2016 Finali Mondiali
It was the last season in which the Ferrari 458 was used in the headline class, replaced in 2017 with the 488.


2016 Finnish Athletics Championships
Following are the results of the 2016 Finnish Athletics Championships. The games, known as Kalevan kisat in Finnish, were first held in Tampere in 1907. The 2016 events were held July 21st through 24th in Oulu.


2016 Finnish Cup
The 2016 Finnish Cup (Suomen Cup) is the 62nd season of the Finnish Cup. 125 clubs entered the competition.


2016 Finnish Figure Skating Championships
The 2016 Finnish Figure Skating Championships (Finnish: SM2016, yksinluistelu ja jäätanssi) took place between December 18 and 20, 2015 in Mikkeli. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dancing on the senior and junior levels. The results were one of the criteria used to choose the Finnish teams to the 2016 World Championships, 2016 European Championships, and 2016 World Junior Championships.


2016 Finnish League Cup
The 2016 Finnish League Cup was the 20th season of the Finnish League Cup, Finland's second-most prestigious cup football tournament. HJK were the defending champions, having won their fifth league cup the previous year.


2016 Finnish League Cup
The cup consisted of two stages. First there was a group stage that involved the 12 Veikkausliiga teams divided into two groups. The top teams from each group then played each other in the final.


2016 Finswimming World Championships
The 19th Finswimming World Championships was held in Volos, Greece at the Swimming Pool Neas Ionias “Vasilis Polymeros” from 24 to 28 July 2016.


2016 Finswimming World Championships, Medal overview, Men's events
Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.


2016 Finswimming World Championships, Medal overview, Women's events
Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400
The 2016 FireKeepers Casino 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 12, 2016 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the fifteenth race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400
The race had 14 lead changes among different drivers and nine cautions for 46 laps.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Background
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. 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 International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of 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).


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Background, Aero package
Two weeks prior to the race, NASCAR announced they will test changes to the aero package. In addition to the aero changes used in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, there will be a reduction in spoiler size from 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) to 2.5 inches (6.4 cm), a two-inch (5.1 cm) reduction of the splitter and resizing the deck fin.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Background, Aero package
NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said that NASCAR looks "at it as a never-ending journey; if we can improve we’re going to do that. We wanted to go the direction of low downforce, see how that worked, not kind of go all the way in and hope that we are directionally right. And we are seeing that play out. We’ve seen some great racing at the beginning of the year.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Background, Aero package
But we also knew that we had some more levers that we could pull if the direction kind of proved out, so we’ve tried some of those things. We’ve tested it and what we’ve also wanted to do is lower some of the corner speeds to allow for even more passing. That was one of the areas where we’ve seen minimal change, but there are some levers we can pull to really drive that down.”


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Entry list
The preliminary entry list for the race included forty cars and was released on June 3, 2016 at 12:29 pm ET.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, First practice
Chase Elliott was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.709 and a speed of 201.630 mph (324.492 km/h).


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Qualifying
Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 36.080 and a speed of 199.557 mph (321.156 km/h). He said afterwards that starting first "feels good. Finally, we were able to break through. The last two weeks have stunk for me and my team. We have won the first two rounds the last few weeks and qualified second. Now we figured out how to be second in the first round and first in the last two. That is a good move.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Qualifying
I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the effort they put into this new package. This is such an unknown showing up here so it is cool to show what all the engineers and simulation department were able to do to put together a good package off the truck. I am very happy to be driving this car.”


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Qualifying
“A lot of fun out there,” Martin Truex Jr. said after qualifying second. “Slipping and sliding as the track got hot a slick. I like where we are with this package and tomorrow we’ll fine tune what we have, take the tape off and get dialed in for the race.”


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Qualifying
After qualifying third, Tony Stewart said his team is "gaining on it. We've just got to get a little break here to get going. We were going good last week. The guy that won the race, our teammate [Kurt Busch], we were running the same lap times as him the whole race until we had our problem."


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Qualifying
The session was halted in the first round after David Ragan spun out and tagged the wall with his right-rear corner.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Second practice
Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 36.406 and speed of 197.770 mph (318.280 km/h).


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Final practice
Austin Dillon led the final practice session with a lap time of 37.056 and speed of 194.301 mph (312.697 km/h).


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, First half, Start
Under mostly sunny Michigan skies, Joey Logano led the field to the green at 1:19 p.m. He got loose in turn 1 and Martin Truex Jr. took the lead. In the first 10 laps, a number of drivers were reporting being "incredibly loose" because of the changes made to the aero package. Logano made his back to the lead on lap 11. By lap 25, Truex began reeling him in for the race lead. Green flag stops began around lap 39. Logano pitted from the lead two laps later and handed it to teammate Brad Keselowski.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, First half, Start
Landon Cassill was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Keselowski ran out of gas on the frontstretch on lap 46. He was saved by Truex spinning out in turn 3 which brought out the first caution of the race. He made it to pit road and the lead cycled back to Logano.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 51. Kyle Busch's car caught fire in the engine area and blew up on the backstretch. This brought out the second caution of the race on lap 54. He said afterwards that he felt "the motor kind of going south for about 30 laps or so and finally let go. At least there was plenty of warning and I knew it was going to get hot in there and it certainly did once it let go and it was on fire. It’s just been a dismal month, just haven’t been able to hit anything and get good finishes going." He would go on to finish 40th.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 61. The third caution of the race flew on lap 62 for a two-car wreck on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Chris Buescher got loose and tapped the left-rear corner of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He got loose, came across the nose of A. J. Allmendinger and sent them both into the wall. Earnhardt continued down the backstretch and spun down the track. Earnhardt said afterwards that he "knew I was going to hit the wall. The No. 34 (Buescher) just drove into the left front quarter panel. Oh, man.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
I don’t know; them restarts and all that. You’ve got a responsibility to try and take care of everybody out there even when you’re three-wide. I’m disappointed in that. But, we had a pretty good car and we were just kind of taking our time, there. And the car was great. So, it’s a shame.” When asked about the wreck from his point of view, Allmendinger said he wasn't “really sure. I think Junior got hit and I was on the outside of him and that was it. It was kind of weird back there. I’m not really sure what kind of car we had. I thought in clean air we weren’t too bad, but I guess a lot of people could say that. Just not a lot of fun racing there.”


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, First half, Second quarter
The race restarted on lap 69. A number of cars began pitting on lap 93. Logano pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Kyle Larson. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Keselowski. He pitted on lap 99 and handed the lead to Jimmie Johnson. The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 102 for Jeffrey Earnhardt slamming the wall in turn 2. Johnson pitted under the caution and the lead cycled back to Logano. Aric Almirola was tagged for having too many crew members over the wall and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted on lap 107. The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 109 after Jeffrey Earnhardt's car caught on fire after slamming the wall a second time on the backstretch.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted with 84 laps to go. Logano didn't get a good restart and lost the lead to Chase Elliott. The sixth caution of the race flew with 53 laps to go after Regan Smith made contact with the wall and debris was scattered on the backstretch. Elliott and Logano swapped the lead on pit road, but Elliott exited with the lead.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with 47 laps to go. Elliott got a lousy restart and lost the lead to Logano. The seventh caution of the race flew with 46 to go after a multi-car wreck on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Casey Mears got into the wall, clipped Danica Patrick who then clipped Brian Scott and sent him head-on into the outside wall.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with 40 laps to go. The eighth caution of the race flew with 38 laps to go for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Rounding the turn, Ryan Blaney got loose and slammed the wall. Not far behind, Trevor Bayne got into Johnson and he was slight contact with the wall. During the caution, Johnson drove up to the side of Bayne to show his displeasure. Bayne said over the radio that he "just got really loose there. It wasn’t intentional with the 48."


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with 33 laps to go. In the last 20 laps, Elliott began closing the deficit down to under a second. The ninth caution of the race flew with 12 laps to go for a single-car wreck on the frontstretch. Crossing the start/finish line, Denny Hamlin suffered a left-rear tire blowout, spun through the grass and hit the inside wall.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
The race restarted with seven laps to go and Logano drove on to win the race.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Logano said after the race that it was "a crazy race with the low downforce and with more cautions and more opportunity to screw up pretty much. What a fun race, racing with Chase and Kyle Larson. It is fun to see the young guys up there racing. I am not alone up there as a young guy anymore. I have guys up there younger than me racing for a win.”


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Despite earning a career-best finish of second, Elliott said it was "not a good day, nope, not a good day" and that he "can’t do dumb stuff and expect to win this thing. When you do dumb stuff, you don’t win. I did dumb stuff today.”


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
“It was a solid run for us,” Larson said. “We’ve been consistent as we’ve been in the last year and a half anyways, so it’s nice to be running up front and getting closer to a win. Still got some work to do, but it is nice when we can get a package like this thrown at us just a few weeks before the race, and our guys at the shop and here at the racetrack can look at engineering data and come up with a good piece.”


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Motor Racing Network lead writer and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Pete Pistone giving his thoughts on the FireKeepers Casino 400.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Members of the NASCAR media gave their thoughts on the race itself.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Pete Pistone of the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio said that "it was worthy of a B minus," the cars being loose "created a wild and wooly style of racing at least throughout the field," but that clean air "still was in play and the other drivers that led the 61 laps Logano didn’t clearly had the advantage once they were in the top spot" and that the package is "an ongoing process and NASCAR officials will sift through the data and information of Sunday’s race and no doubt use those takeaways to develop the 2017 rules package."


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press said that lowering "the downforce on the front of the cars let drivers rip along the long, wide straightways at MIS pushing 220 m.p.h. The increased speed — and alternately slower corner speed — meant drivers had more opportunity to maneuver and actually drive their cars." He also noted that "the speed difference between the turns and the straightaway was as much as 40 m.p.h. This means — in theory — drivers have a chance to really maneuver as they hit the stretch.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
And that means they need more control of their cars, which NASCAR aimed to give them with the new rules that let teams lower the downforce. The flip side, as Logano pointed out, is that extra speed and more bunched-together drivers — feeling like they have more control — 'is a recipe for disaster.' That recipe might be good for ratings, however. Everyone agrees the sport needs more passing, more jockeying. It’s in the heat of the scrum that reveals personalities, shows us who is willing to live on the edge and who is not."


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Race, Post-race, Media comments
Matt Weaver of Autoweek said that "one race with the extra-reduced downforce configurations [is] too small of a sample size to reach any sort of definite conclusion," especially "when considering that it was conducted on two-mile Michigan -- an anomaly on the Sprint Cup schedule," that "no package will ever be perfect," unless NASCAR implements "the most wacky of short track promotional tactics, the fastest cars and best drivers will always find their way to the front of the field," that Logano's dominant performance "shouldn't take away from what was a really enjoyable race -- and by most accounts -- a step in the right direction for the entire industry," that this race "was a massive improvement over the high drag package used last summer at Michigan and Indianapolis" and that "NASCAR is starting to move in the right direction and appears primed to make these cars even more unstable."


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Media, Television
Fox NASCAR televised the race in the United States on FS1 for the second consecutive year. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while three-time Michigan winner, Jeff Gordon and two-time winner Darrell Waltrip were the color commentators. Jamie Little,  Vince Welch and Matt Yocum reported from pit lane during the race.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Media, Radio
Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and five-time Michigan winner Rusty Wallace announced the race in the booth while the field is racing on the front stretch.


2016 FireKeepers Casino 400, Media, Radio
Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform outside of turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Pete Pistone reported from pit lane during the race.


2016 Firenasjonersturneringer
The 2016 Firenasjonersturneringer (translated from the Norwegian Four Nations Tournament) was a friendly women's handball tournament organized by the Norwegian Handball Federation held at the city of Langhus as a preparation of the host nation for the Olympic Games.


2016 Firestone 600
The 2016 Firestone 600 was the 14th round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season, contested over 248 laps at the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The race was originally scheduled as the ninth round of the series and originally began on June 12, 2016, following an extended series of delays caused by rain. After 71 laps, the race was suspended due to further rainfall, and re-scheduled to continue on August 27, 2016.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, June 11–12 weekend
The race was originally scheduled to be held on the evening of June 11, for a 7:50 p.m. CT start. The track experienced rainfall throughout the afternoon, which subsided about three hours prior to the race's scheduled start time. However, due to difficulties in fully drying the track because of the high humidity and weepers (water seeping out from cracks in the racing surface), officials called off the race at 10:30 p.m., and rescheduled it to Sunday afternoon.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, June 11–12 weekend
The race began at 1:49 p.m. CT, which itself was delayed from a 1:06 p.m. start in order to address issues with the track's drainage system. Josef Newgarden and Conor Daly were involved in a wreck on lap 42, which resulted in an extended, nearly 30-lap caution period in order to repair a SAFER barrier. Newgarden suffered a fractured clavicle and wrist in the accident. At 2:42 p.m., the race was red flagged on lap 71 due to further heavy rainfall, and ultimately suspended. Under IndyCar Series rules, the race could only be declared official after lap 125.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, June 11–12 weekend
Due to forecasts calling for more rain on Monday, and logistical issues surrounding driver participation (several IndyCar Series drivers were scheduled to participate in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans the following weekend) and impact on testing schedules, IndyCar announced that the Firestone 600 would be restarted on the evening of August 27, 2016 at 8:15 p.m. The race would continue from lap 71, with James Hinchcliffe as leader.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, June 11–12 weekend
Driver substitutions were not allowed, and only drivers whose cars were capable of resuming the race at the time it was originally halted were allowed to participate. Cars were required to use the same body configuration they had initially used at the original time of the race, although they did not need to use the same car or engine. All tickets from the original race remained valid.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, June 11–12 weekend
The track also announced incentives and other promotions for the re-scheduled race, including discounted tickets and food, free T-shirts, free tickets for those who purchase tickets to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' AAA Texas 500 playoff round, and an autograph session with drivers. Special events for police were also involved as part of "Back the Blue" on the rescheduled weekend.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
The rescheduled continuation of the event occurred on August 27 with far better weather than the original attempt to complete the race. Two 10-minute practice sessions were held a few hours before the race to allow for the drivers to warm-up before the race's continuation. Scott Dixon was the fastest of these sessions with a time of 24.369. At the beginning of the first session, Takuma Sato crashed following a suspension piece breaking on his car, putting him in jeopardy of not be able to restart the race. The team would be able to repair the car in time, but Sato retired early due to mechanical issues.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
The restart of the race saw Ryan Hunter-Reay move past James Hinchcliffe for the race lead almost immediately. However, on lap 79, Hinchcliffe retook the lead and began to pull away from the rest of the field quickly. Hélio Castroneves moved into second position on lap 85 and became to only person who could keep pace with Hinchcliffe over the early stages of the race. Hunter-Reay began falling through the field with handling issues, moving Graham Rahal to third.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
The first round of pit stops came between roughly lap 100 and lap 120. Hinchcliffe was able to extend his tires all the way to lap 120, proving the good handling of his car. The lead briefly changed to Castroneves during Hinchcliffe's stop, but Hinchcliffe quickly moved back around Castroneves due to his fresher tires. The running order remained largely unchanged until the next round of pit stops, where several cars had to pit much earlier than intended due to tire wear. This allowed for Ed Carpenter to move into second place and slowly begin catching Hinchcliffe. Castroneves moved back into the top three after pit stops for the leaders, but poor handling once again forced him to pit early.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
The final round of green flag pit stops came roughly around lap 200. James Hinchcliffe once again emerged the leader over Carpenter. On lap 213, however, the complexion of the race changed when the first caution period of the night came out. Scott Dixon, attempting to pass Ed Carpenter and get closer to getting back on the lead lap, made contact with Carpenter's left rear tire, sending Dixon into a spin and into the turn one wall. Hélio Castroneves was tapped at the tail end of the incident, but suffered no significant damage. The incident allowed several drivers, including Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan, and lap down drivers Mikhail Aleshin and Simon Pagenaud, to come into the pits for fresh tires in hopes of gaining an advantage. Hinchcliffe, however, continued to lead.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
Racing resumed on lap 220, with Carpenter now giving Hinchcliffe a serious challenge for the lead. Meanwhile, Aleshin was able to pass his teammate Hinchcliffe to put himself back on the lead lap. On lap 224, the left rear tire on Carpenter's car went down in turn four, possibly from the damage sustained in the prior incident with Dixon, sending Carpenter into a spin and collecting Castroneves. Carpenter was out of the race, while Castroneves miraculously avoided race-ending damage and managed to stay on the lead lap. Aleshin was able to circle back around to the tail end of the field as the fifth and final car on the lead lap.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
Racing once again resumed on 230, where Simon Pagenaud managed to get by Hinchcliffe to get himself back on the lead lap as well. One lap later, caution flew again, this time for Aleshin spinning in turn four and collecting Jack Hawksworth, putting them both out of the race. This set up an eight lap shoot-out to the end, with James Hinchcliffe, Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Hélio Castroneves, and Simon Pagenaud the only cars on the lead lap. During the yellow, Kanaan, Pagenaud, and Castroneves all elected to pit for fresh tires.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
The final restart of the night came on lap 240, with all but Castroneves in contention for the victory. Hinchcliffe was able to barely maintain the lead lap after lap. However, on the final lap of the race, Rahal was able to get inside of Hinchcliffe in turn three, allowing him to pull in front in the turn. Hinchcliffe made ground back up Rahal on the frontstretch, but came just short, with Rahal crossing the line only 8 thousands of a second before Hinchcliffe. Kanaan came across the line third, while Pagenaud finished fourth.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
The finish between Rahal and Hinchcliffe was the closest finish in the history of Texas Motor Speedway and the fifth-closest in the history of the IndyCar Series. For Rahal, the victory was the fourth of his career and his first since Mid-Ohio of the previous season. It also marked the first win for a Honda powered car since the Indianapolis 500. Further back, Simon Pagenaud managed to increase his championship lead slightly over his teammate Will Power, who finished in eighth, with only two races remaining in the championship. Alexander Rossi was the highest placed rookie in the race with an 11th-place finish.


2016 Firestone 600, Report, August 27
Following the race, James Hinchcliffe and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports were deemed to have violated dome skid wear rules during the race. The team was fined $20,000 for the infraction. In addition, 25 points were deducted from the cars entrant points and from Hinchcliffe's driver's points total.


2016 Firestone 600, Results, Race
Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.


2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
The 2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2016 IndyCar Series. The race was held on March 13, 2016 in St. Petersburg, Florida on the city's temporary street circuit. Team Penske driver Will Power qualified on pole for the race, but was diagnosed with a concussion shortly after the conclusion of the session and was forced to miss the race. Oriol Servià filled in place of Power. Second place qualifier Simon Pagenaud inherited the pole position.


2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Simon Pagenaud led the opening 48 laps of the race before being passed by his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya would lead 44 laps en route to his second win in a row at St. Petersburg and most recent IndyCar victory to date. Rookie driver Conor Daly also led 15 laps during the race due to pit strategy, but was shuffled outside the top 10 by the end of the race. Alexander Rossi was the highest finishing rookie in the race, coming across the line in 12th position.


2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
The race tied the record for fewest caution flags in a race at St. Petersburg with only two coming out over the whole of the race. The first came on lap 46 when Luca Filippi and Marco Andretti made contact in the first turn. The second came on the restart from the prior caution when Carlos Muñoz made contact with Graham Rahal in turn four, creating a logjam that completely blocked the race course.


2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
After the race, Will Power was reevaluated and deemed not to have a concussion, but instead to be suffering from a lingering ear infection. Power would be cleared to race for the following round at Phoenix International Raceway.


2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Report, Race Results
Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.


2016 Fitzgibbon Cup
The 2016 independent.ie Fitzgibbon Cup was the 100th staging of the Fitzgibbon Cup since its establishment in 1912. The semi-finals and final were hosted by Cork IT on 26 and 27 February 2016 where Mary Immaculate College won their first ever title.


2016 Fitzgibbon Cup, Format
Fifteen institutes of higher education compete in three groups of four and one group of three. Each team in a group plays all the other teams in the group once. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw.


2016 Fitzgibbon Cup, Format
The four group winners play the four group runners-up in the quarter-finals. The semi-finals and final are played over a single weekend, usually the last Friday and Saturday in February.


2016 Florida A&M Rattlers football team
The 2016 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by second-year head coach Alex Wood. They played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 4–7, 4–4 in MEAC play to finish in a two way tie for fifth place.


2016 Florida Amendment 1
Florida Amendment 1, whose full title is Rights of Electricity Consumers Regarding Solar Energy Choice, Amendment 1, is a 2016 constitutional amendment on solar energy in the U.S. state of Florida. It is supported by Consumers for Smart Solar and opposed by Floridians for Solar Choice. The amendment has been called misleading by opponents.


2016 Florida Amendment 2
The Florida Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as Amendment 2, was approved by voters in the Tuesday, November 8, 2016, general election in the State of Florida. The bill required a super-majority vote to pass, with at least 60% of voters voting for support of a state constitutional amendment. Florida already had a medical marijuana law in place, but only for those who are terminally ill and with less than a year left to live.


2016 Florida Amendment 2
The goal of Amendment 2 is to alleviate those suffering from these medical conditions: cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic nonmalignant pain caused by a qualifying medical condition or that originates from a qualified medical condition or other debilitating medical conditions comparable to those listed.


2016 Florida Amendment 2
Under Amendment 2, the medical marijuana will be given to the patient if the physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient. Smoking the medication was not allowed under a statute passed by the Florida State Legislature, however this ban was struck down by Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers on May 25, 2018.


2016 Florida Amendment 2
In 2016, measures to legalize recreational marijuana appeared on the ballot in five states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Maine, and Massachusetts. Four more states, including Florida, Arkansas, North Dakota and Montana, considered initiatives to legalize medical marijuana, a move that some say is a first-step towards full legalization.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Implementation
The spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health, Mara Gambineri, stated that the agency would follow the will of the voters when the constitutional amendment went into effect Jan. 3, 2017. Before Jan. 3, 2017, the medical marijuana available to patients contained low THC. Cannabis of any THC content was available to newly qualified patients after July 1, 2017.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Implementation
According to a June 15, 2017 article reported by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), members of the Florida House and Senate have approved legislation to implement Amendment 2 on the final day of a special legislative session and Governor Rick Scott signed the bill into law. The measure prohibits patients from inhaling herbal preparations of cannabis, among other restrictions that proponents say violate the initiative's original intent. Orlando attorney John Morgan, and chairman for United For Care, a non-profit group for the legalization of medical marijuana, has said that he intends to sue the state over the proposed changes.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Implementation
Under the law, patients diagnosed with cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, PTSD, ALS, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or who suffer from chronic pain related to any of these diseases are eligible to receive a 70-day supply of cannabis-infused oils or edible products only. On June 24, the law became effective and it includes eliminating the initial 90-day waiting period for the use of medical marijuana and added chronic nonmalignant pain as a qualifying condition.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Implementation
Some Florida cities, including Boca Raton, Coral Gables, Delray Beach, the Village of Golf and Homestead, have banned medical marijuana dispensaries since it is illegal under federal law.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Criticisms of implementation
Cannabis activists and critics are concerned that the new law is not being implemented as outlined in Amendment 2, and not following the will of the voters who passed the constitutional amendment. Critics have expressed objections that Florida state regulators in Tallahassee, and at the Florida Department of Health who oversee the rules-making process for the use, distribution, licensing assignment for dispensaries and cultivators of cannabis, are playing favor to a limited number of medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivators who have ties to Florida legislators. The applicants were ranked in a secretive process by a board appointed directly by Governor Rick Scott. Initial analysis of various applications shows a strong bias in some regions towards the winners, despite them not being qualified in cannabis cultivation, science, medicine or growing plants meant for human consumption.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Criticisms of implementation
Critics assert that barriers to entry into the market would be constructed to keep out small businesses, people of color, woman ownership, and only allow wealthy white males that are politically connected to participate. Critics and cannabis activists suggest this would disrupt the medical cannabis program and not allow a free market to thrive where diversity is allowed, advocates can educate the public, small businesses can participate, and winners and losers are decided by the free market system.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Criticisms of implementation
Another concern from advocates is a vertical market that will be created that limits the numbers of dispensaries and cultivators of cannabis within the state leading to prices being potentially too high for many cannabis patients in Florida. According to Ben Pollara, campaign chairman of the political committee that backed the constitutional amendment stated that "it not only maintains, but strengthens the cartel system of licensed marijuana growers in Florida and that prices will be high, quality will be low, choices will be few, and patients will be driven to the black market".


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Criticisms of implementation
On July 9, 2019, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal issued a major ruling declaring the mandatory vertical integration and license caps unconstitutional.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Florida Legislature passed, and Governor Rick Scott signed, a provision that defines "medical use" to exclude "possession, use or administration of marijuana in a form for smoking." Arguing that Florida state legislators violated voters' intent when they prohibited smoking for the medical use of marijuana, John Morgan, the Orlando trial lawyer who spearheaded and financed the successful campaign to make medical access to cannabis a constitutional right, filed a lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court on July 6, 2017, asking the court to declare the law implementing the 2016 constitutional amendment unenforceable.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
"Inhalation is a medically effective and efficient way to deliver Tetrahydrocannabinol [THC], and other cannabinoids, to the bloodstream. By redefining the constitutionally defined term 'medical use' to exclude smoking, the Legislature substitutes its medical judgment for that of 'a licensed Florida physician' and is in direct conflict with the specifically articulated Constitutional process," the lawsuit states.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Morgan's lawsuit claimed that provision "redefined and narrowed the definition of marijuana in direct conflict" with the Constitution.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Deputy Solicitor General Denise Harle argues that "the plain language of the Amendment refutes" Morgan's case. Mills responded to Harle that the amendment itself "places no limitation on the use of marijuana in a form for smoking," calling the ban a "direct irreconcilable conflict." Saying that the amendment doesn't overtly address smoking "misses the point," he added that banning it "takes discretion out of the hands of patients and physicians."


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Circuit Judge Karen Gievers scheduled a January 25, 2018 hearing on the state's motion to dismiss. On January 26, 2018, the judge refused to grant the state's motion to dismiss the case and will allow the case to proceed.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
"The pending complaint contains sufficient allegations to meet the standing and active case or controversy criteria for the court to have jurisdiction over this declaratory judgment action," Gievers wrote in the court order.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
The judge set a one-day trial for May 16, 2018 in the legal effort to overturn the state's ban on smoking medical marijuana.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
On May 25, 2018, Judge Karen Gievers ruled the state law banning patients from smoking medical marijuana unconstitutional. Gievers found that the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2016 which broadly legalized medical marijuana gives eligible patients the right to smoke the medical marijuana in private.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
The law banning smoking of medical marijuana "is invalid because it conflicts with the Florida Constitution and prohibits a use of medical marijuana that is permitted by the amendment: smoking in private," Gievers wrote in a .


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Gievers also found that the language in the amendment "recognizes there is no right to smoke in public places, thereby implicitly recognizing the appropriateness of using smokable medical marijuana in private places consistent with the amendment."


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
The Florida Department of Health said the state is expected to appeal, which likely would place Gievers' order legalizing the smoking of medical marijuana on temporary hold.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
On June 5, 2018, the judge lifted the ban on smoking cannabis in Florida, giving the state until June 11, 2018, to put a plan together. Gievers said the state's ban caused irreparable harm to patients who could not get the treatment recommended for them.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
"The automatic stay will prolong the period that Ms. Jordan, Ms. Dodson and all Floridians like them with debilitating medical conditions who would benefit from smokable medical marijuana are unable to receive the best available treatment for them," the motion said. "Without any corresponding benefit to the defendants (the Department of Health), the automatic stay increases the pain and suffering of the individual plaintiffs and denies them access to a constitutionally permitted medical treatment. This is the irreparable harm that plaintiffs will suffer if the automatic stay is permitted to remain in effect."


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Without much debate and two days before Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ deadline on March 15, 2019, the bill to repeal a ban on smoking medical marijuana finally rolled onto the governor’s desk.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
The Florida House affirmed the right to smoke medical marijuana March 13, 2019, approving the Senate bill to include “smoking” to the language in the medical marijuana constitutional amendment. Instead of submitting House Bill 7015, Rep. Ray Rodrigues substituted it with Senate Bill (SB)182, which the Senate had approved last week in a 34-4 vote.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
SB 182, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg, allows a 35-day supply of marijuana in “a form for smoking” not to exceed 2.5 ounces or, for a physician recommendation of up to 4 ounces.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
The primary difference between HB 7015 and SB 182 is the House bill allowed only pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes while the Senate version would require marijuana operators to sell at least one type of pre-rolled marijuana cigarette and other whole-flower products, and allows patients to buy smoking-related equipment at retail outlets, such as smoke shops.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Senate Bill 182 bans smoking in public or at private businesses subject to the state’s cigarette smoking ban.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Medical marijuana flower buds and pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes could be available in licensed dispensaries by mid-summer of 2019 when DeSantis, who has affirmed his position against the smoking ban stating that he will sign the bill.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
“I am very confident that the governor will sign it,” House Speaker José R. Oliva stated.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions
Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB-182 into law on March 18, 2019, officially legalizing smokable medical marijuana. SB-182, Medical Use of Marijuana act, redefines the term "medical use" to include the possession, use and administration of marijuana in a form for smoking.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions, Unconstitutional Restrictions on Licensing
A separate lawsuit was filed in December 2017 by Florigrown LLC alleging that the mandatory vertical licensing scheme required by the “implementing” statute passed by the Legislature is unconstitutional.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions, Unconstitutional Restrictions on Licensing
In late 2018, Leon County Circuit Court Judge Charles Dodson entered a temporary injunction barring the state from continuing to implement the statute based on finding that it unconstitutionally limited the provisions of the Amendment by mandating vertical integration and severely limiting the number of licenses available to participate in the medical marijuana industry. Various commentators labeled the select few businesses that were able to obtain one of the coveted licenses a “cartel.” The successful legal challenge was led by lawyers  and  of Akerman LLP.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions, Unconstitutional Restrictions on Licensing
On July 9, 2019, Florida’s First District Court of Appeal affirmed the circuit court’s finding of unconstitutionality and barred the state from continuing to implement the unconstitutional statute.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions, Unconstitutional Restrictions on Licensing
In an interview, Florigrown CEO Adam Elend called the ruling a “game-changer.”


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Legal actions, Unconstitutional Restrictions on Licensing
“It drops a bomb on the current licensing scheme. It’s just changing the whole regime,” Elend said. “People are not getting medicine. The dispensaries are out of stock all the time. The products are limited, and the prices are high. That’s what happens in an oligopoly and that’s what we have.”


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Key differences from 2014 proposal
The initiative improved on four key issues from the 2014 proposal.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Financial backers
Funding for Amendment 2 came from various political action committees, including a $1 million contribution came from Washington, D.C.-based, pro-marijuana legalization New Approach PAC. Additional funds were primarily backed by The People for Medical Marijuana PAC, also known as United for Care, who is the bill's sponsor. As of November 2016, they have provided over $12.5 million towards the amendment. The United for Care committee is chaired by Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan, who has largely bankrolled the Florida medical marijuana effort by contributing at least $6.5 million towards the initiative, and $326,438 in November, 2016.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Opposition
Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson donated $500,000 towards the effort to thwart the bill, including a contribution of $1 million to the Drug-Free Florida Committee, who also fought the initiative. Adelson, whose son died of a drug overdose, committed $5.5 million to help defeat the medical marijuana Amendment 2 in 2014.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Opposition
Carol Jenkins Barnett, daughter of George W. Jenkins, founder of Publix Super Markets, also gave $800,000 to the Drug-Free Florida Committee.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Opposition
Former Florida Supreme Court justices rallied together to produce an Op-Ed for the Tampa Bay Times in opposition to the new initiative, stating, "medical marijuana will be too easy for doctors to prescribe", and, "it'd be a wide open door for marijuana regardless of its need as a compassionate, alternative treatment option." Additionally, their letter contends that marijuana will be sold at "pot shops" and that there would be more pot shops than 7-11's, McDonald's, and Starbucks combined. Lastly, they stated that there's a right to privacy clause in the bill that would enable criminals to discreetly create "a new pipeline for pot [to get] into high schools throughout Florida."


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Opposition
Leaders of the City of Apopka voted unanimously to ban medical marijuana until May 31, 2017. Charlotte County has already placed a 9-month prohibition of the amendment taking place, and the commissioners stated that they fear they'll be sued by the federal government as cannabis currently remains on the Schedule 1 list, among the most dangerous drugs.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Opposition
The Charlotte County Sheriff, Bill Prummel, has been vocal in his opposition to medical marijuana because of his fears that "we will trade our pill mills for pot shops,"  referring to the Florida clinics that loosely issued prescription painkillers throughout the state and causing an addiction epidemic, until Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi issued legislation to shut them down in 2011. Sheriff Prummel is Chair of the Charlotte Drug-Free Florida committee. The State committee, Drug-Free Florida, spent $704,389 in the weeks before the general election by producing television ads declaring, "marijuana has no medicinal purposes."


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Path to the ballot
Following the failure of the 2014 initiative by the same name, on December 17, 2015, the Florida Supreme Court concluded that the People for United Medical Marijuana's sponsorship of Amendment 2 satisfied the court's requirements.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Path to the ballot
Sponsored again by United for Care, they received the following petition signatures for the initiative to begin and appear on the primary, per election requirements:


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Path to the ballot
In the weeks prior to the general election date, Broward County election officials omitted Amendment 2 from some of the mail in ballots, prompting a lawsuit from NORML, a pro marijuana legalization firm. Following two emergency hearings, the 17th Judicial Circuit Court judge, Carol-Lisa Phillips, ruled that "there is no evidence of irreparable harm in the case." She continued, "because both of the voters who had confirmed instances of faulty vote-by-mail ballots already received replacement ballots," and no further action has been taken against the election officials.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Path to the ballot
The amendment passed during the general election on November 8, 2016, with a supermajority vote of 71.32%. That percentage equated to 6,518,919 total votes in favor of the amendment.


2016 Florida Amendment 2, Economic Impact
According to research from the company New Frontier Data, the market growth is expected to be $1.6 billion a year by 2020 due to the state's percentage of the elderly and because it is the third most populous state in America.


2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football team
The 2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football team represented Florida Atlantic University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls played their home games at the FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by third-year head coach Charlie Partridge. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for sixth place in the East Division.


2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football team
On November 27, head coach Charlie Partridge was fired. He finished at FAU with a three-year record of 9–27. On December 13, the school hired Lane Kiffin as head coach.


2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football team, Schedule
Florida Atlantic announced its 2016 football schedule on February 4, 2016. The 2016 schedule consists of 6 home and away games in the regular season. The Owls will host C–USA foes Charlotte, Old Dominion, UTEP, and Western Kentucky (WKU), and will travel to Florida International (FIU), Marshall, Middle Tennessee, and Rice.


2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football team, Schedule
The team will play four non–conference games, two home games against Ball State from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Southern Illinois from the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and two road games against Kansas State from the Big 12 Conference and Miami from the Atlantic Coast Conference.


2016 Florida Cup
The 2016 Florida Cup was a friendly association football tournament played in the United States. It was the second edition of the competition, which included teams from Brazil, Colombia, Ukraine, Germany and the United States. Atlético Mineiro were crowned champions for the first time.


2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary
The 2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary took place on March 15 in the U.S. state of Florida as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.


2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary
On the same day, the Democratic Party held primaries in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, while the Republican Party held primaries in the same five states, including their own Florida primary, plus the Northern Mariana Islands.


2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary
Clinton's landslide was fueled by support from retirees, and Jewish and Latino voters in South Florida.


2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary, Debates and forums, March 2016 debate in Miami
On March 9, 2016, the Democratic Party held an eighth presidential debate at Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida. It was broadcast through a partnership between Univision and The Washington Post.


2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Florida was generally viewed as a state Hillary Clinton would win, given her strong performance in previous contests with older voters (who comprised 65% of the Democratic electorate in Florida, the largest in any contest) and non-white voters (who made up 52% of the electorate). Clinton won the Florida Primary by 31 points, winning older voters by a margin of 71–26, and non-white voters by a margin of 74–25. Specifically, she won Hispanic/Latino voters by a margin of 68-32 (who made up 20% of the electorate), and African American voters 81-18 (who comprised 27% of the electorate). Clinton also won white voters by a narrower margin of 53–43. She won across all income and educational attainment levels.


2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
In terms of religious affiliation, Clinton won Protestants in Florida 69-29 (36% of the electorate), Catholics 69-29 (22% of the electorate), and other religious affiliations 68-31 (Jews were 4% of the electorate but were unaccounted for in exit polls). Sanders won voters who identified as agnostic/atheist 56–31. In terms of political ideology, Clinton won liberals 59-41 and moderates/conservatives 70–26. And while Clinton won Democrats 71–28, Sanders won self-identified Independents 55–41.


2016 Florida Democratic presidential primary, Analysis
Clinton won in Miami and along the Gold Coast 73–26, where there is a larger population of Hispanic/Latino voters who in South Florida are predominantly of Cuban or Nicaraguan descent. Clinton also won the Gulf Coast and Mid-Florida 64–35, the Tampa Bay Area 63–37, the Orlando area 62–34, and the Northern Panhandle which is whiter, more conservative and more rural by a smaller margin of 58–37.


2016 Florida Gators baseball team
The 2016 Florida Gators baseball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of baseball during the 2016 college baseball season. The Gators competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They played their home games at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The team was coached by Kevin O'Sullivan in his ninth season as Florida head coach. The Gators entered the season hoping to build upon their performance in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, where they finished third at the 2015 College World Series after two losses to the Virginia Cavaliers.


2016 Florida Gators baseball team, Schedule
Rankings from USA Today/ESPN Top 25 coaches' baseball poll. All times Eastern. Parentheses indicate tournament seedings. Retrieved from


2016 Florida Gators baseball team, Rankings
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2016 Florida Gators football team
The 2016 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by second-year head coach Jim McElwain. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in SEC regular season play to represent the Eastern Division in the SEC Championship Game where they lost to Alabama. They were invited to the Outback Bowl where they defeated Iowa.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Previous season
Going into the season, the Florida football program, under the new leadership of Jim McElwain, was largely thought of as undergoing a rebuilding process. However, the team raced to a 6–0 start to the season, including an upset win versus then-no. 3 Ole Miss 38–10. The following game at Missouri was the last game of 2015 for Will Grier, who was suspended the following week for taking a banned substance. Treon Harris was called to lead the offense for the rest of the season.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Previous season
With Harris as quarterback, the Gators won four out of their next five games, including 27–3 over rival Georgia and losing only to Western Division rival LSU 28–35. With a 9–7 win against Vanderbilt, the Gators captured their first SEC Eastern Division championship since 2012, and earned a berth in the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 2009. Florida's reenergized offense began to struggle toward the end of the season, as did the special teams. The Gators needed overtime to defeat Florida Atlantic, who finished 3–9 on the season. The Gators lost their final three games against rival Florida State, Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, and Michigan in the Citrus Bowl respectively, ending the season with a 10–4 record.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Previous season
Florida's turnaround season earned McElwain the 2015 SEC Coach of the Year award. McElwain was also in contention for the 2015 AFCA Coach of the Year award by virtue of winning the regional AFCA award.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Schedule
Florida announced its 2016 football schedule on October 29, 2015. The 2016 schedule consisted of seven home, five away, and one neutral site games in the regular season. The Gators were to host SEC foes Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, and South Carolina, and travel to Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Florida played Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Schedule
The Gators traveled to Arkansas for the first time since 2008. The team hosted two of its three non–conference games, including Massachusetts and North Texas from Conference USA. They were set to play Presbyterian, from the Big South Conference, but the game was canceled to make room for the makeup game against LSU. Florida traveled to Tallahassee for their final regular season game to play in–state rival Florida State from the Atlantic Coast Conference.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, UMass
The 2016 season kicked off with a prime time game against the UMass Minutemen, and was the first contest ever between the two schools. Before the game, the Gators conducted a ceremony to honor Steve Spurrier, Florida's winningest football coach, by renaming the playing surface to Steve Spurrier–Florida Field.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Kentucky
Florida's last loss to Kentucky came in 1986. Since then, Florida has defeated the Wildcats 29 years in a row, the longest active winning streak over an annual opponent. The all-time record is Notre Dame's 43-game winning streak against Navy from 1964 to 2006. Last year's game at Commonwealth Stadium was closely contested. Florida did lead 14–3 at halftime, although Kentucky was able to narrow the Gators' lead to 5 with two fourth quarter field goals before time expired.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, North Texas
This was the second meeting between the two schools, with North Texas having won the only prior game, 20–12, in 1947.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Tennessee
Florida engineered a thrilling fourth quarter comeback in last year's contest. Tennessee led 27–14 with 10:19 remaining in the game. The Gators scored a touchdown with 4:09 remaining, and forced Tennessee to punt on the following possession. The next drive ended when Will Grier, facing 4th-and-14 at their own 37-yard line, completed a pass to Antonio Callaway who raced to the end zone to tie the game at 27. Jorge Powell made the extra point to give the Gators a one-point lead with 1:26 remaining. On the ensuing drive, Tennessee's Aaron Medley was able to attempt a game-winning 55-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining, but missed wide right.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Florida scored a touchdown in the first quarter of last year's game, but the extra point was missed. Vanderbilt's rush leader, Ralph Webb, ran 74-yards for a game-tying touchdown, and Hayden Lekacz made the extra point to put the Commodores ahead 7–6 to go into halftime. Every drive of the third quarter for both teams ended with a punt. Finally with 3:10 remaining in the fourth quarter, Austin Hardin made a 43-yard field goal to put the Gators ahead 9–7. The defense was able to hold off Vanderbilt on the ensuing drive, and the Gators were able to run off the final seconds to earn a 9–7 escape.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Missouri
Last year's game saw both teams score on their opening drives – Florida with a touchdown, Missouri with a field goal. Florida scored a second touchdown in the first quarter, which after a scoreless second quarter gave the Gators a 14–3 lead over the Tigers. The Gators scored again with their third and final touchdown of the game in the third quarter, and held the Tigers scoreless through the second half, earning the Gators a 21–3 victory and 6–0 start to the season.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
One of only two neutral-site SEC series (Arkansas–Texas A&M), Florida and Georgia have played a storied series since 1906 (though Georgia contends that they first met in 1904). The game has been held in Jacksonville since 1933, only playing a home-and-home in 1994 and 1995 due to construction of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Florida drew first blood in last year's game when a muffed punt was recovered by Florida in Georgia's end zone at the end of the first quarter. Florida entered the second quarter leading 6–0 after a muffed punt in the end zone, despite a blocked extra point.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Georgia
The Gators added to their lead in the second quarter with two touchdowns, one from Harris–Callaway touchdown pass, the other from a 3-yard run by Kelvin Taylor following Georgia quarterback Faton Bauta's second interception and went to the locker room with a 20–0 lead. Georgia scored the only points of the third quarter with Marshall Morgan's 26-yard field goal. Georgia's Faton Bauta threw his third interception of the game in the fourth quarter, and Florida answered with a 3-minute touchdown drive. Georgia's final drive of the game ended with a fifth interception for Faton Bauta, and Jim McElwain earned his first victory over the Gators' bitter rival in his first year.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, South Carolina
Jim McElwain's predecessor Will Muschamp, in his first year as Steve Spurrier's full-time successor at South Carolina, returned to The Swamp for the first time since his 2014 firing from Florida. Last year, Florida 17–0 lead to enter the fourth quarter before Pharoh Cooper and Perry Orth caught touchdown passes from each other on consecutive drives. On the ensuing drive, however, Florida was able to consolidate their squandered lead, and earned the game's final score as the Gamecocks were unable to answer.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU, Postponement and rescheduling
The 2016 Florida-LSU game was originally scheduled to be played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, on October 8. However, it was postponed on the Thursday before the contest due to the approach of Hurricane Matthew, which forced over one million Floridians to evacuate and caused almost $3 billion in damage as it moved up Florida's Atlantic coast on October 6 and 7. Administrators at the two schools had difficulty coming to agreement on when and where to reschedule the game.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU, Postponement and rescheduling
The most likely date appeared to be November 19, when both schools were scheduled to play home games against non-conference opponents. However, LSU athletic director Joe Alleva refused to buy out the school's contract with South Alabama and play Florida in Gainesville as originally scheduled, stating that "We are going to have a home game on November 19th." The reluctance of Florida officials to agree to move the game to Baton Rouge cast doubt on whether the contest would be played at all, and led to accusations that the Gators were "scared" to play LSU, comments that head coach Jim McElwain and Gator players strongly refuted.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU, Postponement and rescheduling
Eventually, the SEC ruled that neither LSU nor Florida could compete in the SEC Championship Game if they did not play eight regular season conference games as originally scheduled. With Florida vying for the SEC East title at the time, the school agreed to play LSU in Baton Rouge on November 19. In exchange, the 2017 LSU – Florida game was to be moved from Baton Rouge to Gainesville.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU, Postponement and rescheduling
Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley was displeased with both the process and the outcome, which resulted in the loss of two home games from the Gators' seven game home slate in 2016. "The conference office asked us to find a solution in working with LSU, yet LSU was never a true partner in our discussions", Foley said in a written statement. "The Southeastern Conference offered some other solutions and the LSU administration made it clear that they were unwilling to consider other reasonable options."


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU, The game
The first half was a defensive struggle, with LSU leading 7–3. The Tigers drove the ball inside the Florida 5-yard line to start the second half but came away with zero points after a fumbled snap on a field goal attempt passed incomplete. The Gators took advantage of that LSU miscue by scoring a 98-yard touchdown pass from graduate quarterback Austin Appleby to freshman receiver Tyrie Cleveland down the sideline to take a 10–7 lead. After an exchange of punts, LSU scored a field goal to tie the game at 10.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU, The game
Florida then made a pair of field goals to take a 16–10 lead, the second field goal being set up by an LSU lost fumble on a kickoff return. After driving down the field with less than a minute left, LSU had first-and-goal at UF's 7–yard line with 50 seconds left. The Tigers picked up 6 yards on the first two plays, but nothing on their next two.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, LSU, The game
Gators defensive back Marcell Harris and defensive lineman Jordan Sherit helped stop running back Derrius Guice at the goal line on the last play of the game, sealing the victory and setting off a Gator celebration in the end zone. Florida head coach Jim McElwain became the first coach in conference history to lead his team to the SEC Championship Game in his first two seasons.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
The record-breaking crowd at The Swamp witnessed the lowest score Florida has ever attained in the Florida–Florida State series. After a scoreless first quarter, Roberto Aguayo made a 45-yard field goal to give the Seminoles a 3–0 lead. Sean Maguire connected with Jeremy Kerr to extend the lead to ten before the halftime break. 9:39 into the third quarter, Roberto Aguayo made his second field goal, this time from 51 yards to extend the Seminole lead to 13.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida State
Florida's offense continued to be ineffective, and it took a safety midway through the fourth quarter to put the Gators on the board, trailing by 11. However, Dalvin Cook ran for 15 and 29 yards for two touchdowns, the latter coming with twenty seconds remaining in the game, and the no. 14 Seminoles embarrassed the no. 10 Gators at home 27–2.


2016 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Alabama
Since defeating Alabama in the 2008 SEC Championship Game, Florida has lost the last five games against Alabama. Florida trails 14–26 in the all-time series, but has a 4–4 record when playing the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game.


2016 Florida Gators women's gymnastics team
The 2016 Florida Gators gymnastics team is to represent the University of Florida in the sport of artistic gymnastics during the 2016 NCAA Division I women's gymnastics season. The Gators compete in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They host their home meets at the O'Connell Center on the university's campus in Gainesville, Florida. The 2016 season is the Gators' first under head coach Jenny Rowland.


2016 Florida Gators women's gymnastics team
The Gators have been ranked No. 2 in the 2016 Preseason Coaches Poll, second to only Oklahoma.


2016 Florida Gators women's gymnastics team, Previous season
The 2015 Gators team came into the 2015 season ranked #1 in the Preseason Coaches Poll, and finished the season with an 8–2–0 record – after losing against conference rivals Alabama (Jan. 23) and Louisiana State (Feb. 20) in away meets. Following the regular season, the Gators went on to place third at Conference Championships, and first at the NCAA Regional in Morgantown, West Virginia. As a result, the Gators advanced to Nationals; their 33rd appearance at the tournament.


2016 Florida Gators women's gymnastics team, Previous season
After tying with Utah for first in Session I, the Gators were able to turn in a 197.850 in the Super Six, and were crowned 2015 National Champions – the third time in the program's history; all of which have been back-to-back. Additionally, Senior gymnast Kytra Hunter took the individual National floor title, as well as being presented with the Honda Award, as a result of her outstanding achievements.


2016 Florida Gators women's gymnastics team, Previous season
On April 24, 2015 – less than a week after the team's National title – 13-year head coach, Rhonda Faehn announced her resignation from the Gators program; after being offered a Senior Vice President role at National governing body USA Gymnastics. Soon after, on Saturday, May 9, 2015 – it was announced that Auburn assistant coach, Jenny Rowland would be succeeding Faehn as the new Head Coach of the program. Likewise, it is assistant coach Owen Field's inaugural season at Florida. Previously, he held the same role with the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's gymnastics program.


2016 Florida Gators women's gymnastics team, Schedule
Florida announced the 2016 schedule in the September 2015. The 10-week regular season consists of 5 home and 5 away meets. The Gators will host SEC rivals Alabama, Louisiana State and Arkansas. Additionally, they will host two non–conference teams, California, Los Angeles and North Carolina. They will travel to SEC schools Auburn, Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky; as well as travelling to Texas Woman's in the first week.


2016 Florida Gators women's gymnastics team, Roster
The Gators lost four seniors after the 2015 campaign; Kytra Hunter, Jamie Shisler, Rachel Spicer and Kiersten Wang – all due to graduation and the ends of their eligibility. However, they welcomed a 5-member–strong 2015–16 incoming freshman class composed of Alicia Boren, Amanda Cheney, Lacy Dagen, Peyton Ernst and Ashley Hiller. Amanda Cheney joins the team as a walk on athlete.


2016 Florida House of Representatives election
The 2016 Florida House of Representatives election was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, with the primary election held on August 30, 2016. Voters in the 120 districts of the Florida State House elected their representatives. The elections coincided with the elections for other offices, including for U.S. President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and the Florida Legislative.


2016 Florida House of Representatives election, Results, District 3
Jayer Williamson ran unopposed in the Florida House of Representatives District 3 general election.


2016 Florida House of Representatives election, Results, District 7
Incumbent Halsey Beshears ran unopposed in the Florida House of Representatives District 7 general election.


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary
The 2016 Florida Republican presidential primary was held on March 15, 2016, with 99 delegates being allocated on a winner-take-all basis. Businessman Donald Trump scored a decisive victory in the state, defeating Senator Marco Rubio by nearly 20 points. Rubio had previously vowed to continue his campaign regardless of the results in Florida, but suspended his campaign after the state was called for Trump.


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, Analysis
Donald Trump won a landslide victory in Florida by a margin of 18.7 percentage points against 3 other candidates on the ballot, and carried every county besides Miami-Dade (won by Marco Rubio). Donald Trump had several significant investments in the state through his real estate company. According to the New York Times, Mr. Trump "was able to appeal to voters with his message of economic populism and his hard line on immigration" in the Sunshine State.


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, Analysis
According to exit polls, Trump swept all age groups, income levels, and educational attainment levels. His particular area of strength was with whites without a college degree, whom he won 54–22 over Marco Rubio. Trump also won born-again and Evangelical Christians 46–24, and white born-again Evangelical Christians 49–19. He also carried Protestants 45-24 and Catholics 50–33.


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, Analysis
In terms of voters' primary concerns, Trump won over all groups, performing particularly well among those who worried about terrorism (he won 60–16) and those who worried most about the economy (he won 43–30). He won a particularly large victory among those whose family financial situation was "falling behind", among those who called themselves "dissatisfied" or "angry" about the federal government, and among those who said they felt betrayed by Republican politicians. He won among voters who said the U.S. support for Israel is "Not Strong Enough" 48–26. An overwhelming majority of voters said they support Trump's proposed Muslim ban.


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, Analysis
Trump swept most regions of the state, winning in the Panhandle with 48 percent (Rubio, 25%; Cruz, 21%; Kasich, 7%), in Orlando with 49 percent (Rubio, 27%; Cruz, 17%; Kasich, 5%; Carson, 1%), in the Tampa Bay area with 46 percent (Rubio, 23%; Cruz, 18%; Kasich, 10%), and in the Gulf Coast and Mid-Florida with 48 percent (Rubio, 21%; Cruz, 18%; Kasich, 7%; Carson, 1%).


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, Analysis
Rubio, for his part, won in Miami 42-39 as compared to Trump (Cruz, 10%; Kasich, 6%; Carson, 1%). While Trump won the state's white vote 51-22 as compared to Rubio, Rubio won Florida's Hispanic/Latino vote 52-26 as compared to Trump, which was 15% of the state's electorate. Compared to Trump, Rubio won Cubans 63–17, other Hispanics 40–38, and non-whites 45–27.


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, Analysis
After losing his home state of Florida, Rubio withdrew from the race. As The New York Times described in its analysis of the primary results, Rubio "ran for president offering his youthful optimism and Cuban-American heritage as the embodiment of a new and more diverse generation of Republican leadership, but ultimately failed to galvanize voters in a much darker mood [...] "


2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, Analysis
Trump would later go on to win the nomination and then become the President of the United States. During his term, his official home state was also changed to Florida.


2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team
The 2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team represented Florida State University during the 2016 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Seminoles played their home games at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by head coach Mike Martin, in his 37th season at Florida State. It was the Seminoles' 25th season as a member of the ACC and its 11th in the ACC's Atlantic Division.


2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team
Florida State entered the season as the defending ACC champion and finished the season as ACC runner-up.


2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team
The Seminoles reached the post-season for the thirty-ninth straight year (the second longest active streak) and were selected as the sixteenth overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, hosting for the sixth consecutive season.


2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team, Previous season
In 2015, the Seminoles finished the season with a record of 44–21, 17–13 in conference play, winning the ACC Tournament. The Seminoles qualified for the NCAA Tournament. They were hosts of the Tallahassee Regional and advanced to the Gainesville Super Regional where they were eliminated by Florida.


2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team, Preseason
In the ACC Media Poll, Florida State was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Division.


2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team, Rankings
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2016 Florida State Seminoles baseball team, Honors, All-Star games
Taylor Walls and Cole Sands were named to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team
The 2016 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the sport of American football during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Seminoles competed in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference and were led by seventh-year head coach Jimbo Fisher. Home games were played at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team
In 2015, the Seminoles won 10 games and appeared in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Safety Jalen Ramsey and kicker Roberto Aguayo went on to be selected in the NFL Draft.


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team
Prior to the start of the 2016 season, Dalvin Cook, Derwin James, Roderick Johnson and DeMarcus Walker were named pre-season All-Americans. In the pre-season media poll, Florida State was picked to finish second in the ACC Atlantic and Dalvin Cook was picked as runner-up for ACC Player of the Year while Cook, Roderick Johnson, Travis Rudolph, DeMarcus Walker, and Derwin James were named to the pre-season All-ACC team.


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team
Florida State finished the regular season with nine wins and was picked to play in the Orange Bowl, a fifth straight appearance in a major bowl game, where they defeated Michigan to finish with double digit wins for the fifth straight season and secure a top ten finish in the polls. During the season, the Seminoles notched their seventh consecutive win over Miami and their fourth consecutive win over Florida, making this senior class the first to go unbeaten against their rivals. Defensive end DeMarcus Walker and running back Dalvin Cook were named consensus All-Americans.


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team
The season was documented on Showtime's A Season with Florida State Football.


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team, After the season, NFL Draft
The following players were selected in the 2017 NFL Draft:


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team, Media
Florida State football is broadcast on the Florida State University Seminoles Radio Network and the games are called by Gene Deckerhoff. In Tallahassee, games can be heard on WWOF.


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team, Awards, Honors
ACC Defensive Lineman of the WeekChuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week


2016 Florida State Seminoles football team, Awards, Honors
ACC Offensive Back of the WeekTaxSlayer Bowl Player of the Week


2016 Florida Tarpons season
The 2016 Florida Tarpons season was the fifth season for the American indoor football franchise, and their first in American Indoor Football.


2016 Florida Tarpons season
On October 7, 2015, the Tarpons announced that they were joining American Indoor Football.


2016 Florida Tarpons season, Schedule, Playoffs
* — When initially announced, the Tarpons were set to play the Southern Division's third-seeded Myrtle Beach Freedom. On May 30, the Freedom replaced the Northern Division's fourth-seeded Central Penn Capitals against the West Michigan Ironmen. The Freedom's former position was replaced by the Southern Division's fourth-seed, the Savannah Steam.


2016 Florida Tarpons season, Roster
Rookies in italics updated May 31, 201630 Active, 1 Inactive


2016 Florida Tech Panthers football team
The 2016 Florida Tech Panthers football team represented the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) during the 2016 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by head coach Steve Englehart, who was in his fourth season at Florida Tech. The Panthers play their home games at Florida Tech Panther Stadium, approximately one mile from the Florida Tech campus and are members of the Gulf South Conference.


2016 Florida Tech Panthers football team, Schedule
Florida Tech announced its 2016 football schedule on February 17, 2016. The schedule consists of 5 home and 6 away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host GSC foes Delta State, Mississippi College, North Alabama, and Valdosta State, and will travel to Shorter, West Alabama, West Florida, and West Georgia.


2016 Florida Tech Panthers football team, Schedule
The Panthers hosted only one non-conference game against Fort Valley State of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and travel to two against Newberry of the South Atlantic Conference and Presbyterian of the Big South Conference.


2016 Florida Tech Panthers football team, Awards and milestones, Gulf South Conference honors
Ten players from Florida Tech were honored as All-GSC selections by the league's coaches, including a program-record six First Team members.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
The 2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on February 28, 2016, at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 330 laps—extended from 325 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 1.54-mile-long (2 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the second race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Jimmie Johnson won the race, the 76th of his career. This drew him level with Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time wins list and third in NASCAR's post-1972 "modern era." Teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished second. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
Kurt Busch won the pole for the race and led 62 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish. Kevin Harvick led a race high of 131 laps on his way to a sixth-place finish. There were 28 lead changes among eight different drivers, as well as three caution flag periods for 13 laps.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
This was the 76th career victory for Johnson, first of the season, fifth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and 14th at the track for Hendrick Motorsports. It moved Johnson up to sixth in the points standings. Despite being the winning manufacturer, Chevrolet left Atlanta trailing by three-points to Toyota in the manufacturer standings.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast for the race was carried by the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Report, Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) 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. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Report, Background
Denny Hamlin entered as the points leader with a five-point lead over Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Busch entered third, six points back. Kevin Harvick entered fourth, eight points back. Carl Edwards entered fifth, nine points back.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Entry list
The entry list for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was released on Tuesday, February 23 at 4:34 p.m. Eastern time. Thirty-nine cars were entered for the race, the smallest field for a Sprint Cup Series race since the 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400, the last Cup Series race held at North Wilkesboro Speedway. It was also the fewest cars entered for a Cup Series race since 1993. The three driver changes for this weekend's race were Ty Dillon taking over the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, Jeffrey Earnhardt driving the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford and Michael McDowell returning to the seat of the No. 95 Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, First practice
Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.740 and a speed of 192.902 mph (310.446 km/h).


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Qualifying
Kurt Busch won the pole for the race with a time of 28.938 and a speed of 191.582 mph (308.321 km/h) after brother Kyle Busch had his time disallowed for a post-tech violation. The rear toe of the car – the degree to which the vertical angle of the rear wheels are skewed – was over the .15 degree maximum allowed after pre-inspection. NASCAR Senior Vice-President of Competition and Racing Development Scott Miller said that teams had "asked for it," NASCAR "instituted it" and the No. 18 car "didn't pass. The others [that went through tech] passed."


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Qualifying
After scoring his 20th career pole, Kurt said that it was "an awesome run that the car had in it. The team did a good job to dial it in for the three rounds. I was just trying to make sure I didn’t slip a tire any extra. It’s really easy to overdrive Atlanta Motor Speedway. The track challenges the driver, the car and the tires. It’s a fun place to come and try to lay down a lap. Overall, with the way the developments came up from tech inspection this shows the amount of enforcement that NASCAR is ready to apply their technical procedures on what a car has to do to comply to all specs.”


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Qualifying
After being bumped up to the front row, Jamie McMurray said that he was "really proud of everyone at the entire shop. When you come to a 1.5-mile track you're really depending on your car. And our 1.5-mile program last year wasn't where it needed to be. They put a lot of effort into it. Like I said during Speedweeks and all the offseason, this is where you really need to be good. The No. 42 car (teammate Kyle Larson) was fast in practice. He got really loose, it looked like, in his qualifying laps. But then, we were really good as well. So I'm proud of the effort by everybody on the McDonald's Chevrolet. We're off to a good start at the 1.5-mile tracks, which is critical."


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Qualifying
After his best qualifying performance on a non-restrictor plate track, Trevor Bayne said that his team is "really looking forward to this low-downforce package, as we've talked about over the offseason. We felt like our best races were at the low downforce tracks, Kentucky and Darlington, so everybody that's wondering what's going on at Roush Fenway Racing -- a lot of hard work and a lot of attention to detail. We had a meeting last week talking about execution. Everybody's intentions are right. Everybody wants to go fast. Everybody wants to win races, but now we've got to execute and make sure we make these fast Fords last."


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Qualifying
Adam Stevens, crew chief of the No. 18 car, explained that "parts move — everything moves — so you expect it to be a little bit different, but the first opportunity we’ve had to gather post information was right now, and it’s game time and it was too much. We were perfectly legal beforehand, which obviously or we wouldn’t have qualified. Just the amount of load on the track moves everything a little bit and that little bit was a little bit too much.”


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Final practice
Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 29.419 and a speed of 188.450 mph (303.281 km/h).


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, First half, Start
Under clear blue Georgia skies, Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag at 1:17 p.m. He pulled to a one-second lead after 15 laps. After 30 laps, Martin Truex Jr. caught up to the bumper Busch. He began to lose ground and got passed for second by Matt Kenseth. Kevin Harvick made an unscheduled stop on lap 40 for a flat right-front tire. Being near the end of the fuel window, a number of cars began hitting pit road. Busch gave up the lead to pit on lap 40 and gave the lead to Kenseth.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, First half, Start
He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Carl Edwards who also pitted that lap. Kyle Busch assumed the lead. He pitted on lap 42 and handed the lead to Cole Whitt. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back to Kurt Busch. Josh Wise was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, First half, Start
By lap 60, Kenseth caught up to Busch and began battling him for the lead. Going into turn 1, Kenseth dove underneath Busch and took the lead on lap 65. He began putting distance between himself and Busch after three laps. A number of cars began pitting around lap 78 including race leader Kenseth. This handed the lead to Kurt Busch. He pitted on lap 80 and the lead cycled to Jimmie Johnson.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, First half, Second quarter
Kenseth took back the lead from Johnson on lap 85. Johnson began falling back through the running order being on older tires. After 30 laps, Kurt Busch began running down Kenseth. A number of cars began hitting pit road on lap 113. While that was happening, Harvick drove by Kenseth to take the lead on lap 117. He hit pit road the next lap and retained the lead. Kenseth was tagged for "improper fueling" and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. He was given the black flag with the white cross marks for not pitting within three laps.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, First half, Second quarter
After eventually serving the penalty, he ended up in 31st two-laps down. He said after the race that he "got black-flagged for some type of pit road penalty and I didn’t know it and pitted the lap they told me to do a pass through – I’m assuming they were black flagging us before that and they pulled our card. I never heard anything about it or at least saw the flag or anything, so I came when they told me to come and I guess they must have penalized us a couple laps or something. I don’t really know.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, First half, Second quarter
I haven’t really seen it.” Team owner Joe Gibbs said after the race that he thought "we’ve been doing that for a long time, and I was just curious when that change came. So if we missed something on the change, that’s what I was trying to find out. When did that come out and when they did change it because our guys have been laying it there for a long time.” Wise was also tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. After all that, Truex took over the race lead.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, First half, Second quarter
Harvick passed Truex for the lead on lap 136. A number of cars began pitting on lap 150. Harvick hit pit road on lap 151 and the lead cycled to Truex. Joey Logano and Kyle Larson were tagged for a commitment line violation and were forced to serve a pass-through penalty.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Second half, Halfway
Harvick took back the lead from Truex on lap 162. Regan Smith was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. A number of cars began pitting on lap 183. Harvick hit pit road on lap 184 and handed the lead to Johnson. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Kyle Busch. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back to Harvick. Debris on the backstretch brought out the first caution of the race on lap 210. Whitt was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and Aric Almirola was tagged for an uncontrolled tire. Both were forced to restart the race from the tail-end of the field.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Second half, Halfway
The race restarted with 108 laps to go. Harvick pitted with 80 laps to go and retained the lead.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
Truex passed Harvick for the lead with 68 laps to go. Harvick passed him back for the lead with 67 laps to go. Truex took back the lead with 65 laps to go. A number of cars began pitting with 49 laps to go. Harvick hit pit road with 40 laps to go and handed the lead to Kyle Busch. Johnson cycled to the lead. Ryan Newman was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
Going into the final 40 laps, Johnson had a 12-second lead over Harvick. With 20 to go, Harvick cut the deficit to half. With three laps to go and Harvick about 5 seconds behind, Ryan Newman spun on the front stretch, bringing out the day's second caution and forcing an overtime finish. The entire field went into the pits for new tires, and Johnson remained in the lead after returning to the track. The race ended under caution after the day's only wreck took four cars out.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Second half, Fourth quarter
Almirola, who was caught in the wreck, said that it was "not the finish that we had hoped for. This race was a game in tire management. The tire fall off caused our tires to slide all over the track and made it incredibly difficult to keep the car on the bottom. Once we fell a lap down, it was so hard to get back on the lead lap with how challenging it was to pass in a loose car. But we ran in the Top-20 all afternoon, and we had a competitive car. It was disappointing to have a wreck on the last lap, especially with how hard our team worked, but I know that we’ll be able to bounce back next week in Las Vegas.” Johnson was in the lead at the caution and scored his 76th career victory.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
The win tied Johnson with Dale Earnhardt for seventh on NASCAR's all-time wins list. He said in victory lane that it was "such an honor. With the chaos at the end, with the crash and the overtime and how it works these days, I kind of lost sight of that. I remembered on my victory lap, and I had to come down and throw a 3 out the window to pay respects to the man. There's a huge void in my career that I was never able to race with him, but at least I was able to tie his record there."


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
After finishing runner-up, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said that he felt that his performance "was great because of how we did last week in Daytona. It was critical for us to rebound. Two terrible finishes in a row would put us in such a deep hole points-wise, and what if we could struggle through the year and come close but not win any races? We don't need to cut it close on points. I know we really don't worry about points racing anymore, but when you start the year with two bad runs, you start counting points."


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
Speaking on the lower-downforce package after a fifth-place finish, Edwards said that NASCAR needs "to keep taking more. This is real racing. We’re driving hard. You can see the guys out here just digging for everything they’re worth. I’m worn out. That’s a tough race and just a lot of fun. I just can’t thank NASCAR enough and Atlanta – don’t ever pave this place – it’s a perfect race track. I hope the fans enjoyed the show. The thing is, just know that in that car we’re driving as hard as we can.”


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Post-race, Driver comments
After leading the most laps in a race at Atlanta for the third straight year, Harvick stumbled on the final restart and finished sixth. He said afterwards that his car "had issues about the last three runs. I had to start driving the car different. It just required a little bit different handling. And then we had a slow pit stop there. We got way behind and the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) was way out front and I had to drive the car really hard and got the right rear burned up. We just didn’t execute today but everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Busch Chevrolet hung in there all day and we’ll keep at it.”


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Race, Post-race, Penalties
On the Wednesday after the race, NASCAR issued a number of penalties to the following teams:


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Media, Television
The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 was carried by Fox in the United States. Mike Joy, five-time Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon and three-time Atlanta winner Darrell Waltrip worked the race from the booth. Pit road was manned by Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum.


2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Media, Radio
The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini called the race from the booth when the field raced down the front stretch. Rob Albright called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan, Jim Noble and Steve Richards.


2016 Food City 500
The 2016 Food City 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that was held on April 17, 2016, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps on the 0.533 miles (0.858 km) concrete short track, it is the eighth race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, The race had 16 lead changes among different drivers and fifteen cautions for 102 laps.


2016 Food City 500, Report, Background
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.


2016 Food City 500, Entry list
The entry list for the Food City 500 was released on Monday, April 11 at 11:39 a.m. Eastern time. Forty cars are entered for the race.


2016 Food City 500, First practice
Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 14.913 and a speed of 128.666 mph (207.068 km/h).