2016 Heads Up Georgia 250

The 2016 Heads Up Georgia 250 was the 2nd stock car race of the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, February 27, 2016, in Hampton, Georgia, at Atlanta Motor Speedway a 1.54 miles (2.48 km) permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 163 laps to complete. Kyle Busch, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing led a dominating 119 laps, holding off Kyle Larson late to earn his 77th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win and his first of the season.[1] To fill out the podium, Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing and Erik Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing would finish second and third, respectively.

2016 Heads Up Georgia 250
Race details
Race 2 of 33 in the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date February 27, 2016
Official name 25th annual Heads Up Georgia 250
Location Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance 163 laps, 251.02 mi (403.98 km)
Scheduled Distance 163 laps, 251.02 mi (403.98 km)
Average speed 137.065 miles per hour (220.585 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 29.887
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 119
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network FS1
Announcers Adam Alexander, Clint Bowyer, and Michael Waltrip
Radio in the United States
Radio Performance Racing Network

Background

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Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
  • (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
0 Garrett Smithley JD Motorsports Chevrolet Instalco
1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet OneMain Financial
01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet Kubota
2 Paul Menard (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Richmond Water Heaters, Menards
3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Rheem Manufacturing Company
4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet JD Motorsports
6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford Ford Ecoboost
7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet TaxSlayer
07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet Scuba Life
10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota TriStar Motorsports
11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection
13 Josh Reaume MBM Motorsports Dodge MBM Motorsports
14 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota TriStar Motorsports
15 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet BeHero2Hero.com, X-Aviation
16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford Lilly Diabetes, American Diabetes Association
18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota NOS Energy Drink
19 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota ARRIS
20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Hisense
22 Brad Keselowski (i) Team Penske Ford Discount Tire
24 Corey LaJoie JGL Racing Toyota JGL Young Guns
25 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet Advanced Communications Group
28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota WinField Be Greater
33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Roland Corporation
39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet RSS Racing
40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Toyota MBM Motorsports
42 Kyle Larson (i) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Eneos
43 Jeb Burton Richard Petty Motorsports Ford J Streicher
44 David Starr TriStar Motorsports Toyota Zachry
48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet DC Solar
51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet BRT Extrusions, AllSouthElectric.com
52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet LifeLinkFoundation.org
62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa
70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet Wade, Adrenalin Power Sports
74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge Mike Harmon Racing
78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Batteries+Bulbs
88 Kevin Harvick (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet Bad Boy Off Road
89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet Shepherd Racing Ventures
90 Mario Gosselin King Autosport Chevrolet BuckedUp Apparel
97 Harrison Rhodes Obaika Racing Chevrolet Vroom Brands
99 Todd Peck B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford Batteries+Bulbs
Official entry list

Practice

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First practice

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The first practice session was held on Friday, February 26 at 9:00 AM EST. Erik Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.236 and an average speed of 183.358 mph (295.086 km/h).[2]

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.236 183.358
2 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.315 182.880
3 11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 30.377 182.507
Full first practice results

Second practice

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The second practice session was held on Friday, February 26 at 12:30 PM EST. Daniel Suarez of Joe Gibbs Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.478 and an average speed of 181.902 mph (292.743 km/h).[3]

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 19 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.478 181.902
2 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.634 180.975
3 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.659 180.828
Full first practice results

Third and final practice

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The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, February 26, at 3:00 PM EST. Erik Jones of Joe Gibbs Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.551 and an average speed of 181.467 mph (292.043 km/h). [4]

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 3 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.551 181.467
2 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.641 180.934
3 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.718 180.481
Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying

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Qualifying was held on Saturday, February 20, at 8:30 AM EST. Since Atlanta Motor Speedway is under 2 miles (3.2 km), the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.[5]

Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest lap in Round 3, with a time of 29.887 and an average speed of 185.499 mph (298.532 km/h).[6]

Nobody failed to qualify.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time (R1) Speed (R1) Time (R2) Speed (R2) Time (R3) Speed (R3)
1 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.947 185.127 29.190 185.300 29.887 185.499
2 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.362 182.597 29.861 185.660 29.955 185.078
3 19 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.379 182.494 30.015 184.708 29.964 185.022
4 42 Kyle Larson (i) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.080 184.309 29.939 185.177 30.018 184.689
5 48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.402 182.356 30.154 183.856 30.240 183.333
6 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.264 183.188 30.383 182.470 30.262 183.200
7 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Team Penske Ford 30.334 182.765 30.335 182.759 30.311 182.904
8 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 30.453 182.051 30.353 182.651 30.339 182.735
9 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.529 181.598 30.339 182.735 30.342 182.717
10 88 Kevin Harvick (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 30.016 184.701 30.314 182.886 30.364 182.585
11 2 Paul Menard (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.308 182.922 30.342 182.717 30.437 182.147
12 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 30.383 182.470 30.363 182.591 30.496 181.794
Eliminated in Round 2
13 11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 30.735 180.381 30.408 182.320 - -
14 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 30.372 182.537 30.414 182.284 - -
15 43 Jeb Burton Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.142 183.929 30.461 182.003 - -
16 1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 30.369 180.946 30.467 181.967 - -
17 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.374 182.525 30.512 181.699 - -
18 6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.512 181.699 30.532 181.580 - -
19 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.580 181.295 30.771 180.170 - -
20 28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Chevrolet 30.937 179.203 30.970 179.012 - -
21 01 Ryan Preece JD Motorsports (R) Chevrolet 31.136 178.058 31.115 178.178 - -
22 14 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 31.125 178.120 31.164 177.898 - -
23 24 Corey LaJoie JGL Racing Toyota 30.776 180.140 31.179 177.812 - -
24 4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet 30.814 179.918 30.814 179.918 - -
Eliminated in Round 1
25 97 Harrison Rhodes Obaika Racing Chevrolet 31.142 178.023 - - - -
26 0 Garrett Smithley (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 31.171 177.858 - - - -
27 07 Ray Black Jr. SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 31.221 177.573 - - - -
28 44 David Starr TriStar Motorsports Toyota 31.425 176.420 - - - -
29 78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 31.523 175.872 - - - -
30 40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Toyota 31.588 175.510 - - - -
31 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 31.665 175.083 - - - -
32 90 Mario Gosselin DGM Racing Chevrolet 32.002 173.239 - - - -
33 52 Joey Gase Means Motorsports Chevrolet 32.208 172.131 - - - -
Qualified by owner's points
34 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet 32.250 171.907 - - - -
35 99 Todd Peck B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 32.705 169.515 - - - -
36 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge 32.778 169.138 - - - -
37 15 Cody Ware (R) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 33.323 166.372 - - - -
38 13 Josh Reaume MBM Motorsports Dodge 33.490 165.542 - -
39 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 33.690 164.559 - - - -
40 25 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 - - - -
Official qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts
1 1 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 163 119 running 0
2 4 42 Kyle Larson (i) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 163 0 running 0
3 2 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 163 0 running 38
4 11 2 Paul Menard (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 163 0 running 0
5 6 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 163 0 running 36
6 7 22 Brad Keselowski (i) Team Penske Ford 163 28 running 0
7 3 19 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 163 0 running 34
8 12 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 163 15 running 34
9 16 1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 163 0 running 32
10 15 43 Jeb Burton Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 163 1 running 32
11 19 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 163 0 running 30
12 10 88 Kevin Harvick (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 162 0 running 0
13 9 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 162 0 running 28
14 5 48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 162 0 running 27
15 17 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 162 0 running 26
16 8 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 162 0 running 25
17 14 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 162 0 running 24
18 18 6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford 162 0 running 23
19 22 14 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 162 0 running 22
20 13 11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 161 0 running 21
21 20 28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota 160 0 running 20
22 21 01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 159 0 running 19
23 23 24 Corey LaJoie JGL Racing Toyota 159 0 running 18
24 26 0 Garrett Smithley JD Motorsports Chevrolet 159 0 running 17
25 32 90 Mario Gosselin King Autosport Chevrolet 158 0 running 16
26 29 78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 157 0 running 15
27 34 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet 156 0 running 14
28 24 4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet 152 0 running 13
29 40 25 Chris Cockrum Chris Cockrum Racing Chevrolet 152 0 running 12
30 36 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge 151 0 running 11
31 37 15 Cody Ware (R) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 151 0 running 10
32 33 52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 127 0 suspension 9
33 27 07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 113 0 running 8
34 38 13 Josh Reaume MBM Motorsports Dodge 87 0 suspension 7
35 25 97 Harrison Rhodes Obaika Racing Chevrolet 68 0 rear gear 6
36 30 40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Toyota 29 0 handling 5
37 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 25 0 overheating 4
38 35 99 Todd Peck B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 15 0 engine 3
39 28 44 David Starr TriStar Motorsports Toyota 7 0 engine 2
40 31 10 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 1 0 electrical 1
Official race results

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ "Kyle Busch dominates for XFINITY win at Atlanta". NASCAR.com. February 27, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  2. ^ Albino, Dustin (February 26, 2016). "Gibbs Teammates Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez Pace XFINITY Atlanta Practices". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  3. ^ "NXS: JGR Keeps on Rolling; Suarez Tops Second XFINITY Practice Over Teammate Erik Jones". racechaseonline.com. February 26, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  4. ^ "Erik Jones fastest in final Xfinity practice at Atlanta". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. February 26, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  5. ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  6. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (February 27, 2016). "Kyle Busch leads 3-car Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series qualifying sweep at Atlanta". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
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