Elliott Sadler wins first-ever NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase race at Kentucky Speedway
Sept. 24, 2016
By Chris Knight
NASCAR Wire Service
SPARTA,
KY – A huge push from Daniel Suárez on a restart with four laps to go
in Saturday night’s eventful VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 sent Elliott
Sadler ahead of Ryan Blaney to
win the opening race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase at Kentucky
Speedway.
Sadler’s
third win of the season and 13th of his XFINITY Series career was about
more than just stamping his way into Round 2 of the Chase. The Emporia,
Virginia, native fought
for the win while thinking of his mother, Bell, who was released from
the hospital Saturday, after a week of hospitalization and two
surgeries.
“We
fought through a lot tonight,” said Sadler in Victory Lane. “I’m going
to get a little emotional on you, I’ve been in the hospital all week
with my mom in ICU watching her
fight and fight through a lot of pain and suffering. (She) made her way
back home tonight to watch the race. Mom I love you. She leads so much
by example."
Sadler also credited his team, who helped Sadler battle from outside the top 15 earlier in the race.
“These
guys are my heroes," Sadler said. "We had a 10th or 15th place car at
best. Still had to come in and really take our time and work on it.
Great pit calls by Kevin (Meendering,
crew chief) and the guys to get us in position. Got a good push there
at the end. I do want to say thanks to Josh Berry for helping me a ton
tonight. That kid did some cool things on the restarts. This OneMain
Financial team has no quit in them. We just fight
till the end. This is a great way to start the Chase.”
Suárez, who finished second, said he struggled with a tight condition all night but was best at the end of the race.
“Right
at the end, we were pretty good, maybe just a little tight but we were
strong,” he said. “I feel like we were the fastest car out there at the
end. I just needed one or
two laps more to get the win.”
The
inaugural XFINITY Series Chase race offered plenty of excitement and
drama. With the “win and advance” format putting an even greater premium
on victories, drivers found
themselves on the edge of control at a track where the racing groove
was extremely tight since undergoing a repave in May.
“At
halfway, we were running 20th,” added Sadler. “By my calculations, we
were probably 10th or 11th in points, so to fight back that last 100
laps to gain that kind of momentum
probably means a lot for us and these guys. I’m so proud of these guys.
Dale (Earnhardt Jr., team owner) and Kelley (Earnhardt-Miller, team
manager) and all of our partners for Hunt Bros., and Chevrolet and
everyone that does so much for us at JR Motorsports.
This is a great way to start off the Chase and keeps the momentum on
our side, we can relax and go to Dover and have fun there and Charlotte
and get ready for the second round.”
XFINITY
Chase drivers Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones and Erik Jones all found
themselves in a deep hole after being collected in accidents throughout a
caution-filled race. Dillon
and Erik Jones tangled while racing for second with 12 laps remaining.
The event was red-flagged for five minutes, 34 seconds for cleanup of
the Turn 3 incident.
Jones, the pole sitter who led a race-high 100 laps, took responsibility for the crash.
“I
just got sucked around,” Jones said after the incident. “I tried to
slow down but Ty was holding me down there pretty tight on the restart,
slamming doors through (Turns)
1 and 2. It was my fault but it’s a pretty tough aero situation to be
in.
“I
just couldn’t hang on to it. I tried to slow down but he kept slamming
down on my door and I did all I could to hang on to it. It definitely
looks like we’re going to have
to run really well at Dover and Charlotte or even win.”
Behind
Sadler and Suárez, Sprint Cup rookie Ryan Blaney finished third while
Sam Hornish Jr. and Matt Tifft completed the top-five. Tifft, a NASCAR
Next alumnus made his XFINITY
Series return after undergoing brain surgery in July to remove a remove
a benign low-grade glioma.
Sadler
leaves Kentucky Speedway with an eight-point lead in the standings and
guaranteed admission to the next round of the Chase at Kansas Speedway
in three weeks. Suárez (+27
points above the cutoff line) is second in the Chase standings,
followed by Brendan Gaughan (+21), Ryan Reed (+19), Darrell Wallace Jr.
(+19), Justin Allgaier (+17), Brennan Poole (+16), Blake Koch (+15),
Erik Jones (-3), Ryan Sieg (-5), Brandon Jones (-15)
and Ty Dillon (-15).
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race - VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300
Kentucky Speedway
Sparta, Kentucky
Saturday, September 24, 2016
1. (3) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200.
2. (2) Daniel Suárez, Toyota, 200.
3. (8) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 200.
4. (5) Sam Hornish Jr., Chevrolet, 200.
5. (6) Matt Tifft(i), Toyota, 200.
6. (7) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200.
7. (16) Ryan Reed, Ford, 200.
8. (9) Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, 200.
9. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
10. (11) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 200.
11. (15) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 200.
12. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
13. (12) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 200.
14. (17) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200.
15. (13) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 200.
16. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
17. (29) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 200.
18. (18) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 200.
19. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 200.
20. (25) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 200.
21. (24) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 197.
22. (31) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 196.
23. (34) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 195.
24. (37) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 191.
25. (40) Todd Peck, Ford, 191.
26. (14) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 190.
27. (4) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 188.
28. (1) Erik Jones #, Toyota, Accident, 187.
29. (35) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Accident, 168.
30. (22) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 167.
31. (28) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Electrical, 133.
32. (23) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 125.
33. (27) David Starr, Chevrolet, Engine, 124.
34. (38) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, Engine, 86.
35. (32) Blake Jones, Ford, Accident, 73.
36. (33) Matt Waltz, Chevrolet, Electrical, 63.
37. (30) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 57.
38. (36) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 20.
39. (39) John Jackson, Chevrolet, Transmission, 8.
40. (26) Mike Bliss(i), Toyota, Rear Gear, 2.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 106.751 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 48 Mins, 37 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.246 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 12 for 64 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers.
Lap
Leaders: E. Jones # 1-27; R. Black Jr. # 28; T. Dillon 29-58; E.
Jones # 59-87; T. Dillon 88-103; E. Jones # 104; D. Wallace Jr. 105-114;
E. Jones # 115-131; M. Tifft(i)
132-133; B. Gaughan 134-152; E. Jones # 153-178; E. Sadler 179-180; T.
Dillon 181; R. Blaney(i) 182; E. Sadler 183-187; R. Blaney(i) 188-196;
E. Sadler 197-200.
Leaders
Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Jones # 5 times for 100
laps; T. Dillon 3 times for 47 laps; B. Gaughan 1 time for 19 laps; E.
Sadler 3 times for 11 laps;
R. Blaney(i) 2 times for 10 laps; D. Wallace Jr. 1 time for 10 laps; M.
Tifft(i) 1 time for 2 laps; R. Black Jr. # 1 time for 1 lap.
Top
10 in Points: E. Sadler - 2,050; D. Suárez - 2,042; B. Gaughan - 2,036;
R. Reed - 2,034; D. Wallace Jr. - 2,034; J. Allgaier - 2,032; B. Poole #
- 2,031; B. Koch - 2,030;
E. Jones # - 2,027; R. Sieg - 2,025.
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