Category: RC XFINITY

For the first time since 2012 and the first time in a Joe Gibbs Racing car, Elliott Sadler was victorious in the Nationwide Series as he won the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway.

For Sadler, it marks his first win since August 2012 when he drove to victory lane with Richard Childress Racing. Sadler made the move to JGR last year, though went winless all season as bad luck plagued now.

Now with the win at Talladega, Sadler looks to be headed in the right direction as he currently sits second in points, one behind Chase Elliott.

“We just got on the inside line there and made some good moves,” Sadler commented. “It means a lot to me to get these guys to victory lane. So glad to win with everyone here from One Main Financial. Everybody talks about how I keep flipping at Talladega and now I’ve won one!”

Sadler got a good qualifying run in during qualifying and was able to stay upfront all race long. On a late race restart with six laps to go, Sadler was able to push David Starr out to the lead when Chase Elliott didn’t get going on the restart and then make the pass down the backstretch to get the advantage.

Surviving the incidents throughout the race and slowly making his way to the front, Chris Buescher finished second after contending for the win late with a run to Sadler’s outside. For the rookie, it marks his first career top five finish.

Defending race winner Regan Smith tried to make a charge late, however came up short as he crossed the line third.

“I don’t know what I was trying to do. I was just trying to get some daylight in front of the car and get close,” he commented. “We needed that – we needed to get back in the top five. Hate being able to see the flag and not get there first, but good day nether the less.”

Last year’s Sprint Cup Series Talladega winner David Ragan crossed the line fourth.

Some people are questioning the validity of the top four finishes as a result of possible “lock and pushing” maneuvers due to them breaking away from the rest of the field. However, various camera points during the day displayed that drivers would bump each other and then back off a tid bit before bumping again.

“We understand what it is but it’s tough to tell when we go over that line,” Smith expressed in the media center.

Pole sitter Sam Hornish Jr. finished fifth, followed by Joe Nemechek, J.J Yeley, Landon Cassill, David Starr and Trevor Bayne. Bayne had to fight back for his top 10 finish after receiving damage on a lap 61 caution after he made contact with Brian Scott. The contact sent Scott into the wall, also collecting Robert Richardson Jr., Ryan Reed, Chad Boat, Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon.

“The 6 (Bayne) got into the left rear corner and anybody who has done superspeedway knows that you can’t do that as it turns them immediately,” Scott explained. “It’s unfortunate when you’re a victim of stupidity.”

Scott wasn’t the only victim of bump drafting gone wrong as other drivers found themselves on the unfortunate end.

The first incident was at lap 43 when Ryan Blaney got into James Buescher, sending Buescher spinning. Buescher went down below the yellow line and thought he was safe when Darrell Wallace, Ryan Reed and Dylan Kwasniewski made contact with him,

“Got such a big run and 6 (Bayne) gave me a tap and tapped into him. I’m sorry,” Blaney said.

“I tried to stay out of the storm of what Talladega produces so I don’t know,” Wallace commented. “I hate plate racing. I’m horrible at it and I just don’t like it. We had a camry and it just gets ruined here once again.”

“It looked like the 99 (Buescher) got spun out, everyone checked up and it’s hard to when you’re carrying so much speed,” Kwasniewski explained. “We just had to stay out of trouble and unfortunately we didn’t.”

“I was pushing the 2 (Scott) up there and he was staying high so I could get through and the 22 (Blaney) just pushing on the wrong part of the bumper,” Buescher commented. “When you do that time and time again, it just spins you out. That’s not the frustrating part. I tried to keep myself down below the yellow line and I still got hit and now I have a tore up car.”

With 10 laps to go, Chad Boat met the wall as well after Jamie Dick made contact with him when the field accordioned after Smith got stuck in the middle.

“I’m fine. All my safety equipment did it’s job,” Boat said. “I can’t say enough about this team. For a small team, we were running good. It seems that they all stacked up and someone got into me.”

Then on the ensuing restart, Blaney tried to side-draft off of Sadler, though mis-judged and got into the wall, collecting Ryan Sieg, Kasey Kahne, Elliott and Jeremy Clements.

“I ran into the back of the 22 when he came off the wall and I hit him, and then an oil line broke so there was a quick fire,” Kahne commented. “I just wanted to get to the last lap. JR Motorsports cars have been upfront all year so thy were nice to drive this weekend.”

The Nationwide Series will have a week off before returning on May 18th at Iowa Speedway.

In the final moments of the third round of qualifying, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars got lined up and were able to get a good run off of the pack in front of them, allowing them to take the top three spots in Aaron’s 312 qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway. In the end, the middle car of the three-car pack – Sam Hornish Jr. – scoring his sixth career Coor’s Light pole award in his first start this season.

“When I watched at Daytona, it didn’t look as hectic as what it felt like today,” Hornish Jr. commented post-qualifying. “I feel as it evolves and what it will be like, I think it worked out well. It was really about patience and picking the right runs. It’s going to be something that as they go to Daytona for the next time that you’ll see some more of that cat and mouse game. I’m glad that it’s three session as we weren’t good at first, but we’re here. I’m just proud of the opportunity that I have here and how well it worked out today.”

In the first round, the JGR Toyotas just barely made the cut in the top 24. However, as the session went on, the drivers, crew chief and spotters learned that if they could get a good quick toe off of someone, they’d be able to post the quick time. Using that knowledge to their advantage was the key in the final session in getting the run in the final minute.

Elliott Sadler will line up second after contending for the win back in Daytona and says that he likes this qualifying format for the excitement it delivers for the fans.

“I think this is awesome for the fans,” Sadler commented. “Leave it hectic … that’s part of the game.”

Darrell Wallace Jr. qualified third in his first Nationwide Series start of the season, followed by Ryan Reed and Michael Annett.

Ryan Blaney qualified sixth, followed by Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher, James Buescher and Brian Scott.

After winning last year’s race and the season opener at Daytona, Regan Smith qualified 32nd with teammates Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott 31st and 37th, respectively. Sadler was asked about their qualifying positions, in which he says it may hurt pit selection, they’ll be fine in the race.

“I expect them to be at the front in the first 10 laps,” he added.

Unfortunately, qualifying didn’t go smoothly for everyone as Tanner Barryhill spun off of turn four and made heavy contact with the wall after contact from Kyle Larson. Larson had minor damage on his Chevrolet as a result.

The Nationwide Series Aaron’s 312 is scheduled to run Saturday afternoon following the ARCA race and Sprint Cup Series Qualifying.

Dominance. It’s what Kevin Harvick has been doing best this season. It started in the Sprint Cup Series where he has scored two victories in the first eight races of the season. Now it has made its way to the Nationwide Series as he picked up his first victory early Saturday morning.

Richmond International Raceway is one of Harvick’s best tracks. With this victory, he now has the most all-time Nationwide Series victories at the track with seven. He proved why he holds that record as he flat out dominated every aspect of tonight’s race.

“We got a little off on one set of tires with our adjustments but kept it up there,” Harvick commented following his 41st career Nationwide Series victory. “Thanks to Kroger and Tide. Also thanks to Hendrick engines, JR Motorsports, Ernie Cope and all of these guys. It’s been awesome all year.”

The race got off to a wet start as rain set back the original start time. Once the three hour delay concluded, Brian Scott was able to lead early from the pole. He led up until the competition caution on Lap 40. On the ensuing restart, he was quickly passed by Harvick. Harvick would go on to lead a majority of the race from that point on.

Short track tempers were seen in the race as some impatience led to the fourth caution of the night. Going into turn four, Ryan Reed got into the back of Dylan Kwasniewski. The contact sent Kwasniewski spinning up into the outside wall. The damage the No.31 car suffered ended the team’s day. Kwasniewski recalled the incident by saying he “got flat-out dumped” by Reed.

Harvick and Elliott were running one-two for a majority of the race. They remained in the first two positions until the checkered flag flew, giving JR Motorsports its first one-two finish in the organization’s history.

Just about the entire race which spanned from late Friday night into early Saturday morning was dominated by JRM. This attests to the stellar start to the season the team is having as they have won half the races up to this point.

The team will surely be a factor again next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway as Regan Smith has won two of the last three restrictor plate races.

A persistent rain shower would result in NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying for the ToyotaCare 250 being rained out. As a result, the starting line-up would be set based on Thursday’s practice session.

Brian Scott will lead the field to the green flag behind the wheel of his No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet after setting a quick time of 22.120 seconds in practice. Scott dominated last year’s fall event before losing the race late in the going after an ill-timed caution and a controversial restart where he felt Brad Keselowski jumped. Coming into the weekend, Scott said he was still mad about the incident and feels he is coming into this weekend with a chip on his shoulder.

Rookie Dylan Kwasniewski will start second as he is looking for a solid finish tonight following some rookie struggles in the first seven races of the 2014 season. Ryan Blaney will start third, followed by Chase Elliott and Trevor Bayne. Elliott is looking for his third straight win in a row after scoring his first career win at Texas, followed by a win at Darlington. Elliott also comes into this weekend as the points leader.

Regan Smith will start sixth, followed by Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Landon Cassil. Rookie Ty Dillon will start 11th, followed by Daniel Suarez who is making his first start this weekend with Joe Gibbs Racing. Elliott Sadler will start 13th, followed by Kyle Larson and James Buescher.

The race was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. EST, but has been delayed due to rain. Stay tuned to ESPN News for further updates.

Chase Elliott won the VFW Sports Clip Help a Hero 200 in his first start at Darlington, conquering the legendary track in a dramatic finish. This is his second consecutive victory following his win at Texas last week and his sixth top-10 finish in 2014.

He’s not only winning races but breaking records as well. He’s the youngest driver to win two NASCAR Nationwide Series races at 18 years, 4 months and 14 days.  Joey Logano previously held the record at 18 years, 10 months and 18 days. He’s also the youngest driver to win a Nationwide Series race at Darlington and the youngest points leader in the Nationwide Series history. Elliott is only the fourth driver to win his first NASCAR National Series race in his first start at Darlington. Johnny Mantz did so in 1950, Herb Thomas in 1951 and Dick Rathmann in 1952.

Elliott’s car was fast all night but he had challenges from Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth and particularly, Kyle Busch who led the most laps with 84. The last caution of the night came out on lap 142 and lasted through lap 145. The race restarted with two to go. Due to a quick pit stop, Elliott Sadler restarted in first place but Chase Elliott was not to be denied. He quickly raced through the field from sixth place to fight for the win. 

Elliott was able to clear Sadler in turn three of the last lap to claim the win. It was intense competition but both drivers raced cleanly and Chase Elliott drove his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet to his second win in seven starts in the series.

“This is unbelievable,” Elliott said in victory lane. “I couldn’t believe last week, much less here at Darlington. This truly is a dream come true. This is a place I always loved watching races. It was probably my favorite place to watch a race as a fan for a long, long time. Just to come and be a part of this race is unbelievable, but to come and win this thing that’s a deal I’ll never forget.”

JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke about how impressed he is with his young driver and even gave him a special nickname.

“The thing I like about Chase is obviously he’s successful and winning but his personality, man, I like to call him the new Elvis. He’s the full package, man, he just has it all. The sky’s the limit with that kid.”

Elliott Sadler finished second and praised his crew chief Chris Gayle for making the call to only take two tires on the last pit stop.

“It was a great call by Chris to put me in that position,” he said.

Sadler also expressed disappointment. “I have a lot of second-place finishes here. He continued, “Second is a good finish of course, but it’s not what we wanted. I really want to win at this place. Just felt like I let one get away from us tonight.”

Matt Kenseth finished in third place saying “it was an up and down night. I thought we had a top-five car most of the night and got a decent finish out of that last run.”

Kyle Busch came home in fourth place followed by Joey Logano in fifth. Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Regan Smith, Trevor Bayne and Ty Dillon round out the top-10 finishers.

Chase Elliott leaves Darlington Raceway ranked first in the points standings, 13 points ahead of Regan Smith in second. Sadler, Dillon and Trevor Bayne are third, fourth and fifth in the standings.

Chase Elliott is certainly not your average 18 year-old. Most kids his age are not racing full-time, let alone winning a race at the national level. Elliott’s competing on a week-to-week basis in the Nationwide Series with some of the best drivers in NASCAR and beating them on a consistent basis, making him one extraordinary teenager.

Elliott’s victory at Texas Motor Speedway Friday Night backed up all of the statements regarding his talent. It’s hard to call him a spoiled rich kid following the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 as he had quite the performance. He not only won the race, but held off drivers including Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick who are always contenders in the NNS events they run.

Throughout Friday Night’s race, it was a story of JR Motorsports and Kyle Busch. JRM drivers led a majority of the race and stayed up front throughout the night. Kyle Busch also had a very strong car, but he just didn’t have enough speed to catch Elliott in the final laps.

The No.9 car came alive with 65 laps remaining as that was when he took his first lead of the race. However, Elliott’s teammate and owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead 11 laps later.

When the final caution of the night came out with 32 laps to go, a solid pit stop for Elliott’s crew put him in second for the restart. Elliott now had to contend with Kevin Harvick, who in fact helped Elliott learn the track earlier in the week. “I went to him (Harvick) for a lot of advice this week and he helped me out and gave me some tips,” Elliott said regarding how he was able to be so successful in his first race at the track.

Although Harvick had the strongest car, Elliott was able to pass him with 16 laps to go. From that point on, Elliott easily navigated the path to his first career Nationwide Series victory.

“I can’t believe it,” Elliott said multiple times in victory lane. Coming into the season, no one would have believed that Elliott was going to win one of the first six races. Many thought he may grab a victory by the end of the season, making this an unexpected victory.

Elliott will head back to high school next week before heading to the Lady in Black where he will try and grab his second straight victory.

Kyle Busch finished second followed by Kyle Larson in third, Kevin Harvick in fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished in fifth place. Matt Kenseth, Regan Smith, Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top-10.

Elliott’s win propelled him to the lead in the Nationwide Series standings, two points ahead of Regan Smith. Ty Dillon, Elliott Sadler and Trevor Bayne are third, fourth and fifth respectively.

At first it looked as though Kevin Harvick wouldn’t be able to get on track during the first round of qualifying due to being one of the 17 drivers with issues in pre-qualifying technical inspection. However, in the last two minutes of the first round, Harvick was able to get his No. 5 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet on track and make his lap, topping the charts.

Harvick backed up that time in the following two rounds of qualifying to score the pole for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick scored his first Texas Motor Speedway Nationwide Series pole with a lap of 29.195 seconds. It marks Harvick’s 25th career Nationwide Series pole.

“I messed up the entry getting into three but it still drove good,” Harvick commented post-qualifying. “We had a little bit to overcome but the guys have been working hard and its nice to have all the JR Motorsports cars up front.”

Matt Kenseth qualified his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the second spot for his sixth top-10 start of 2014.

“We are a little off on balance so hope the balance is good tonight and we can hang up front there,” Kenseth said.

Points leader Regan Smith qualified third, followed by his boss Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Elliott Sadler. Chase Elliott was the highest qualifying rookie in sixth and puts all four JR Motorsports cars in the top six.

Brendan Gaughan was seventh, followed by Trevor Bayne, Ryan Blaney and Dylan Kwasniewski. Blaney was the last driver to take to the track in the first round as he got done with inspection and was on track with 40 seconds remaining on the clock.

Blaney and Harvick were among the 17 drivers that had problems in pre-qualifying inspection as a result of “camber, toe and rear-end housing issues” per NASCAR’s Director of Competition Robin Pemberton. Pemberton added that many of these teams had these issues during yesterday’s inspection before practice.

NASCAR implemented a new procedure for technical inspection, using the same format that they use in the Cup Series with putting the cars on a plate and measuring that way.

“New procedure for the Nationwide cars and lots to be learned by everybody,” Pemberton noted.

Fontana winner Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon each were unable to post a lap as a result of not being able to get through pre-qualifying inspection without issues before round one of qualifying was complete. As a result, they will make up the last four spots on the starting grid.

After getting close to winning last year, Kyle Larson would hold off Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch in an exciting finish to win the Treatmyclot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway for his first career Nationwide Series victory.

“I wasn’t very happy when we got the last caution,” Larson commented. “I was on the bottom for the restart and that wasn’t a good spot so I was surprised to get the lucky dog. Man that was an awesome race! I had a heckuva race with those guys. The last 11 or so laps were the longest laps of my life. It was great racing them near the end. I thought I’d run away from them, but they were side-by-side and not going anywhere. That was a blast. Hats off to all these guys. That was a blast out there and I’m pretty sure tomorrow will be a heck of a race.”

With 20 laps to go in the 300 mile race, a caution would come out for debris bringing the leaders down pit road. Harvick would win the race off pit road, followed by Larson, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Elliott. Once the field went back to green with 16 laps to go, Larson grabbed the lead and started to pull ahead in front of the field.

As the race wore down, Harvick and Busch closed the gap while battling for second and third and each took shots at passing Larson and each other all the way to the checkered. None of their tricks worked, as Larson used the momentum on the high side to keep ahead of them both just enough.

Kevin Harvick finished second for his third top five in three Nationwide starts this year for JR Motorsports so far.

“I’d rather win but when you’re involved in a race like that you can’t be too disappointed,” Harvick said.

Kyle Busch finished third after having to start at the rear of the field due not posting a time during qualifying as a result of failing pre-race technical inspection five times.

“Shouldn’t be anybody happier than the fans in the stands. The fans won,” Busch said afterwards. “He deserves it, he’s worked hard and that’s why he’s in the Cup series.”

Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by pole sitter Elliott Sadler. Rookie Chase Elliott came back to finish sixth following contact with the wall on lap 73 due to contact from Dylan Kwasniewski as Kwasniewski got loose.

Matt Kenseth finished seventh, followed by Ty Dillon, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith. Bayne and Smith are now tied for the points lead.