Contested over 75 laps, it was the first exhibition race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

[9] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.

The entry list for the Sprint Unlimited was released on Friday, February 12 at 2:20 p.m. Eastern time.

Tony Stewart was slated to run the Sprint Unlimited, but after suffering a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra, Brian Vickers drove in his place.

[13] Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 45.148 and a speed of 199.344 mph (320.813 km/h).

[14] Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 45.242 and a speed of 198.930 mph (320.147 km/h).

[15] Under a clear Florida night sky, Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag at 8:35 p.m. Brad Keselowski used a push from the outside line to lead the first lap.

After five laps, the field settled into a single line until Jamie McMurray went under Casey Mears in turn 3 to move up to fourth.

Eventually, Keselowski found himself working the top and bottom line to maintain the lead.

Rounding the turn, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. suffered a right-rear tire blowout and spun down into the side of Denny Hamlin.

Going into the turn, Brian Vickers suffered a right-rear tire blowout, hit the side of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car and ripped the side of his car off, turned back up the track, hit teammate Kevin Harvick, slammed the wall, slid back down the track and clipped Clint Bowyer.

In a classic restrictor plate racing accordion effect, Carl Edwards got turned into the wall and a number of cars spun out.

This would lead to the debut of the new overtime rules NASCAR put into play two days prior.

"[25] After a runner-up finish, Logano said that he thought he had Hamlin "if that caution didn’t come out at the end.

"[27] After finishing 13th, Martin Truex Jr. said that "in this day and age, we always judge everything on the fans' reaction.