The 2016 ABC Supply 500 was the 13th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series. The event took place at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It was the fourth consecutive year that the Verizon IndyCar Series had visited the track. The race also marked roughly one year since the fatal accident of Justin Wilson in the previous year's edition of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be run on Sunday, August 21, but heavy thunderstorms forced it to be moved to the following day.
Report
Practice
Practice began on Saturday morning with a 90 minute session beginning at 9:00 a.m. local time. Early in the session, defending Pocono 500 champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed at the exit of turn one. The car spun 180 degrees, and impacted the wall with the left side. Hunter-Reay was uninjured, but the chassis, the same one he used to win the 2014 Indianapolis 500, was damaged and the team went to a backup car. Later, Charlie Kimball spun at the apex of turn one and hit the wall with the rear of the car. Near the end of the session, Juan Pablo Montoya's car got loose in turn two, he corrected, and impacted the wall with the right side at the exit of the corner. Mikhail Aleshin was fastest with a speed of 221.932 mph. He was followed by his teammate James Hinchcliffe at 220.290 mph. Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, and Carlos Munoz rounded out the top-five.
Qualifying
Qualifying took place on Saturday, August 20. Mikhail Aleshin surprised the field by securing his first pole position start with a two lap time of 1:21.6530, at an average speed of 220.6 mph (351.0 km/h); this marked Pocono as the third fastest oval on the IndyCar calendar, behind Indianapolis and Texas, respectively. This result also marked the first time a driver from Russia started on pole in an IndyCar Series event. Josef Newgarden qualified alongside him on the front row. Takuma Sato, Hélio Castroneves, and Carlos Muñoz rounded out the top five. Ryan Hunter-Reay did not participate in qualifying after sustaining heavy damage to his car in a practice accident earlier in the day, relegating him to a 22nd and last place start.
Final Practice
A 30-minute final practice was held at 5:00 p.m. Helio Castroneves set the fastest speed at 218.824 mph. Carlos Munoz was second at 218.043 mph. Simon Pagenaud, Sébastien Bourdais, and Scott Dixon completed the top-five. Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Hunter-Reay made laps in backup cars after their morning crashes, with Montoya sixth fastest and Hunter-Reay 13th. There were no incidents.
Race
After being postponed from its original Sunday date, the race was held on Monday, August 22, with clear but windy weather. The race began with a botched start, as Mikhail Aleshin appeared to jump too early. The race began cleanly on the second start, though, and Aleshin was able to jump into the lead into turn one. However, Josef Newgarden was able to pass him entering turn three, giving him the lead. Behind them, Ryan Hunter-Reay managed to jump up a large number of positions with an outside move in the first turn. As the field made their way through turn three on the first green flag lap, Takuma Sato lost control of his car and hit the outside wall hard, bringing out the first caution period of the day. Scott Dixon suffered a punctured tire from the debris from the incident, forcing him to pit and sending him to the rear of the field.
Racing resumed on lap nine, with Newgarden still leading. After a few moments of battling, Aleshin was able to move by Newgarden on lap 11 and maintain a lead. Alexander Rossi, Carlos Muñoz, and James Hinchcliffe battled for position just behind them. Ryan Hunter-Reay continued his charge through the field and managed to get into the top five by lap 30. At this time, the first round of pit stops occurred. Aleshin remained the leader after all drivers pitted, but Hunter-Reay moved into second. On lap 49, Hunter-Reay passed Aleshin to give him his first lead of the day. Aleshin reclaimed the lead only a few laps later on lap 54. A few laps later, Ed Carpenter retired from the race with engine failure.