Sadler’s Late Wreck Results in 31st-Place Finish at Bristol |

08/24/2015

Sadler’s Late Wreck Results in 31st-Place Finish at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. (August 22, 2015) – Roush Fenway Racing’s Elliott Sadler finished 31^st during Friday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Sadler started his No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford Mustang from the eighth position, for the 300 lap night race in Bristol, TN. For the first 100 laps, Sadler maintained his track position and battled inside the top-10. On Lap 213, Sadler radioed to the team, “My engine temperatures are rising.” Sadler decided to come down pit road under caution and the crew cleaned the grill of any debris and pulled a layer of tape off to get the engine more airflow. With 50 Laps to go in the race, Sadler exited off turn four and connected with the No. 62 car. The collision resulted in Sadler’s car significantly smacking the outside wall. Sadler’s team repaired the car as quick as possible and sent the damaged No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford back out with 15 laps remaining in the race. Sadler only made a few laps, but couldn’t hold full speed with the damaged car. With four laps remaining in the race, Sadler realized he couldn’t gain any track positions and decided to park the car in the garage on Lap 296. Sadler ended up with a 31^st-place finish.

“Tonight was a disappointing finish,” Sadler said after the race. “I love racing at Bristol, but sometimes the results just don’t work out the way you want them to here. All we can do is move on and get ready for the last road course race of the season next week at Road America.”

Sadler started from the eighth position for the 300 lap event on Friday night. Sadler battled hard and maintained his top-10 position for the first 100 laps of the race. When the first caution flag waved, Sadler radioed to the team he was loose and he had a lot of front tire chatter when he braked.

On Lap 128, the caution flag waved again and Sadler told the team he wants some big adjustments to the car. When the No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford came down pit road, the crew added four tires, fuel and cranked many rounds on the track bar and wedge. When the race went back to green, Sadler restarted 13^th.

On Lap 212, running 15^th, the yellow flag waved once again. Sadler radioed to the team, “My engine temperature are rising.” Under caution, the team decided to make an unexpected pit stop to clean the grill and pull some tape off the front. This helped with the engine temperature, but Sadler’s unexpected pit stop hurt his restarting track position.

Lap 248, Sadler exited turn four and thought he was clear to the wall. The No. 62 car was exiting turn four at the same time on the high lane behind Sadler and the both connected. The collision resulted in Sadler’s front right corner colliding with the outside wall. Sadler came down pit road to assess the damages, which later turned into going behind the wall for quick repairs.

The crew worked furiously on Sadler’s car and got the No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford back out on the track with 15 laps remaining in the race. Sadler tried to log laps and gain any positions possible in the final laps. However, the damages we pretty significant and Sadler couldn’t keep full speed and decided to pull the car in the garage. Sadler parked the car with four laps remaining and finished 31^st.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series and Sadler’s No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford Mustang will be back in action next week at Road America.

NEXT UP:

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race

Road America 180

Elkhart Lake, WI

Saturday, Aug 29th, 2015

3:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN

RACE SUMMARY

Elliott Sadler

Started: 8th

Finished: 31st

Complete Race Results: