Schedule Turns To Road Course

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

Schedule Turns To Road Course

At 4.048 miles, Road America is the longest track in NASCAR’s national series. Saturday’s race in Elkhart Lake represents the first of three road course races on the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule over the next three months. Watkins Glen is up next in July and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve closes the roadies out in August.

 

In its short two-race series history, Road America has been long on drama. In the inaugural series event in 2010, Carl Edwards won after Jacques Villeneuve’s heartbreak due to a failed alternator just 1 lap from the finish.

 

Last year, Reed Sorenson ended up in Victory Lane after leader Justin Allgaier ran out of gas on the final lap of a second green-white-checkered attempt – which was under caution. Ron Fellows was penalized for passing under yellow on that last lap, which he angrily felt was undeserved. Add to that a late-race dispute between Villeneuve and Max Papis, created by an aggressive pass by Villeneuve that spun Papis out of contention, and there’s a perfect recipe for more excitement.

 

Sadler’s New Nemesis: RCR Teammate Dillon

Over the last year, the main protagonists in the series championship battle have been reigning champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler. Others have led the standings during that time, but the duel between Stenhouse and Sadler – who finished second last year – has taken center stage.

 

That scenario had been the case for the bulk of this season – until now. Enter Sadler’s young teammate, Austin Dillon, who sits only eight points behind his veteran mentor. Sadler regained the points lead from Stenhouse three races ago, a combination of stout runs by Sadler and bad luck finding Stenhouse, who has an average finish of 27.6 over the last three races, has opened the door for Dillon.

 

Dillon, 22, has posted three top fives in his last five races and also registered his first career series pole last Saturday at Michigan, where he finished fifth. The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and current Nationwide Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings leader has one start

 

Field Full of Stars

Elliott Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., Danica Patrick, Justin Allgaier, Cole Whitt … those drivers are a few of the big-name series regulars who will run at Road America.

 

Want to up the ante? How about the additions of Kurt Busch – who will travel to and from Sonoma to race his brother Kyle’s No. 54 KBM Toyota – Jacques Villeneuve, back for a third try to win at Road America; Ron Fellows, who feels he has unfinished business from last year’s race and Max Papis who has that same thought? Victor Gonzales will join via Puerto Rico while the Brazilian duo from Turner Motorsports, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Miguel Paludo, also are entered during this open week for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.