# 2016 Pocono Green 250

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. 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.

## Background

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. Mattco also owns South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Virginia.

### Entry list

* (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
### First practice

The first practice session was held on Thursday, June 2, at 2:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes. 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).
| 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

The final practice session was held on Thursday, June 2, at 4:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes. 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). 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

Qualifying was held on Saturday, June 4, at 9:05 AM EST. 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.
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).

### Full qualifying results

| 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

| Fin | 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
### 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.