The 2016 Great Clips 200 was the 2nd stock car race of the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the 8th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, February 27, 2016, in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.54 mile (2.48 km) permanent tri-oval shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 130 laps to complete. At race's end, John Hunter Nemechek, driving for his family team, NEMCO Motorsports, held off Camden Hayley in the final 2 laps, and earned his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win, along with his first of the season.[1] To fill out the podium, Timothy Peters, driving for Red Horse Racing, would finish in 3rd, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 23 of the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series | |||
| Date | February 27, 2016 | ||
| Official name | 8th Annual Great Clips 200 | ||
| Location | Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.54 mi (2.48 km) | ||
| Distance | 130 laps, 200.2 mi (322.19 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 130 laps, 200.2 mi (322.19 km) | ||
| Average speed | 121.150 miles per hour (194.972 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | ThorSport Racing | ||
| Time | 30.836 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | |
| Laps | 76 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FS1 | ||
| Announcers | Vince Welch, Phil Parsons, Michael Waltrip | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
Background
edit
The race was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate 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, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
editFirst practice
editThe first practice session was held on Friday, February 26, at 10:00 AM EST, and would last for 55 minutes.[2] Grant Enfinger, driving for GMS Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.873, and an average speed of 179.574 mph (288.996 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Grant Enfinger (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 30.873 | 179.574 |
| 2 | 4 | Christopher Bell (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 31.004 | 178.816 |
| 3 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 31.092 | 178.310 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Second practice
editThe second practice session was held on Friday, February 26, at 1:30 PM EST, and would last for 55 minutes.[4] John Wes Townley, driving for his family team, Athenian Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 31.107, and an average speed of 178.224 mph (286.824 km/h).[5]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 05 | John Wes Townley | Athenian Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.107 | 178.224 |
| 2 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | Brad Keselowski Racing | Ford | 31.182 | 177.795 |
| 3 | 9 | William Byron (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 31.257 | 177.368 |
| Full second practice results | ||||||
Final practice
editThe final practice session was held on Friday, February 26, at 4:00 PM EST, and would last for 85 minutes.[4] Grant Enfinger, driving for GMS Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 31.011, and an average speed of 178.775 mph (287.710 km/h).[6]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Grant Enfinger (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 31.011 | 178.775 |
| 2 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 31.146 | 178.000 |
| 3 | 4 | Christopher Bell (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 31.157 | 177.938 |
| Full final practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editQualifying was held on Saturday, February 27, at 10:00 AM EST.[4] Since Atlanta Motor Speedway is at least 2.0 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 13–32. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1–12.[7]
Matt Crafton, driving for ThorSport Racing, would win the pole, setting a lap of 30.836, and an average speed of 179.790 mph (289.344 km/h) in the second round.[8]
Five drivers would fail to qualify: Jordan Anderson, Korbin Forrister, Norm Benning, Tim Viens, and Ryan Ellis.
Full qualifying results
editRace
editRace recap
editMatt Crafton and John Wes Townley would lead the field to the green flag. On the initial restart, Townley would spin his tires, resulting him losing several positions. Christopher Bell advanced to the second spot, and eventually took the lead from Crafton on lap 7. After leading 20 laps, Bell's right front tire would go down, giving the lead back to Crafton. He would maintain the lead, until the first caution clock expired on lap 38. On the second restart, Johnny Sauter's truck would lose power, and was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. He drove past his pit stall and entered the track again, thinking that his truck would get up to speed again, which was unsuccessful. He went to the garage to replace the ignition box, and eventually returned to the race several laps later. The second caution came out at lap 60, after William Byron suffered a blown engine. Tyler Reddick made an unscheduled pit stop during the third restart, after reporting a vibration. Red Horse Racing teammates, Timothy Peters and Ben Kennedy, also had unscheduled pit stops, as Peters suffered a vibration, and Kennedy's shifter would pop out of place. Crafton would continue to lead, until Bell made his way back to front, and retook the lead with around 40 laps to go. The second caution clock would expire with 25 laps to go. John Hunter Nemechek and Crafton lead the field back to green flag. Spencer Gallagher would spin his tires, causing the outside lane to have a slow restart. As a result, Daniel Suárez would move into second, and immediately went to the outside lane to try and pass Crafton for the lead. The two were side by side coming into turn two. As they were exiting turn one, Bell would accidentally turn Suárez sideways, causing him to hit the side of Crafton's truck. They would spin in front of the field, with Crafton and Suárez receiving numerous damage. Surprisingly, everyone would make it through the wreck. The race would go under red flag to assess all the damage.
Final laps
editThe field would restart with 15 laps to go, with Nemechek and Cameron Hayley leading the field. Bell would quickly take the lead back a lap later. He would suddenly blow a tire with 8 laps to go, causing him to hit the outside wall hard. Nemechek and Townley would lead the field on the final restart with 2 laps to go. Townley would spin his tires once again, causing Cameron Hayley to advance into the second spot. Nemechek held off Hayley in the final 2 laps, and would earn his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win. Hayley, Peters, Hemric, and Enfinger would round out the top 5.[1]
Race results
edit| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 130 | 8 | Running | 36 |
| 2 | 5 | 13 | Cameron Hayley | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 130 | 4 | Running | 32 |
| 3 | 12 | 17 | Timothy Peters | Red Horse Racing | Toyota | 130 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 4 | 9 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | Brad Keselowski Racing | Ford | 130 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 5 | 4 | 33 | Grant Enfinger (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 6 | 7 | 41 | Ben Rhodes (R) | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 130 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 7 | 2 | 05 | John Wes Townley | Athenian Motorsports | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 8 | 17 | 92 | Parker Kligerman | RBR Enterprises | Ford | 130 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 9 | 25 | 75 | Caleb Holman | Henderson Motorsports | Toyota | 130 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 10 | 11 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 11 | 27 | 98 | Rico Abreu (R) | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 130 | 0 | Running | 22 |
| 12 | 23 | 20 | Austin Hill | Austin Hill Racing | Ford | 130 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 13 | 22 | 02 | Tyler Young | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 14 | 21 | 29 | Tyler Reddick | Brad Keselowski Racing | Ford | 130 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 15 | 10 | 11 | Ben Kennedy | Red Horse Racing | Toyota | 130 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 16 | 20 | 22 | Austin Wayne Self (R) | AM Racing | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 17 | 6 | 00 | Cole Custer (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 18 | 19 | 63 | Garrett Smithley (i) | MB Motorsports | Chevrolet | 129 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 19 | 24 | 86 | Brandon Brown | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 128 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 20 | 8 | 81 | Ryan Truex | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 127 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 21 | 30 | 49 | Timmy Hill | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 127 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 22 | 14 | 32 | Justin Marks (i) | Braun Motorsports | Toyota | 127 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 23 | 29 | 1 | Travis Kvapil | MAKE Motorsports | Chevrolet | 127 | 0 | Running | 10 |
| 24 | 26 | 07 | J. J. Yeley (i) | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 25 | 28 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | Martins Motorsports | Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | Running | 8 |
| 26 | 3 | 4 | Christopher Bell (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 122 | 42 | Accident | 8 |
| 27 | 31 | 71 | Carlos Contreras | Contreras Motorsports | Chevrolet | 122 | 0 | Running | 6 |
| 28 | 16 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 121 | 0 | Running | 5 |
| 29 | 32 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing | Chevrolet | 120 | 0 | Running | 4 |
| 30 | 1 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 111 | 76 | Accident | 5 |
| 31 | 13 | 51 | Daniel Suárez (i) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 111 | 0 | Accident | 0 |
| 32 | 15 | 9 | William Byron (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 59 | 0 | Engine | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
edit- ^ a b Utter, Jim (2016-02-27). "John Hunter Nemechek wins in rough and wild finish at Atlanta". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
- ^ "2016 Truck Series Atlanta Race Info". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2016-02-26). "Grant Enfinger, Christopher Bell, Matt Crafton top first Truck practice at Atlanta". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- ^ a b c "2017 Truck Series Michigan Race Info". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2016-02-26). "Townley, Hemric, Byron fastest in 2nd of 3 Truck practices at Atlanta". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2016-07-12). "Enfinger again at the top of the Truck practice sheet at Atlanta". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2016-02-27). "Matt Crafton fastest in Atlanta Camping World Truck Series qualifying". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-07-12.