Sadler holds off Hamlin for emotional XFINITY win at Darlington
September 3, 2016
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON,
S.C. – Elliott Sadler had a passenger for Saturday’s VFW Sport Clips
Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway—in spirit at least.
After
a breathtaking battle against Denny Hamlin over the closing laps,
Sadler crossed the finish-line .454 seconds ahead of Hamlin to win for
the first time at the Lady in Black—and
immediately dedicated the victory to JR Motorsports team owner Dale
Earnhardt Jr., who announced on Friday he would sit out the remainder of
the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season because of a concussion.
“This
win today is for my man, Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” Sadler said. “I know he’s
going through a tough time. He’s not being able to race his race car
for the rest of the year. He
was riding there with me today, and he’s given me such a great
opportunity to be a part of his race team.”
With
two laps left in the 147-lap event, however, the outcome was in the
balance. Sadler had a lead of .715 seconds when he crossed the stripe to
complete Lap 145. But he started
sliding toward the outside wall in Turn 2 and had to fight to keep his
No. 1 Chevrolet under control.
Hamlin
pulled to the inside and the cars raced side-by-side down the
backstretch, but as they entered Turn 3, Sadler regained momentum and
pulled ahead in the top lane as the
drivers approached the white flag. Hamlin got an excellent run through
Turns 1 and 2 on the final lap but not enough to make a pass.
“I
messed up, man,” Sadler said of the close call on the penultimate lap.
“I could kind of see him coming, and I was trying to make up some time,
and I started focusing on a
lapped car in front of me, and I ran out of room and almost gave it to
him.
“But all in all, we were able to hold him off.”
The
victory was Sadler’s first at Darlington in 32 starts across all three
of NASCAR’s national series. He won for the second time in the XFINITY
Series year and for the 12th
time in 320 XFINITY starts.
Making
only his second start of the season in the series, Hamlin was
frustrated in his attempt to win at Darlington for the fifth time.
“We
definitely had a good line going through (Turns) 1 and 2,” Hamlin said,
“But I didn’t get a good restart (on Lap 112, after the last of three
cautions), he got position on
me, and track position meant so much. Once he ran the high line, my car
was entirely too tight to run low.
“It
eliminated our passing opportunity unless we could slide-job him there
in Turn 3 on that one lap he messed up, but it didn’t happen.”
Daniel
Suárez ran third after challenging Hamlin for second place—until a
brush with the wall ended his chances. But the driver of the No. 19 Joe
Gibbs Racing Toyota held third
place ahead of Kyle Larson, who spun entering pit road from the lead on
Lap 103 to cause the final caution and caused a major shakeup of
positions within the top 10.
Brennan
Poole came home fifth and clinched a spot in the inaugural XFINITY
Series Chase, as did Darrell Wallace Jr. (17th on Saturday) and Brandon
Jones (ninth). That leaves
three spots still open with two regular-season races left before the
Chase field is set.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race - VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200
Darlington Raceway
Darlington, South Carolina
Saturday, September 03, 2016
1. (3) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 147.
2. (2) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 147.
3. (5) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 147.
4. (13) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 147.
5. (11) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 147.
6. (10) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 147.
7. (4) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 147.
8. (19) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 147.
9. (12) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 147.
10. (22) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 147.
11. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 147.
12. (8) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 147.
13. (15) Ryan Reed, Ford, 147.
14. (21) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 147.
15. (17) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 147.
16. (9) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 146.
17. (14) Darrell Wallace, Jr., Ford, 145.
18. (18) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 145.
19. (16) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 145.
20. (1) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 145.
21. (24) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 145.
22. (23) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 144.
23. (36) David Starr, Chevrolet, 143.
24. (27) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 142.
25. (34) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 141.
26. (25) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 140.
27. (31) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 139.
28. (29) Todd Peck, Ford, 138.
29. (20) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 102.
30. (30) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 74.
31. (33) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Accident, 66.
32. (32) Carl Long, Chevrolet, Accident, 60.
33. (28) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Transmission, 51.
34. (37) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Suspension, 45.
35. (6) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 33.
36. (35) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, Accident, 28.
37. (26) BJ McLeod #, Ford, Accident, 20.
38. (39) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, Electrical, 5.
39. (40) John Jackson, Chevrolet, Transmission, 4.
40. (38) Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, Rear Gear, 3.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.719 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 33 Mins, 36 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.454 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 17 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers.
Lap
Leaders: P. Menard(i) 1-6; E. Sadler 7-24; R. Black Jr. # 25-26; E.
Sadler 27-47; D. Hamlin(i) 48-90; K. Larson(i) 91-102; R. Blaney(i)
103-107; D. Hamlin(i) 108-111; E.
Sadler 112-147.
Leaders
Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Sadler 3 times for 75 laps;
D. Hamlin(i) 2 times for 47 laps; K. Larson(i) 1 time for 12 laps; P.
Menard(i) 1 time for 6 laps;
R. Blaney(i) 1 time for 5 laps; R. Black Jr. # 1 time for 2 laps.
Top
10 in Points: E. Sadler - 815; D. Suarez - 761; J. Allgaier - 750; T.
Dillon - 742; B. Gaughan - 732; E. Jones # - 713; B. Poole # - 705; B.
Jones # - 684; D. Wallace, Jr.
- 630; R. Reed - 596.
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