This was the first year that the truck series (and the Xfinity Series) had a playoff system. Just like in the Cup Series, four drivers competed for the title in the final race at Homestead, also the final round of the playoffs. Those drivers are shown below.
2016 was the final year to feature RAM in competition. Despite losing factory support following the 2012 season, several independent teams continued to run RAMs until the body style aged out.
^Napier's races in the No. 49 were fielded in a collaboration with Rick Ware Racing.
^ abcAll races that Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing fielded the No. 1 truck, these entries were fielded in a collaboration with MAKE Motorsports. At Kentucky Speedway (Race 10) Travis Kvapil wrecked his MAKE Motorsports' truck in practice and did not have a backup. So Kvapil took Jennifer's No. 1 truck and renumbered it to No. 50. Jennifer Jo Cobb used her backup truck and renumbered it to No. 10, Caleb Roark drove the No. 1 truck that was a Premium Motorsports truck they borrowed to S&P.
^Tommy Joe Martins qualified the No. 44 truck for the race, but crashed in qualifying. He contacted Austin Wayne Self and the No. 22 team, who initially didn't make the race, to run with the No. 44 but in Self's (Toyota) truck.
JR Motorsports will run full-time with Cole Custer in the No. 00 Haas AutomationChevrolet Silverado after running part-time in 2015 because of age limitations. (The team made sporadic starts with Sprint Cup regulars in 2015 in preparation for 2016 at selected longer tracks.)
Ranier Racing with MDM will field a part-time team with Brandon Jones in the No. 99 Chevrolet. The team switched to the No. 71 in order to make the races due to rain threats.
Brad Keselowski Racing will swap the crew chiefs of its two trucks, with Doug Randolph following Tyler Reddick to the No. 29 and Chad Kendrick moving to the No. 19.
The 2016 Camping World Truck Series season introduced several major changes:
A "caution clock" rule was in effect during all races, excluding the Eldora Dirt Derby due to its format. Under this system, a competition caution was thrown after twenty consecutive minutes of green flag racing. No free pass was awarded on these cautions, and the clock is reset upon all restarts. The clock was turned off during the final laps of the race (10 on Pocono and Mosport, 20 on all other tracks).[11] The caution clock rule was replaced the following year with a new stage system, adopted by all three of NASCAR's national series.[12]
A playoff format similar to the Chase for the Cup used in the Sprint Cup Series was adopted.[13]
Truck Series director Elton Sawyer also announced the availability of crate engines, known as the "Delta Engine", for teams to use starting with the Charlotte race.[14]
Schedule
The Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway in August
FS1 televised every race except Talladega, which aired on Fox. Due to programming overrun, coverage of Iowa started on Fox Business Network, while Michigan aired on FS2.
1 Post entry, driver and owner did not score points.
Owners' championship (Top 15)
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led. . – Eliminated after Round of 8
. – Eliminated after Round of 6
^1 Tommy Joe Martins qualified the No. 44 truck for the race, but crashed in qualifying. He contacted Austin Wayne Self and the No. 22 team, who initially didn't make the race, to run with the No. 44 but in Self's (Toyota) truck.
^2 The race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was postponed from May 20 to May 21 because of inclement weather.[15]
^3 Because of chassis and body regulations, Ram is only eligible to race at circuits 1.25 miles or shorter (except Dover) and road courses that use the previous-generation body. Fiat last submitted a truck in the 2012 season, before the current generation body used at longer tracks was used. [citation needed]
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