The 2016 Pocono Green 250 was the twelfth stock car race of the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, and the first iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, June 4, 2016, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race was decreased from 100 laps to 53 laps, due to inclement weather. Kyle Larson, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, would take the win, after leading when the race got called due to persistent rain showers. This was Larson's 4th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his first of the season.[1] To fill out the podium, Erik Jones, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Ty Dillon, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would finish second and third, respectively.

2016 Pocono Green 250
Race details
Race 12 of 33 in the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date June 4, 2016
Official name First Annual Pocono Green 250
Location Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance 53 laps, 132 mi (213 km)
Scheduled Distance 100 laps, 250 mi (402 km)
Average speed 118.421 mph (190.580 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 51.158
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing
Laps 27
Winner
No. 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Adam Alexander, Michael Waltrip, and Danica Patrick
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN

Background

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The layout of Pocono Raceway, the circuit where the race was held.

Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as The Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA Menards Series event in July: a NASCAR Cup Series race with support events by the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. From 1971 to 1989, and from 2013 to 2019, the track also hosted an Indy Car race, currently sanctioned by the IndyCar Series. Additionally, from 1982 to 2021, it hosted two NASCAR Cup Series races, with the traditional first date being removed for 2022.

Pocono is one of the few NASCAR tracks not owned by either NASCAR or Speedway Motorsports, the dominant track owners in NASCAR. Pocono CEO Nick Igdalsky and president Ben May are members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.[2] Mattco also owns South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Virginia.

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 (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet JD Motorsports
01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet JD Motorsports
1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet OneMain Financial
2 Paul Menard (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Richmond Water Heaters, Menards
3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Rheem
4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet Dream Water
6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford LoudMouth Exhaust
07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet Scuba Life
7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet Suave MEN
10 Matt DiBenedetto (i) TriStar Motorsports Toyota TriStar Motorsports
11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection
13 T. J. Bell MBM Motorsports Dodge OCR Gaz Bar
14 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota TriStar Motorsports
15 Todd Peck B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford B. J. McLeod Motorsports
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 Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Arris
20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Sport Clips Haircuits
22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford SKF
25 Ryan Ellis Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Rick Ware Racing
28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota JGL Racing
33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Cometic Gasket
39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet RSS Racing
40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Toyota MBM Motorsports
42 Kyle Larson (i) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Cessna, NTT Data Group
44 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota Zachry
46 Brandon Gdovic Precision Performance Motorsports Chevrolet ComServe Wireless
48 Brennan Poole Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet DC Solar
51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet RepairableVehicles.com
52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet Donate Life, DB Sales
62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa
70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet Glen Brown Trucking, E-Hydrate
74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge Truckers Final Mile
78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford B. J. McLeod Motorsports
88 Alex Bowman JR Motorsports Chevrolet Advance Auto Parts
89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet Shepherd Racing Ventures
90 Mario Gosselin DGM Racing Chevrolet BuckedUp Apparel
93 Josh Wise (i) RSS Racing Chevrolet RSS Racing
97 Alex Guenette Obaika Racing Chevrolet Vroom! Brands
98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford Carroll Shelby Engine
Official entry list

Practice

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First practice

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The first practice session was held on Thursday, June 2, at 2:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[3] Kyle Busch, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 52.888, and an average speed of 170.171 mph (273.864 km/h).[4]

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 52.888 170.171
2 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53.013 169.770
3 2 Paul Menard (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.216 169.122
Full first practice results

Final practice

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The final practice session was held on Thursday, June 2, at 4:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[3] Erik Jones, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 52.049, and an average speed of 172.914 mph (278.278 km/h).[5] Two more practice sessions were originally going to be held on Friday, June 3, but were both cancelled due to inclement weather.

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 52.049 172.914
2 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.540 171.298
3 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 52.589 171.138
Full final practice results

Qualifying

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Qualifying was held on Saturday, June 4, at 9:05 AM EST.[3] Since Pocono Raceway is at least 2 miles (3.2 km), the qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13–40. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1–12.[6]

Erik Jones, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest lap in Round 2, with a lap of 51.158, and an average speed of 175.926 mph (283.125 km/h).[7]

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time (R1) Speed (R1) Time (R2) Speed (R2)
1 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 51.410 175.063 51.158 175.926
2 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 51.961 173.207 51.369 175.203
3 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 52.187 172.457 51.492 174.784
4 42 Kyle Larson (i) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 52.212 172.374 51.853 173.568
5 22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford 52.333 171.976 52.089 172.781
6 1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 52.452 171.585 52.162 172.539
7 2 Paul Menard (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.153 172.569 52.293 172.107
8 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.922 170.062 52.384 171.808
9 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 52.501 171.425 52.466 171.540
10 88 Alex Bowman JR Motorsports Chevrolet 52.469 171.530 52.712 170.739
11 44 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 52.845 170.309 52.896 170.145
12 11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 52.927 170.046 53.143 169.354
Eliminated in Round 1
13 48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 53.046 169.664 - -
14 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.054 169.638 - -
15 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 53.092 169.517 - -
16 98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford 53.106 169.472 - -
17 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53.207 169.151 - -
18 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 53.506 168.205 - -
19 01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 53.624 167.835 - -
20 93 Josh Wise (i) RSS Racing Chevrolet 53.878 167.044 - -
21 10 Matt DiBenedetto (i) TriStar Motorsports Toyota 53.900 166.976 - -
22 28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota 53.984 166.716 - -
23 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 54.213 166.012 - -
24 0 Garrett Smithley (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 54.381 165.499 - -
25 78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 54.594 164.853 - -
26 07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 54.649 164.687 - -
27 46 Brandon Gdovic Precision Performance Motorsports Chevrolet 54.830 164.144 - -
28 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 55.030 163.547 - -
29 4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet 55.058 163.464 - -
30 90 Mario Gosselin DGM Racing Chevrolet 55.206 163.026 - -
31 14 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Toyota 55.523 162.095 - -
32 13 T. J. Bell MBM Motorsports Dodge 55.837 161.183 - -
33 40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Toyota 55.969 160.803 - -
Qualified by owner's points
34 52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 55.980 160.772 - -
35 97 Alex Guenette Obaika Racing Chevrolet 56.063 160.534 - -
36 25 Ryan Ellis Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 56.684 158.775 - -
37 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet 57.458 156.636 - -
38 15 Todd Peck B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 57.910 155.414 - -
39 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge 59.868 150.331 - -
40 6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford - - - -
Official qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin[8] St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts
1 4 42 Kyle Larson (i) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 53 27 Running 0
2 1 20 Erik Jones (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53 0 Running 39
3 8 3 Ty Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 38
4 2 18 Kyle Busch (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53 16 Running 0
5 5 22 Joey Logano (i) Team Penske Ford 53 7 Running 0
6 6 1 Elliott Sadler JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53 0 Running 35
7 7 2 Paul Menard (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 0
8 14 33 Brandon Jones (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 33
9 3 19 Daniel Suárez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 53 0 Running 32
10 10 88 Alex Bowman JR Motorsports Chevrolet 53 0 Running 31
11 16 98 Aric Almirola (i) Biagi-DenBeste Racing Ford 53 2 Running 0
12 13 48 Brennan Poole (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 29
13 11 44 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 53 0 Running 28
14 17 62 Brendan Gaughan Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 27
15 12 11 Blake Koch Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 26
16 40 6 Bubba Wallace Roush Fenway Racing Ford 53 0 Running 25
17 19 01 Ryan Preece (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 53 0 Running 24
18 22 28 Dakoda Armstrong JGL Racing Toyota 53 0 Running 23
19 29 4 Ross Chastain JD Motorsports Chevrolet 53 0 Running 22
20 30 90 Mario Gosselin DGM Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 21
21 26 07 Ray Black Jr. (R) SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet 53 1 Running 21
22 25 78 B. J. McLeod (R) B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 53 0 Running 19
23 34 52 Joey Gase Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 18
24 35 97 Alex Guenette Obaika Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 17
25 36 25 Ryan Ellis Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 53 0 Running 16
26 27 46 Brandon Gdovic Precision Performance Motorsports Chevrolet 52 0 Running 15
27 24 0 Garrett Smithley (R) JD Motorsports Chevrolet 52 0 Running 14
28 38 15 Todd Peck B. J. McLeod Motorsports Ford 52 0 Running 13
29 15 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 51 0 Running 12
30 39 74 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Dodge 50 0 Running 11
31 18 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 39 0 Accident 10
32 32 13 T. J. Bell MBM Motorsports Dodge 39 0 Running 9
33 23 16 Ryan Reed Roush Fenway Racing Ford 38 0 Accident 8
34 31 14 J. J. Yeley TriStar Motorsports Toyota 30 0 Header 7
35 28 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Chevrolet 29 0 Vibration 6
36 20 93 Josh Wise (i) RSS Racing Chevrolet 23 0 Rear Gear 0
37 37 70 Derrike Cope Derrike Cope Racing Chevrolet 22 0 Running 4
38 33 40 Carl Long MBM Motorsports Toyota 21 0 Brakes 3
39 9 7 Justin Allgaier JR Motorsports Chevrolet 20 0 Accident 2
40 21 10 Matt DiBenedetto (i) TriStar Motorsports Toyota 6 0 Transmission 0
Official race results

Standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
  1 Daniel Suárez 408
  2 Elliott Sadler 397 (-11)
  1 3 Ty Dillon 390 (-18)
  1 4 Brendan Gaughan 363 (-45)
  2 5 Erik Jones 359 (-49)
  6 Brandon Jones 357 (-51)
  4 7 Justin Allgaier 355 (-53)
  8 Brennan Poole 343 (-65)
  9 Bubba Wallace 308 (-100)
  10 Ryan Reed 274 (-134)
  2 11 Blake Koch 266 (-142)
  12 Ryan Sieg 263 (-145)
Official driver's standings
  • Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.


References

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  1. ^ "Kyle Larson wins rain-shortened Xfinity race at Pocono". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 4, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  2. ^ Pocono Raceway Staff
  3. ^ a b c "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – Pocono XFINITY Race Info Page". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  4. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (June 2, 2016). "Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Paul Menard fastest in first Xfinity practice at Pocono". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  5. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (June 2, 2016). "Jones boys: Erik and Brandon Jones fastest in 2nd Pocono Xfinity practice". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  6. ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  7. ^ McFadin, Daniel (June 4, 2016). "Erik Jones wins pole for Xfinity Series race at Pocono". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "2016 Pocono Green 250 – Racing Reference". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
Previous race:
2016 Hisense 4K TV 300
NASCAR Xfinity Series
2016 season
Next race:
2016 Menards 250