ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (AP) - Justin Allgaier could have coasted to victory under caution - but he ran out of gas, handing a victory to Reed Sorenson in a chaotic finish to Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide race at Road America.
Allgaier took the lead from Michael McDowell on the second of three attempts at a green-white-checkered overtime finish. Allgaier held the lead after the final restart and appeared to have the win sealed up when the yellow flag waved for the final time because of another rash of crashes.
But Allgaier didn't have enough fuel to make it to the finish after running so many extra laps on the four-mile track, and making it back to the finish line is required under NASCAR rules even though the race finished under yellow.
Sorenson and Ron Fellows took the checkered flag side-by-side and both drivers seemed to think they'd won, and NASCAR officials took several minutes to declare Sorenson the winner.
"I don't agree with the ruling, but it is what it is," Fellows said.
NASCAR officials ruled Fellows finished second, followed by Jacques Villeneuve - who had a late run-in with Max Papis - Elliott Sadler and Mike Wallace.
Brian Scott was leading in the closing laps of regulation, trying to win the race on fuel strategy. But McDowell, who started on the pole and ran at or near the front all afternoon, chased him down and got around him going into Turn 1 with seven laps to go.
A caution came out after a crash with four laps remaining, bunching up the field and setting up overtime.
That was the first in a series of late crashes that caused NASCAR to extend the race with three attempts at a green/white/checkered finish - the maximum number of overtime restarts allowed in hopes of ensuring that the race finishes under green.
