The 2016 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 was the 6th stock car race of the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the 14th iteration of the event. The race was originally going be held on Friday, May 20, 2016, but due to inclement weather, it was postponed until Saturday, May 21, in Concord, North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 134 laps to complete. Matt Crafton, driving for ThorSport Racing, survived a string of green-flag pit stops, and earned his 13th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win, and his second of the season. Crafton also dominated parts of the race, leading 47 laps.^[1] To fill out the podium, Kyle Busch, driving for his team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, and Johnny Sauter, driving for GMS Racing, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Background

The layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13 mi (21 km) outside Charlotte. The complex features a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, and the Bank of America Roval 400. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports with Greg Walter as track president.

The 2,000 acres (810 ha) complex also features a state-of-the-art 0.25 mi (0.40 km) drag racing strip, ZMAX Dragway. It is the only all-concrete, four-lane drag strip in the United States and hosts NHRA events. Alongside the drag strip is a state-of-the-art clay oval that hosts dirt racing including the World of Outlaws finals among other popular racing events.

Practice

The first and only practice session was held on Thursday, May 19, at 12:30 pm EST, and would last for 1 hour.^[2] William Byron, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.321, and an average speed of 184.168 mph (296.390 km/h).^[3] Because of persistent rain, the second and final practice sessions would be cancelled.

Qualifying

Qualifying was originally going to be held on Friday, May 20, at 5:30 pm EST.^[2] Since Charlotte Motor Speedway is at least 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length, 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.^[4]

Qualifying would be cancelled due to inclement weather. The starting lineup would be determined by speeds during practice. As a result, William Byron, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports would earn the pole.^[5]

Austin Cindric, Caleb Holman, Jesse Little, and Austin Hill would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Matt Crafton 161 2 Timothy Peters 149 (−12) 3 Daniel Hemric 144 (−17) 1 4 Spencer Gallagher 139 (−22) 1 5 William Byron 135 (−26) 2 6 Ryan Truex 129 (−32) 7 John Hunter Nemechek 127 (−34) 2 8 Tyler Reddick 125 (−36) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 8 positions are included for the driver standings.

References