CP MOTORSPORTS - SADLER TAKES 'DEGA WIN DESPITE LAST LAP ACCIDENT
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It had been 65 races since wiley veteran Elliott Sadler was able to celebrate in a Xfinity series victory lane but following the dramatics of Saturday's overtime period Sadler is a victor once again at Talladega Superspeedway.
Running second exiting turn four on the race's final lap, Sadler played the restrictor plate game to the tee by jumping out of line at the final moment or as Ricky Bobby said in the infamous movie Talladega Nights, "slingshot engage". By jumping out from behind then race leader Joey Logano he forced Logano to attempt an ill-fated block on Sadler's No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet.
At first glance it appeared third place finisher Brennan Poole was the winner because he did cross the line first. However, NASCAR ruled at the time of the caution the spinning Sadler was leading the race and after lengthy discussion, Sadler was given the checkered flag and the okay to celebrate.
Sadler, who was celebrating his 41st birthday Saturday, was appreciative to have his newfound JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier in close proximity.
"I was very fortunate that I had Justin Allgaier behind me," Sadler said. "He restarted fifth on the restart and I knew he would stay with me until we got to the tri-oval then we could make whatever moves we needed to make to try and win the race. So I felt like I could be aggressive and kind of make a strong move on Joey (Logano)."
The often humble Sadler gave himself a pat on the back for his save in the race's final turmoil.
"There's a lot of races where I probably have not done a good job as a driver but I felt like saving that car today through the grass was kind of crazy," Sadler explained. "Yeah, there was a little bit of luck but I was wheeling inside of it, too."
After crashing head first into the outer SAFER barrier then getting hit by another passing car, Logano emerged from his 27th place finishing vehicle in what appeared to be good health.
Sadler's teammate and draft-mate Justin Allgaier took home the runner-up finish while Brennan Poole, who many thought had taken the chaotic victory, was declared the race's third place finisher.
Although Poole would have much preferred to grab his first Xfinity series race win on Saturday the driver of the No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet believed the rightful winner was given his due.
"I'm glad they were able to take the time to get it right," Poole said. "I'm happy that the rightful winner is taking the trophy home tonight -- I wish it was us but we were close. Our car was really good all day. It was just fun racing up there with everybody."
Xfinity series regular Jeremy Clements left with a career-best fourth place finish. Brendan Gaughan finished in fifth place followed by Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Matt Tifft, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola rounding out the race's top-ten finishers.
The Xfinity series takes a week off next weekend for Mother's Day but will be back in action at the "Monster Mile" of Dover International Speedway on Saturday, May 7th.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Number 9
Unofficial Race Results for the 25Th Annual Sparks Energy 300 - Saturday, April 30, 2016
Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 116 Laps - 308.56 Miles
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Status Tms Laps
1 9 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Chevrolet 116 44 4 121.4 Running 1 1
2 18 7 Justin Allgaier Breyers Chevrolet 116 39 102.9 Running
3 11 48 Brennan Poole # DC Solar Chevrolet 116 38 1 100.3 Running 1 5
4 34 51 Jeremy Clements Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet/BRT Extrusions Chevrolet 116 37 1 83.4 Running 1 7
5 6 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Chevrolet 116 36 1 84.5 Running 1 1
6 3 2 Austin Dillon(i) Rheem Chevrolet 116 0 117.5 Running 3 7
7 2 19 Daniel Suarez ARRIS Toyota 116 35 1 98.1 Running 1 2
8 1 18 Matt Tifft(i) NOS Energy Drink Toyota 116 0 119.1 Running 3 21
9 14 88 Chase Elliott(i) Armour Vienna Sausage Chevrolet 116 0 88.5 Running 2 7
10 17 98 Aric Almirola(i) Fresh From Florida Ford 116 0 83.0 Running
11 20 42 Justin Marks Katerra Chevrolet 116 30 82.1 Running
12 35 0 Garrett Smithley # Instalco Chevrolet 116 29 63.2 Running
13 15 6 Darrell Wallace Jr Kleen Perfomance Ford 116 28 77.0 Running
14 19 14 Benny Gordon VSI Racing Toyota 116 27 77.7 Running
15 26 01 Ryan Preece # GK Services Chevrolet 116 26 64.9 Running
16 29 4 Ross Chastain Flex Seal Chevrolet 116 25 71.1 Running
17 12 43 Jeb Burton J. Streicher Ford 116 24 78.7 Running
18 16 33 Brandon Jones # Okuma Chevrolet 116 23 1 80.5 Running 1 36
19 5 3 Ty Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 116 22 94.0 Running
20 38 39 Ryan Sieg Spark Energy Chevrolet 116 21 83.9 Running
21 4 20 Erik Jones # GameStop Toyota 116 20 69.4 Running
22 10 44 JJ Yeley Zachry Toyota 116 19 92.0 Running
23 21 24 Brandon McReynolds Redneck Riviera/JGL Young Guns Toyota 116 18 65.0 Running
24 13 11 Blake Koch LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 116 18 1 69.2 Running 1 1
25 40 15 Travis Kvapil(i) Lilly Trucking/CarPortEmpire.com Ford 116 0 46.7 Running
26 24 05 John Wes Townley(i) Jive Communications Chevrolet 116 0 58.9 Running
27 8 22 Joey Logano(i) Discount Tire Ford 115 0 92.5 Running 4 19
28 25 90 Mario Gosselin BuckedUp Apparel/David Johnson?s Auto Chevrolet 115 13 41.0 Running
29 28 07 Ray Black Jr # Scuba Life Chevrolet 115 12 47.7 Running
30 31 40 Carl Long Phoenix Air/Schaeffer?s Racing Oil Dodge 115 11 38.8 Running
31 7 16 Ryan Reed Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association Ford 113 11 1 78.5 Running 1 8
32 32 13 John Jackson FLWaterFront/ICard Merrill/Chris Kyle Fdn Toyota 112 9 37.7 Running
33 33 85 Bobby Gerhart Lucas Oil Chevrolet 111 8 31.7 Running
34 22 28 Dakoda Armstrong WinField Be Greater Toyota 82 7 31.8 Electrical
35 36 97 Ryan Ellis VroomBrands Chevrolet 81 6 32.2 Engine
36 39 78 BJ McLeod # Triple R Containers LLC Ford 39 5 33.5 Engine
37 30 25 Chris Cockrum Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet 30 4 42.9 Accident
38 37 52 Joey Gase Spark Energy/Donate Life Alabama Chevrolet 30 3 34.5 Accident
39 23 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 27 3 1 35.3 Rear Gear 1 1
40 27 10 Jeff Green Toyota 2 1 23.2 Suspension
Race Comments: Elliott Sadler won the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, his 11th career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 88 (missing driver intros), No. 85 (missing drivers meeting).
Failed to Qualify: (3) 93 Josh Reaume, 70 Derrike Cope, 74 Mike Harmon.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 19 Mins, 45 Secs. Average Speed: 132.477 MPH Margin of Victory: Caution
Caution Flags: 6 for 29 laps: Laps: 22-25 (Competition [62]); 32-36 (#25, 52 Accident Backstretch [98]); 41-47 (Fluid On Track From #78 [15]); 85-89 (#16, 20 Accident Frontstretch [15]); 105-108 (Debris Frontstretch [14]); 111-114 (#43, 20 Accident Frontstretch [05]).
Lead Changes: 9 among 8 drivers: M. Tifft(i) 0; D. Suarez 1-2; M. Tifft(i) 3-21; B. Koch 22; M. Shepherd 23; M. Tifft(i) 24-25; A. Dillon(i) 26-27; R. Reed 28-35; J. Logano(i) 36-115; E. Sadler 116;
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) E. Sadler 314;(2) D. Suarez 314;(3) T. Dillon 282;(4) J. Allgaier 280;(5) B. Gaughan 278;(6) B. Jones # 272;(7) E. Jones # 264;(8) B. Poole # 250;(9) D. Wallace Jr 229;(10) R. Reed 221.
Coors Light Pole Award : Matt Tifft, #18 181.168 mph Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Hendrick Engines, #1
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Jeremy Clements, #51 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Brennan Poole, #48
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May. 14, 2016 - Dover International Speedway