Road Course Racing in Wisconsin

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action after a weekend off and heads to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for some exciting road course racing at Road America for the Henry 180 (12 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Brandon Jones won in overtime at Kansas Speedway to go back-to-back at the track and steal the victory from Austin Cindric on the final lap.

The series will take on Road America, the 4.048-mile road course with 14 turns and 171 feet of elevation changes in one lap.

Road America has been home to 10 different winners in as many starts. Michael McDowell holds the qualifying record at the track at 110.377 mph from August 16, 2016.

Chevrolet holds the record for the most wins by a manufacturer with seven and Brendan Gaughan holds the record for the most top fives at the track (four). Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier have the most top 10s (five) and the most lead changes in a race at the track came in 2011 with 12. The most laps led by a race winner was 35 in 2010 and the fewest laps led by a race winner was one in 2011.

Saturday’s Henry 180 will be 182.16 miles and 45 laps. Stage 1 will end on Stage 14 and Stage 2 will end on Lap 29. Christopher Bell won last year’s race at the track, leading 10 laps and starting from the 12^th position.

Last year, road course ace Cindric finished second followed by the 2019 Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick in third, Noah Gragson in fourth and Kaz Grala rounding out the top five.

Cindric is the highest-finishing driver entered this weekend, looking to add on his fourth win of the season.

Eyes on the Cutline: Playoff outlook heading to Road America

After a weekend break for the Xfinity Series, they’re back on track this weekend at a 4.048-mile road course.

With six drivers locked into the Playoffs with a win, spots seven through 12 are still up for grabs and the competition is getting crazier each week.

Ross Chastain holds the seventh spot in the driver Playoff standings as the first driver without a win. Justin Allgaier is right behind Chastain in eighth and Michael Annett is in ninth. Riley Herbst, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, is hanging on to the 10^th spot while Ryan Sieg is sitting in 11^th. Brandon Brown is holding onto the final Playoff spot.

Rank	Driver	Points	Race Wins	Stage Wins	Pts from Cutoff
1	Chase Briscoe	718	5	3	In On Wins
2	Austin Cindric	722	3	7
3	Noah Gragson	666	2	8
4	Harrison Burton #	587	2	0
5	Brandon Jones	500	2	2
6	Justin Haley	592	1	1
7	Ross Chastain	662	0	0	320
8	Justin Allgaier	586	0	7	244
9	Michael Annett	510	0	0	168
10	Riley Herbst #	410	0	0	68
11	Ryan Sieg	408	0	2	66
12	Brandon Brown	374	0	0	32
13	Jeremy Clements	342	0	0	-32
14	Myatt Snider #	325	0	0	-49
15	Alex Labbe	301	0	0	-73

Jeremy Clements has seen a lot of success in recent weeks, bumping himself up right below the cutline in 13^th.

Myatt Snider, another rookie, is in 14^th, 49 points back from the cutline and Alex Labbe is in 15^th.

Noah Gragson has the most stage wins of any driver in the series with eight and his JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric are tied with seven.

Hey, Rookies!

Sunoco Rookie of the Year
Rookies	Points
Harrison Burton	587
Riley Herbst	410
Jesse Little	301
Joe Graf Jr.	227
Myatt Snider	173
Kody Vanderwal	105

Harrison Burton finished third two weekends ago at Kansas Speedway, making him the highest-finishing rookie and awarding him the Rookie of the Race award. Burton has 12 rookie awards this season.

Riley Herbst was the second-highest finishing rookie at Kansas in ninth.

Luckily for Herbst, he is still holding onto his second-place ranking in the rookie standings.

Looking ahead to Road America, all of the rookies will be making their track debut. In comparing the results from the Indianapolis Road Course for the rookies, Snider was the highest finisher in 16^th followed by Jesse Little in 18^th.

Burton doesn’t have to worry about making his way into the Playoffs since he’s already won this season, but Herbst and Snider, who are still fighting for their spots, need a clean weekend at the road course.

Pit-road procedure update

This weekend’s stand-alone even for the Xfinity Series at Road America will have a modified version of pit-road procedures that were announced in January.

The new rules include that the field will be frozen at the time of caution. When pit road opens, all cars may pit and teams may add fuel OR change up to four tires.

Four tires and fuel would require two pit stops to complete a full pit cycle. Stage breaks will consist of a full pit cycle, which means two opportunities to pit to add fuel or change tires will pit road is open.

NASCAR is allowed to call a quickie yellow flag during non-stage breaks, giving drivers one opportunity to pit to add fuel OR change tires.

Fuel only may be added during green-flag stops, with pit stops for tire changes on green-flag stops only permitted by NASCAR as a result of a flat tire or damage.

There’s a minimum 60-second time limit for teams making green-flag stops and an 80-second maximum time for teams making yellow-flag stops. (The time is measured from yellow line to yellow line.)

If there is bad weather, teams will be permitted to change from dry-weather tires to wet tires under yellow- or green-flag conditions.

Various road course ringers, newbies set to run Road America

It’s not something new for a NASCAR Xfinity Series team to field specialists for road course races. This weekend’s race is no different.

IndyCar driver RC Enerson is set to make his Xfinity Series debut in the No. 7 SS-Green Light Racing Chevrolet. Enerson has four career IndyCar starts, all at road course races and at his latest race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, he finished 17^th. His career-best finish was at Watkins Glen International in 2016.

Jesse Iwuji, a NAVY officer and veteran of the ARCA Menards Series West, has made a handful of starts in the Gander Trucks but will make his Xfinity Series debut this weekend for MBM Motorsports in the No. 13. Iwuji’s Gander Trucks debut was also on a road course, finishing 25^th at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2018.

NASCAR veteran Mike Wallace will return to the No. 0 JD Motorsports Chevrolet for the second time this season. He ran the Indianapolis Road Course, finishing 24^th for the team and he will also run the Daytona Road Course the following weekend.

Andy Lally will pilot the No. 2 Our Motorsports Chevrolet at Road America and the Daytona Road Course, too. Lally, who is the 2011 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, has competed on various road course in the Xfinity Series. He has five top 10s in 11 starts and had best finish of fifth at Mid-Ohio in 2017. This weekend will be his first start since 2018.

Jade Buford will be in the No. 6 for JD Motorsports. Buford, an IMSA racer, finished 14^th in his NASCAR debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. B.J. McLeod has been the main driver in the No. 6 this season.

Preston Pardus will join DGM Racing in the No. 36 Chevrolet this weekend. Pardus was the 2017 SCCA Spec Miata National Champion. He has made three Xfinity Series starts, all at road course races. At Indianapolis, he finished in the top 10 for the first time.

Scott Heckert will replace Vinnie Miller in the No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet at Road America. Heckert has three ARCA East wins at road courses and six of his eight Xfinity Series tarts were on road courses. He got a career-best finish of 13^th at Watkins Glen International last season.

AJ Allmendinger will also be back this weekend for Kaulig Racing. He has run a part-time schedule for the organization in 2020 and scored his first NASCAR oval win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June. He also finished fourth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.

Iwuji to make Xfinity debut: LCDR Jesse Iwuji will make his Xfinity Series debut this weekend at Road America in the No. 13 MileMarker10 MBM Motorsports Chevrolet. Iwuji is the only current driver at the national level of NASCAR to have served his country. In July, he also earned a promotion in the US Navy moving from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy Reserves. Iwuji has made nine starts in the Gander Trucks over three years with a best finish of 17^th in 2019 at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

Earl Bamber making debut: Two-time Le Mans 24 race winner Earl Bamber will be making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut for Richard Childress Racing at the Daytona Road Course in the No. 21 Chevrolet. The team has partnered with KCMG for the event. Bamber has experience at the road course having scored four podiums in the Rolex 24 at the track. “I’ve dreamed about competing in NASCAR my entire life, so I am so thankful to Richard Childress, KCMG and everyone who has played a role in creating this opportunity for me,” Bamber said in a press release.