The 2011 Bucyrus 200 presented by Menards was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held on June 25, 2011, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The race was the 16th of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series and the 2nd iteration of the event. Michael McDowell won the pole for the race and led the most laps but the race featured a crazy and controversial finish as Reed Sorenson won the race in the end as the race became a wreckfest towards the end.[2]

2011 Bucyrus 200
Race details[1]
Map of Speedway
Map of Speedway
Date June 25, 2011 (2011-06-25)
Official name 2011 Bucyrus 200 Presented by Menards
Location Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Course Road Course
4.048 mi (6.515 km)
Distance 57 laps, 231 mi (371.758 km)
Scheduled Distance 50 laps, 202 mi (325.807 km)
Weather Sunnt
Average speed 78.929 mph (127.024 km/h)
Attendance 50,000
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 2:13.230
Most laps led
Driver Michael McDowell Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 30
Winner
No. 32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Rusty Wallace, Andy Petree
Yellow Chevrolet car with 32 driving
Nationwide 32 Reed Sorenson 2011 Road America Bucyrus 200

Background

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Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IndyCar Series, SCCA Pirelli World Challenge, ASRA, AMA Superbike series, and SCCA Pro Racing's Trans-Am Series.

Entry List

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver
  • (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points
# Driver Team Make
01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet
2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
03 Scott Wimmer (i) R3 Motorsports Dodge
6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Ron Fellows JR Motorsports Chevrolet
09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota
11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R) JJC Racing Ford
14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford
16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Michael McDowell (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
22 Jacques Villeneuve Penske Racing Dodge
23 Alex Kennedy R3 Motorsports Dodge
28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
30 Ricky Carmichael (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
33 Max Papis Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet
39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford
40 Charles Lewandoski (R) Key Motorsports Chevrolet
41 Doug Harrington Rick Ware Racing Ford
42 Tim Andrews Key Motorsports Chevrolet
44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
46 Chase Miller Key Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet
52 Tim Schendel Means Motorsports Chevrolet
53 Andrew Ranger NDS Motorsports Dodge
55 Brett Rowe Faith Motorsports Chevrolet
60 Billy Johnson Roush Fenway Racing Ford
62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota
64 Jason Bowles Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota
66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota
67 J. R. Fitzpatrick Go Canada Racing Ford
70 Dennis Setzer ML Motorsports Dodge
75 Carl Long Rick Ware Racing Ford
81 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge
87 Kevin Conway NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet
89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet
Official Entry List

Qualifying

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Michael McDowell won the pole for the race, his first of his career, with a time of 2:13.230 and a speed of 109.381.[3]

Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 18 Michael McDowell (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2:13.230 109.381
2 33 Max Papis Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 2:14.163 108.620
3 22 Jacques Villeneuve Penske Racing Dodge 2:14.336 108.480
4 60 Billy Johnson Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2:14.406 108.424
5 7 Ron Fellows JR Motorsports Chevrolet 2:14.967 107.973
6 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 2:15.000 107.947
7 2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 2:15.213 107.777
8 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2:15.624 107.450
9 38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 2:15.651 107.429
10 64 Jason Bowles Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 2:15.710 107.382
11 16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2:15.712 107.380
12 32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 2:16.288 106.927
13 11 Brian Scott* Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2:16.305 106.913
14 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 2:16.365 106.866
15 30 Ricky Carmichael (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 2:16.389 106.847
16 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 2:16.673 106.625
17 67 J. R. Fitzpatrick Go Canada Racing Ford 2:16.924 106.430
18 39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford 2:17.202 106.214
19 23 Alex Kennedy* R3 Motorsports Dodge 2:17.302 106.137
20 88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet 2:17.661 105.860
21 53 Andrew Ranger NDS Motorsports Dodge 2:17.804 105.750
22 62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 2:18.224 105.429
23 15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 2:18.453 105.254
24 81 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 2:18.506 105.214
25 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 2:18.849 104.954
26 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 2:19.198 104.691
27 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 2:19.648 104.354
28 87 Kevin Conway NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 2:20.742 103.543
29 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 2:20.812 103.491
30 41 Doug Harrington Rick Ware Racing Ford 2:22.358 102.367
31 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 2:23.994 101.204
32 28 Derrike Cope* Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 2:25.590 100.095
33 75 Carl Long Rick Ware Racing Ford 2:25.797 99.953
34 46 Chase Miller Key Motorsports Chevrolet 2:26.595 99.409
35 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 2:27.068 99.089
36 03 Scott Wimmer (i) R3 Motorsports Dodge 2:30.441 96.867
37 55 Brett Rowe Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 2:30.671 96.719
38 42 Tim Andrews Key Motorsprots Chevrolet 2:31.301 96.317
39 70 Dennis Setzer ML Motorsports Dodge 2:33.589 94.882
40 40 Charles Lewandoski (R) Key Motorsports Chevrolet 2:34.089 94.574
41 52 Tim Schendel Means Motorsports Chevrolet 2:34.878 94.092
42 13 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R)* JJC Racing Ford 2:36.836 92.917
Official Starting Grid

* – Brian Scott, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Alex Kennedy, and Derrike Cope had to go to the rear of the field due to adjustments after impound.

Race

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Pole sitter Michael McDowell led the first lap of the race. The first incident of the day did not take long as it happened on lap 2 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Reed Sorenson and both spun in turn 3. It happened right in front of J. R. Fitzpatrick who went through the grass to avoid Stenhouse and Sorenson. No caution flew as they got their cars back going again. The first caution flew on lap 7 when Doug Harrington spun in turn 12 and got stuck in the gravel traps. Michael McDowell won the race off of pit road but Steve Wallace, Elliott Sadler, Jason Bowles, Michael Annett, and Timmy Hill did not pit although Hill went to pit before the green flag and Wallace led the field to the restart on lap 10. On lap 11, Jacques Villeneuve took the lead from Wallace. On lap 13, Jason Bowles' car got loose in turn 11 and slid up the track into the wall and taking out one of the Bucyrus signs. On lap 14, Trevor Bayne's car spun in turn 1 but no caution was thrown as Bayne got rolling again. On lap 15, Michael McDowell took the lead from Villeneuve. On lap 17, Billy Johnson spun in turn 5 and no caution flew as he got his car rolling. On that same lap, McDowell came into pit handing the lead to a veteran road course ringer in Ron Fellows. On lap 20, Doug Harrington spun out of turn 6 but did not bring out a caution as he got rolling again. The second caution flew when Kevin Conway spun in turn 1 on lap 21 and got stuck in the gravel trap. Some drivers went in to pit like Fellows while others stayed out because they pitted under green like McDowell and McDowell led the field to the restart on lap 25. On the restart, Jacques Villeneuve took the lead from McDowell in turn 5. Unfortunetly for Villeneuve, he would be penalized for changing lanes before they reached the start finish line on the restart handing the lead to Michael McDowell once again.

Final laps

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With 24 laps to go, the third caution flew when Jeremy Clements' car stalled up the hill entering turn 6 after his engine let go. The race would restart with 21 laps to go. McDowell had a challenge for the lead in Elliott Sadler but Sadler could not get past McDowell. Soon green flag pitstops began with 17 to go. With 16 to go, McDowell pitted and gave the lead to Ron Fellows. Fellows pitted with 15 to go and handed the lead to Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve pitted with 14 to go giving the lead to Mike Wallace. Wallace soon pitted with 12 to go and handed the lead to Brian Scott who would lead the next 5 laps before Michael McDowell took the lead from him with 7 laps to go. McDowell was looking for his first ever win in all of NASCAR 3 years after his violent qualifying crash at Texas as he began to pull away from Scott with the 3rd place car in Ron Fellows being over 7 seconds back. Unfortunately for McDowell and some others, the fourth caution would fly with just 4 laps to go when Doug Harrington crashed in turn 11. The caution would turn things upside down as the race became a fuel strategy race to see who had enough to make it around 8 miles and take home the checkered flag and it would also set up three attempts of a green-white-checkered finish. McDowell took the lead from Fellows on the restart. But for some reason, Jacques Villeneuve thought it was a good idea to go to Brian Scott's right side before the pit road exit lane ended and Villeneuve clipped the grass and ended up sliding up the track and wrecking both Scott and Max Papis in the process in turn 1 bringing out the 5th caution of the race. The caution would set up a 2nd attempt of a green-white-checkered. McDowell took the lead from Fellows on the restart. But in turn 3, Justin Allgaier charged his way and challenged McDowell for the lead. McDowell got in front of Allgaier in turn 5 but McDowell pushed up the track in the turn and Allgaier sneaked under McDowell and took the lead. McDowell tried to catch Allgaier but slid up again in turn 6 and ended up spinning out in the grass ending his chances of winning. While he was spinning, Eric McClure, Alex Kennedy, and Steve Wallace all spun out in the same turn with McClure and Wallace crashing out while Kennedy got stuck in the gravel trap. This would bring out the 6th caution of the race and set up a final attempt of a green-white-checkered. Cars frantically started saving fuel as the race would restart for the last time. On the restart, Allgaier took the lead from Fellows and began to pull away. Soon, cars started spinning everywhere. Aric Almirola spun in turn 5 while Brian Scott spun in turn 6 on the same lap. Almirola got stuck in the gravel trap and could not get back going again. Allgaier took the white flag before the 7th and final caution flew for Almirola's car stalling in turn 5 when Allgaier was in turn 3. Allgaier had to make it around 11 more corners and cross the finish line first to take the win which would be his third career Nationwide Series win and the second of the season. But coming up the hill to turn 6, Allgaier's car ran out of gas and as a result of NASCAR's rule, if you don't maintain pace car speed you lose your position. Ron Fellows passed Allgaier and Fellows was the new race leader. Allgaier's teammate Jason Leffler, who was in 5th, also ran out of gas. Ron Fellows took the checkered flag in first place as he was looking for his 7th career NASCAR victory and his first since the 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Montreal.[4]

Post race

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While Fellows was taking the checkered flag, Reed Sorenson pulled up alongside Fellows as if to argue he won. But when replays were shown, Fellows was in third when the caution came out and Fellows did not slow down and passed by Sorenson under caution while still on the gas before he slowed down when he was right behind Allgaier. After Allgaier ran out of gas and Fellows passed him, Fellows continued to speed up and not go pace car speed until he caught up to the pace car out of turn 10. After looking at the replays, NASCAR determined that Ron Fellows passed Reed Sorenson under caution which is illegal and Reed Sorenson is the race winner with Fellows finishing in 2nd. This would be Sorenson's first win of 2011, his 4th and final career Nationwide Series win, and his first win since the 2007 Gateway 250. Jacques Villeneuve, Elliott Sadler, and Mike Wallace rounded out the top 5 while Andrew Ranger, Michael Annett, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ricky Carmichael, and J. R. Fitzpatrick rounded out the top 10. All four Canadian drivers in Fellows, Villeneuve, Ranger, and Fitzpatrick all finished in the top 10.[5]

After the race, tempers flared against Jacques Villeneuve. Brian Scott and Max Papis, who Villeneuve both wrecked, took turns expressing their frustrations at Villeneuve. Scott ran into the rear of Villeneuve on the pit road and then Papis pulled up alongside Villeneuve's car to talk about what happened. The conversation between Villeneuve and Papis was not caught on camera.

Race results

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Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Laps Led Status Points
1 32 Reed Sorenson Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 57 1 running 47
2 7 Ron Fellows JR Motorsports Chevrolet 57 6 running 43
3 22 Jacques Villeneuve Penske Racing Dodge 57 5 running 42
4 2 Elliott Sadler Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 57 0 running 40
5 01 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 57 2 running 40
6 53 Andrew Ranger NDS Motorsports Dodge 57 0 running 38
7 62 Michael Annett Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 57 0 running 37
8 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 57 0 running 36
9 30 Ricky Carmichael (i) Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 57 0 running 0
10 67 J. R. Fitzpatrick Go Canada Racing Ford 57 0 running 34
11 15 Timmy Hill (R) Rick Ware Racing Ford 57 0 running 33
12 18 Michael McDowell (i) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 30 running 0
13 39 Josh Wise Go Green Racing Ford 57 0 running 31
14 81 Blake Koch (R) MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 57 0 running 30
15 19 Mike Bliss TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 57 0 running 29
16 11 Brian Scott Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 4 running 29
17 28 Derrike Cope Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 57 0 running 27
18 70 Dennis Setzer ML Motorsports Dodge 57 0 running 26
19 31 Justin Allgaier Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 56 4 out of fuel 26
20 38 Jason Leffler Turner Motorsports Chevrolet 56 0 out of fuel 24
21 23 Alex Kennedy R3 Motorsports Dodge 56 0 running 23
22 88 Aric Almirola JR Motorsports Chevrolet 56 0 running 22
23 33 Max Papis Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 55 0 running 21
24 87 Kevin Conway NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 54 0 running 20
25 52 Tim Schendel Means Motorsports Chevrolet 54 0 running 19
26 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 52 4 crash 19
27 14 Eric McClure TriStar Motorsports Toyota 52 0 crash 17
28 09 Kenny Wallace RAB Racing Toyota 49 0 running 16
29 13 Jennifer Jo Cobb (R) JJC Racing Ford 49 0 running 15
30 41 Doug Harrington Rick Ware Racing Ford 45 0 crash 14
31 16 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36 0 overheating 13
32 51 Jeremy Clements Jeremy Clements Racing Chevrolet 26 0 engine 12
33 60 Billy Johnson Roush Fenway Racing Ford 25 0 engine 11
34 64 Jason Bowles Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 16 0 crash 10
35 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 11 0 handling 9
36 75 Carl Long Rick Ware Racing Ford 6 0 carburetor 8
37 40 Charles Lewandowski (R) Key Motorsports Chevrolet 4 0 ignition 7
38 44 Jeff Green TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 3 0 vibration 6
39 03 Scott Wimmer (i) R3 Motorsports Dodge 3 0 brakes 0
40 46 Chase Miller Key Motorsports Chevrolet 2 0 brakes 4
41 42 Tim Andrews Key Motorsports Chevrolet 2 0 brakes 3
42 55 Brett Rowe Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 2 0 brakes 2
Official Race results

References

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  1. ^ "2011 Bucyrus 200 Presented by Menards". Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  2. ^ "Sorenson emerges victorious in Bucyrus 200". Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  3. ^ "NNS Pole Report: McDowell claims pole for Bucyrus 200 at Road America". Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  4. ^ "Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2011 Bucyrus 200 at Road America". Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  5. ^ "Reed Sorenson wins NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America". Retrieved June 25, 2011.
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