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The 2016 Menards 250 presented by Valvoline was the thirteenth stock car race of the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, June 11, 2016, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a 2 miles (3.2 km) permanent tri-oval shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 125 laps to complete. In an exciting battle for the win, Daniel Suárez, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would make a last lap pass on Kyle Busch, and earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win. He would become the first Mexican driver to win a NASCAR national series race. Busch mainly dominated the race, leading 88 laps. To fill out the podium, Paul Menard, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would finish in third, respectively.

Background

Michigan International Speedway is a 2 mi (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres (5.7 km) approximately four-mile (6.4 km) south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is 70-mile (110 km) west of the center of Detroit, 40-mile (64 km) from Ann Arbor and 60 miles (97 km) south and northwest of Lansing and Toledo, Ohio respectively. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a sister track to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by NASCAR. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of the motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards). Michigan is the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners, long straightaways, and lack of a restrictor plate requirement; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 200 mph (320 km/h) and corner entry speeds are anywhere from 215 to 220 mph (346 to 354 km/h) after the 2012 repaving of the track.

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 Friday, June 10, at 12:30 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 37.482, and an average speed of 192.092 mph (309.142 km/h).

Final practice

The final practice session was held on Friday, June 10, at 3:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes. Joey Logano, driving for Team Penske, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 37.534, and an average speed of 191.826 mph (308.714 km/h).

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, June 11, at 10:00 AM EST. Since Michigan International Speedway 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.

Alex Bowman, driving for JR Motorsports, would win the pole after advancing from the preliminary round and setting the fastest lap in Round 2, with a lap of 37.581, and an average speed of 191.586 mph (308.328 km/h).

Full qualifying results

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Daniel Suárez	452
	2	Elliott Sadler	434 (-18)
	3	Ty Dillon	416 (-36)
1	4	Erik Jones	397 (-55)
2	5	Justin Allgaier	388 (-64)
	6	Brandon Jones	388 (-64)
3	7	Brendan Gaughan	386 (-66)
	8	Brennan Poole	373 (-79)
	9	Bubba Wallace	340 (-112)
	10	Ryan Reed	301 (-151)
	11	Blake Koch	294 (-158)
	12	Ryan Sieg	292 (-160)
Official driver's standings

• Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

1. "Daniel Suarez becomes first Mexican driver to win NASCAR national series race". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 11, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
2. ^ "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site - Michigan XFINITY Race Info Page". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on June 27, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
3. Long, Dustin (June 10, 2016). "Groundhog delay can't slow Erik Jones in first Xfinity practice". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
4. Long, Dustin (June 10, 2016). "Joey Logano paces field in final Xfinity practice at Michigan". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
5. "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
6. Bonkowski, Jerry (June 11, 2016). "Alex Bowman outruns Erik Jones to grab Xfinity pole at Michigan". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
7. "2016 Menards 250 presented by Valvoline - Racing Reference". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved February 8, 2023.

• 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series
• NASCAR races at Michigan International Speedway
• June 2016 sports events in the United States
• 2016 in sports in Michigan