Only one of of NASCAR’s three national series is in action this weekend with the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Road America on Sunday. Storylines for this weekend follow… Next Race: Bojangles’ Southern 500 The Place: Darlington Raceway The Date: Sunday, Sept. 3 The Time: 6 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN, 5:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 501.3 miles (367 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 100), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 200), Final Stage (Ends on lap 367) The Race: Johnsonville 180 The Place: Road America The Date: Sunday, Aug. 27 The Time: 3 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 2:30 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 182.16 miles (45 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 10), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 20), Final Stage (Ends on lap 45) Road America: The Last Road Course Stop In 2017 With Watkins Glen International and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the books, just one road course remains on the NASCAR XFINITY Series 2017 schedule – Road America. Four races remain in the regular season and this Sunday, August 27, all eyes will be on the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Road America for the Johnsonville 180 (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the only NASCAR national series event this weekend. Nestled in the Elkhart Lake region of Wisconsin sits the four-mile, 14-turn road course known as Road America. The track has hosted seven NASCAR XFINITY Series races producing five different pole winners – Carl Edwards (2010), Michael McDowell (2011), Nelson Piquet Jr. (2012), AJ Allmendinger (2013) and Alex Tagliani (2014 and 2016). Allmendinger, McDowell and Piquet’s were their first career series poles. The seven series events at Road America have also produced seven different winners – Carl Edwards (2010), Reed Sorenson (2011), Nelson Piquet Jr. (2012), AJ Allmendinger (2013), Brendan Gaughan (2014), Paul Menard (2015) and Michael McDowell (2016). Will we see an eighth different winner? The probability is high. The only previous series Road America winner entered this weekend is Brendan Gaughan. Gaughan Is This Week’s Johnsonville Brat On The Playoff Grill Richard Childress Racing’s Brendan Gaughan is feeling the playoff heat after dropping to 12th in the standings, the final playoff spot, with just four regular season races remaining in 2017. Though Gaughan does have a 43-point cushion over 13th-place Ross Chastain in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driver championship standings, he knows to lock himself into the post-season he needs to win. It just so happens the series is heading to a place he knows he can – Road America. “Looking at the big picture, this race (Bristol) has put us on the bubble, 43 points to the plus side for the playoffs,” said Gaughan following a 30th-place finish at Bristol last weekend. “Fortunately, next week’s race is the one I have been looking forward to. What we lost tonight, we can easily gain back at Road America. I plan to win that thing.” Gaughan has been quite impressive this season on the road courses, finishing in the top 10 at both Watkins Glen (ninth) and Mid-Ohio (seventh). A few weeks back, Gaughan was battling for the win in the closing laps with Sam Hornish Jr. at Mid-Ohio before he was run off the track on a restart, but was able to salvage a solid finish. Watch for Gaughan to run well at Road America this weekend, in five starts at the four-mile road course Gaughan has posted one win (2014), three top fives and an average finish of 6.6 (series-best); including a runner-up finish last season. Bell And Cindric Are A Couple Truckers Going XFINITY Road Racin’ The next wave of young drivers is upon us and this Sunday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race, the Johnsonville 180 (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Road America, is the perfect stage to showcase their talents. Two rising NASCAR Camping World Truck Series stars, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric, are on deck to compete this weekend at Road America. Christopher Bell, a 22-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma, will attempt to make his third NASCAR XFINITY Series start this season for Joe Gibbs Racing. In Bell’s first two starts this season he has posted one pole (Iowa), one top five (fourth at Charlotte) and 16th at Iowa, compiling an average finish of 10.0. This will be Bell’s first attempt at competing on a road course in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Bell will be piloting the No. 18 JGR Toyota Camry with crew chief Eric Phillips. Phillips has led Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch to four wins (Kentucky, New Hampshire, Watkins Glen and Bristol) in their last five starts together; including his XFINITY win last weekend when Busch swept all three NASCAR national series races at Bristol. But keep in mind, Joe Gibbs Racing has yet to win Road America. Austin Cindric, an 18-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, will be making his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut this weekend at Road America for Team Penske. Cindric will be strapped into the series owner points leading No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang with crew chief Greg Erwin. Cindric will be the fifth different driver Erwin has worked with this season. Erwin led Sam Hornish Jr. to the win two weeks ago, at Mid-Ohio. Bell and Cindric will also be joined by fellow NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular and NBCSN analyst Parker Kligerman this weekend in the Johnsonville 180 at Road America. Kligerman will be No. 46 Precision Performance Motorsports Chevrolet with crew chief Mark Setzer. This will mark Kligerman’s series season debut. Sadler Thinks JR Motorsports Is The Team To Beat For The Title When it comes to which team has the highest probability to have a driver win the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship this season, JR Motorsport’s veteran and current points standings leader Elliott Sadler thinks he might know. “I would say right now, JR Motorsports has a leg-up on the competition,” Elliott Sadler exclaimed following his third-place finish last weekend at Bristol. “I think we are the favorites to win the championship. We just have to go make it happen.” That’s a bold claim by Sadler, but the stats are there to back it up. Currently all four JR Motorsports drivers are destined to make the NASCAR XFINITY Series playoffs this season. Three of the four JRM drivers are the top three in points – Elliott Sadler currently is the series points leader with a 110-point lead over his teammate William Byron in second, and a 136-point lead over his other JRM teammate Justin Allgaier in third. Both Byron (three wins) and Allgaier are two of only three series title contenders to win this season; the third being Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Reed. Sadler has led the series points for the last 10 consecutive races and it wasn’t till recently did it dawn on Sadler that winning the regular season can mean big dividends come playoff time. “I will be honest with you, halfway through the year we didn’t realize, we hadn’t done our research, we didn’t know we could get 15 (playoff) points,” said Sadler when discussing the regular season championship. “We were like let’s be aggressive, let’s take chances, so what if we finish wherever, but then we were like wait a minute, if we finish first we get 15 points and that’s like three wins. So, then we decided we can’t throw any races away, and we have to get maximum points.” Elliott Sadler is looking for his first series title, and 2017 could be the season he takes one home. In 22 starts this season Sadler, has posted nine top fives (series-most), 17 top 10s (series-most) and an average finish of 8.8 (series-best among title contenders). He has made six series starts at Road America posting one top five, four top 10s and average finish of 9.5. Richard Childress Racing Looks For Fourth Consecutive Road America Win No team has been quite as successful at Road America as Richard Childress Racing, who has won the last three consecutive NASCAR XFINITY Series races at the 4-mile road course and this weekend is looking to make it four in a row. Richard Childress Racing first visited Victory Lane at Road America back in 2014 with driver Brendan Gaughan capturing the win. RCR’s Paul Menard then won in 2015 and Michael McDowell took home the checkered flag last season. The feat of winning four or more consecutive races at a single active track in the NASCAR XFINITY Series by an organization has happened nine times. The record for the most consecutive wins by an organization at a single active track in the NASCAR XFINITY Series is eight by Joe Gibbs Racing at Auto Club Speedway. If RCR pulls off the feat and wins this weekend at Road America, it will be the second time the organization has won four or more consecutive races at a single track. They first did it at Richmond when they won four straight from 2005 to 2007. This weekend, Richard Childress Racing will be fielding five cars – No. 2 (Ben Kennedy), No. 3 (Scott Lagasse Jr.), No. 21 (Daniel Hemric), No. 33 (Brandon Jones) and No. 62 (Brendan Gaughan). NASCAR XFINITY Series Etc.: Sunoco Rookie of the Year Update: With 22 races in the books here is a quick look at the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings: William Byron (257 points), Daniel Hemric (211), Cole Custer (202), Matt Tifft (166), Spencer Gallagher (127) and Ben Kennedy (110). International Racing Affair: Road racing in NASCAR has always been a draw for international drivers to try their luck in the series, and this weekend Road America has attracted James ‘JD’ Davison from Melbourne, Australia and Stephen Young from London, England. Davison will be driving the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with crew chief Chris Gabehart. Young will be driving the No. 78 BJ McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet with crew chief Keith Wolfe. Next Race: Chevrolet Silverado 250 The Place: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park The Date: Sunday, Sept. 3 The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET TV: FS1, 2 p.m. ET Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 157.37 miles (64 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 20), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on lap 64) source – NASCAR communications
