2015). "Clint Bowyer lands ride with HScott before replacing Tony Stewart". ESPN.com. Dover, Delaware: ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Utter, Jim (December 9, 2015). "Brian Scott to replace Hornish at Richard Petty Motorsports in 2016". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ James, Brant (December 10, 2015). "Chris Buescher promoted to Sprint Cup with Front Row". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ Wackerlin, Jeff (January 20, 2016). "Cassill Ready for Next Chapter". MRN.com. Charlotte, North Carolina: Motor Racing Network. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
- ^ "Jeffrey Earnhardt nabs Sprint Cup ride for '16". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 19, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Fryer, Jenna (February 2, 2016). "NASCAR's Tony Stewart hospitalized with back injury". Associated Press. Charlotte, North Carolina: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 6, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ^ Gluck, Jeff (February 5, 2016). "Tony Stewart has broken back, will miss Daytona 500". USA Today. Charlotte, North Carolina: Gannett Company. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ^ Busbee, Jay (February 4, 2016). "Tony Stewart will miss Daytona 500, sidelined indefinitely". sports.yahoo.com. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry. "Greg Biffle to be paired with veteran crew chief Brian Pattie in 2016". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Gluck, Jeff (November 23, 2015). "Crew chief Chad Johnston departs Tony Stewart for Kyle Larson". USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Spencer, Lee (November 23, 2015). "Tony Stewart to have new crew chief for final Sprint Cup season". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ "Stewart-Haas Racing unveils crew chief changes for 2016 NASCAR Cup season". Autoweek. Crain Communications. November 30, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Bromberg, Nick (December 10, 2015). "AJ Allmendinger will have new crew chief in 2016". sports.yahoo.com. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ a b "JGR Announces Crew Chief Changes". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ "Heroy Named Crew Chief for Scott". MRN.com. Mooresville, North Carolina: Motor Racing Network. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ Turner, Jared (September 27, 2015). "Done deal: Furniture Row moving to Toyota, Truex re-signs for 2016". Fox Sports. Loudon, New Hampshire: Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ Bruce, Kenny (February 9, 2016). "NASCAR ANNOUNCES LANDMARK NEW OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE". NASCAR. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
- ^ "2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
- ^ "NASCAR announces 2016 Sprint Cup Series schedule". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ^ "NASCAR, Fox extend, expand rights agreement". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 1, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ Cain, Holly (July 23, 2013). "NASCAR, NBC Sports reach landmark deal". NASCAR.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- ^ Spencer, Lee (January 26, 2016). "Olympics will force some NASCAR coverage off NBC/NBC Sports". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved January 26, 2016.