The Johnsonville Sausage 200 is a NASCAR Nationwide Series race that takes place at Road America. Winners of the race are awarded a Harley Davidson XR1200 motorcycle.[1] Since the inception, the race has featured highly competitive races and is considered one of the most unpredictable races of the season.
History[edit]
The track held its first Nationwide event in 2010 after the Milwaukee Mile's race was moved to the track. It had held a Sprint Cup Series race in the 1950s. Carl Edwards won the very first NNS race at Road America holding off Canadian road course ringer, Ron Fellows.
In 2011 Road America's NNS Bucyrus 200 had one of the most confusing NASCAR finishes ever. In the final 5 laps Justin Allgiar was leading the race stretching a near empty tank of gas. Jacques Villeneuve intentionally crashed Max Papis in the race to cause a caution; causing Justin Allgiar's fuel to dry out as the final restart began. Finally it seemed like Justin had the win sealed up when the final caution came when Allgiar was crossing the finish line to start the final lap. Aric Almirola had stopped his car on the track and the race ended under caution. However in turn 4 of the 13 total turns of Road America, Justin Allgiar ran out of gas. Ron Fellows drove by to take the lead but it was quickly discovered that Fellows was going way too fast under caution. Ron Fellows crossed the finish line first but had his win taken away when NASCAR ruled that him speeding under caution was not reasonable caution speed; also it was discovered that Fellows speeded past Reed Sorenson under the caution believing that Sorenson was out of gas; Sorenson was the true winner of the race. Ron Fellows has said to this day that he should have taken home the trophy but he has accepted the penalty.
In 2012 in a big upset, Nelson Piquet Jr. won his first NNS victory becoming the first Brazilian driver to win in NASCAR.
Past winners[edit]
- 2011: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish (3 attempts). This was the first time a NASCAR Nationwide Series race used the Green-white-checker format 3 times to finish a race.
Television broadcasters[edit]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
