Gardner Denver 200
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| Venue | Road America |
|---|---|
| Location | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States |
| Corporate sponsor | Johnsonville Foods |
| First race | 2010 |
| Distance | 182.16 miles (293.16 km) |
| Laps | 45 |
| Previous names |
Bucyrus 200 Presented by Menards (2010–2011) Sargento 200 (2012) Johnsonville Sausage 200 Presented by Menards (2013) Gardner Denver 200 Fired Up by Johnsonville (2014) Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville (2015-present) |
| Most wins (team) | Richard Childress Racing (3) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (4) |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 4.048 mi (6.515 km) |
| Turns | 14 |
The Road America 180 fired up by Johnsonville is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that takes place at Road America. Winners of the race are awarded a Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycle. Since the inception, the race has featured highly competitive races and is considered one of the most unpredictable races of the season.
The track held its first Xfinity event in 2010 after the Milwaukee Mile's race was moved to the track. Road America had held a Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) race in the 1956 that was won by Tim Flock. Carl Edwards won the inaugural 50-lap race, named the Bucyrus 200, after holding off Canadian road course ringers, Jacques Villeneuve and Ron Fellows.
In 2011, the Bucyrus 200 was won by Reed Sorenson after a confusing series of events in which numerous drivers either crashed, were penalized, or ran out of gas. This was the first Xfinity Series race to require three green-white-checker finish attempts, extending the race to 57 laps. Michael McDowell had the race in the bag until he ran out of gas on the first GWC-finish attempt, handing the lead to Justin Allgaier. On the final lap, Allgaier slowed down after running out of gas. When the dust settled, Ron Fellows appeared to have won the race, but, after a 10-minute delay, NASCAR determined that Fellows had made a pass on leader Reed Sorenson after a final-lap caution came out, handing the win to Sorenson and dropping Fellows to second.
The next year, in the newly renamed Sargento 200, Brazilian Nelson Piquet, Jr. won his first career race ahead of Michael McDowell and Ron Fellows. In 2013, the once again renamed Johnsonville Sausage 200 pole winner was A. J. Allmendinger. Allmendinger, Owen Kelly, and Billy Johnson all took turns leading, with Allmendinger leading the most at 29. Allmendinger would go on to win the race after eight caution flags waved and the race was extended to 55 laps due to two green-white-checker finish attempts. The race became memorable when road course ringer, Max Papis got furious with Billy Johnson for spinning him out twice; on pit road Papis slapped Johnson and walked off grinning. The race was renamed as the Gardner Denver 200 for 2014.
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