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.
Background
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
(R) denotes rookie driver
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points
Qualifying
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.
* – 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
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.