The 2016 Drivin' for Linemen 200 was the 9th stock car race of the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the 16th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, June 25, 2016, in Madison, Illinois, at Gateway Motorsports Park, a 1.25-mile (2.01 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 160 laps to complete. In a wreck filled race, Christopher Bell, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, held off Ben Rhodes on the final restart, and earned his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win, along with his first of the season. It was also the 50th NASCAR win for Kyle Busch Motorsports as an organization.[1] To fill out the podium, Daniel Hemric, driving for Brad Keselowski Racing, would finish 3rd, respectively. But the race was most known for a fight between John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher. After the two crashed out of the race, the two had words when they climbed out of their trucks before Townley lunged at Gallagher and tackled him to the ground. The two got up and went to the ground again before they eventually got up again with announcer Vince Welch laughing. Townley then landed four punches on Gallagher before he tried to land a couple more but missed before either they go separated by the NASCAR Officials or Townley simply gave up, let go of Gallagher, and walked away. Soon, Townley and Gallagher's fight began trending and was called one of the funniest fights ever in sports.[2][3] Townley was eventually fined $15,000 and placed on probation until the end of the year while Gallagher was fined $12,000 and also placed on probation at the end of the year
Background
Gateway Motorsports Park is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a 1.250 mi (2.012 km) oval that hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, a 2.000-mile (3.219 km) infield road course used by SpeedTour TransAm, SCCA, and Porsche Club of America, a quarter-mile NHRA-sanctioned drag strip that hosts the annual NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Midwest Nationals event, and the Kartplex, a state-of-the-art karting facility.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
First practice
The first practice session was held on Saturday, June 25, at 8:30 am CST, and would last for 55 minutes.[4] Ben Rhodes, driving for ThorSport Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 33.152, and an average speed of 135.738 mph (218.449 km/h).[5]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | Ben Rhodes (R) | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 33.152 | 135.738 |
| 2 | 9 | William Byron (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 33.235 | 135.399 |
| 3 | 00 | Cole Custer (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 33.535 | 134.188 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Final practice
The final practice session was held on Saturday, June 25, at 10:30 am CST, and would last for 1 hour and 25 minutes.[4] Ben Rhodes, driving for ThorSport Racing, would once again set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 33.148, and an average speed of 135.755 mph (218.476 km/h).[6]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | Ben Rhodes (R) | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 33.148 | 135.755 |
| 2 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 33.208 | 135.510 |
| 3 | 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 33.320 | 135.054 |
| Full final practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was originally going to be held on Saturday, June 25, at 4:45 pm CST.[4] Since Gateway Motorsports Park is under 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length, 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.[7]
Qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather. The starting lineup was determined by practice speeds. As a result, Ben Rhodes, driving for ThorSport Racing, would earn the pole.[8] No drivers failed to qualify.
Starting lineup
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | 4 | Christopher Bell (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 160 | 38 | Running | 36 |
| 2 | 1 | 41 | Ben Rhodes (R) | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 160 | 4 | Running | 32 |
| 3 | 13 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | Brad Keselowski Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 4 | 2 | 21 | Johnny Sauter | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 29 | Running | 30 |
| 5 | 17 | 51 | Erik Jones (i) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 160 | 0 | Running | 0 |
| 6 | 4 | 8 | John Hunter Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 7 | 5 | 11 | Germán Quiroga | Red Horse Racing | Toyota | 160 | 0 | Running | 26 |
| 8 | 16 | 24 | Kaz Grala | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 9 | 12 | 33 | Ben Kennedy | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 24 |
| 10 | 21 | 17 | Timothy Peters | Red Horse Racing | Toyota | 160 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 11 | 24 | 66 | Jordan Anderson | Bolen Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 1 | Running | 23 |
| 12 | 25 | 50 | Travis Kvapil | MAKE Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 13 | 19 | 02 | Tyler Young | Young's Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 14 | 23 | 98 | Rico Abreu (R) | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 160 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 15 | 8 | 00 | Cole Custer (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 16 | 20 | 07 | Shane Lee | Win-Tron Racing | Toyota | 160 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 17 | 3 | 9 | William Byron (R) | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 160 | 47 | Running | 18 |
| 18 | 27 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | Martins Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 15 |
| 19 | 28 | 49 | Spencer Boyd | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 20 | 30 | 71 | Enrique Contreras III | Contreras Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | Running | 13 |
| 21 | 15 | 32 | Justin Haley | Braun Motorsports | Chevrolet | 156 | 0 | Running | 12 |
| 22 | 11 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 153 | 0 | Accident | 11 |
| 23 | 18 | 05 | John Wes Townley | Athenian Motorsports | Chevrolet | 150 | 0 | Accident | 10 |
| 24 | 10 | 13 | Cameron Hayley | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 150 | 0 | Running | 9 |
| 25 | 7 | 29 | Tyler Reddick | Brad Keselowski Racing | Ford | 149 | 41 | Accident | 9 |
| 26 | 6 | 81 | Ryan Truex | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 149 | 0 | Running | 7 |
| 27 | 14 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 148 | 0 | Accident | 6 |
| 28 | 26 | 22 | Austin Wayne Self (R) | AM Racing | Toyota | 118 | 0 | Accident | 5 |
| 29 | 29 | 1 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Accident | 4 |
| 30 | 22 | 63 | Jake Griffin | MB Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14 | 0 | Engine | 3 |
| 31 | 32 | 10 | Caleb Roark | Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing | Chevrolet | 7 | 0 | Vibration | 2 |
| 32 | 31 | 86 | Brandon Brown | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Engine | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Standings after the race
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ DeGroot, Nick (June 26, 2016). "Bell earns KBM's 50th truck win in Gateway thriller". Motorsport.com. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ "John Wes Townley, Spencer Gallagher Fight After NASCAR Truck Series Crash". Retrieved June 26, 2016.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (June 26, 2016). "Townley, Gallagher wreck, wrestle and then slug it out after Gateway wreck". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c "2016 Truck Series Gateway Race Info". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on July 22, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Long, Dustin (June 25, 2016). "Ben Rhodes fastest in first Truck practice; Rico Abreu goes to backup after crash". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Long, Dustin (June 25, 2016). "Ben Rhodes sweeps Camping World Truck practices at Gateway". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Winningham, Brett (June 25, 2016). "NCWTS: Rain Washes Out Qualifying at Gateway". Speedway Digest. Retrieved January 3, 2023.