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[/media-credit]RCR Post Race Report — Talladega Superspeedway
NASCAR Nationwide Series
RACE: Aaron’s 312
TRACK: Talladega Superspeedway
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished 10th (Elliott Sadler), 17th (Austin Dillon) and 22nd (Kevin Harvick).
Sadler is second in the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings, trailing point leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by five points. Austin Dillon ranks third, followed by Sam Hornish Jr and Cole Whitt.
The No. 2 Chevrolet team is second in the NASCAR Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, five points shy of the No. 6 car, with the No. 33 team fourth in the standings and the No. 3 team fifth.
According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Sadler ranked second in the Closers category, advancing 14 positions in the last 10 percent of the race.
Dillon and Sadler maintained the fifth and sixth-highest average running position, respectively.
Dillon was the fifth-fastest driver late in a run and had the fifth-fastest green flag speed.
Dillon leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings over Cole Whitt.
Harvick maintained the fastest speed in traffic (184.902 mph).
Combined, the RCR entries posted the fastest lap of the race for nine circuits.
Each of the RCR entries led laps, with Harvick leading six laps, Sadler leading eight laps and Dillon leading four laps.
Joey Logano earned his second win of the 2012 Nationwide Series and was followed to the finish line by Kyle Busch, Stenhouse Jr.,Whitt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The next scheduled Nationwide Series race is the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway on Friday, May 11. The ninth race of the 2012 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio
Elliott Sadler Battles to 10th-Place Finish in Wild Race at Talladega Superspeedway
Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team scored a hard-fought 10th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon. After rain forced NASCAR officials to cancel qualifying on Friday, the OneMain Financial team lined up in the the pole position as the field was set based on owner point standings. The green flag dropped, and Sadler immediately teamed up with the No. 18 car to tandem draft around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. The duo remained hooked up for much of the race, with Sadler leading eight laps. As the temperature at the track rose to 90 degrees, the No. 2 Chevrolet ran hot as well, requiring the team to continually manage the car’s water and oil temperatures. On lap 91, while maintaining his position in the top-10, Sadler told crew chief Luke Lambert the OneMain Financial Chevrolet was getting too hot as he moved out of the draft to get clean air to the car and fell back to the 24th position. The field slowed for a caution on lap 109, and Sadler sustained minor damage to the front bumper of the Chevrolet. With four laps remaining, Sadler narrowly missed a spinning car as the race was brought to caution, setting up the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. The field resumed the green-flag conditions, and another multi-car accident forced Sadler to go low to move out of the way, and he made contact with another car. The red flag came out as the safety crews cleaned up the incident, and the Lambert-led team developed a plan to repair the damage on the front of car. The OneMain Financial crew worked diligently to repair the Chevrolet when the yellow flag was displayed, and on the final green-white-checkered laps, Sadler moved from 20th to the 10th position, posting his seventh top-10 finish of the 2012 season.
Start – 1 Finish – 10 Laps Led – 8 Points – 2
ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTE:
“A tough day for the OneMain Financial team, but at Talladega Superspeedway, you never know what is going to happen. We worked hard for that 10th-place finish. I had a great drafting partner for much of the day with Joey Logano, but we just got hot there at the end of the race and couldn’t cool down. I’m proud of everyone on our team. We are a bunch of racers, and we will come back at Darlington Raceway next week even more hungry for a win.”
Austin Dillon Scores Finishes 17th in Action-Packed Talladega Race
Austin Dillon recorded a 17th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday afternoon after the Richard Childress Racing team’s No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet sustained damage in a multi-car incident in the closing laps of the race. Dillon started the Aaron’s 312 from the fifth position after rain showers on Thursday afternoon caused officials to cancel pole award qualifying and set the field according to the owner’s point standings. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender dropped to the 16th position shortly after the green flag was displayed, but racdc back up to the ninth position as dramatic position changes continued throughout the race.In the closing laps of the race, Dillon ran in the fourth position, and the field was set to make their first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish when a multi-car incident broke out. Dillon attempted to avoid the wreckage but ended up with front bumper damage and a crinkled hood in the process, one of nine cars affected in the melee. A 19-minute red flag ensued, and the Danny Stockman-led team worked with team owner Richard Childress to make a plan for the remainder of the race, which was sent into overtime. The team opted to avoid pitting, which allowed Dillon to restart in the fourth position for the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. When green-flag racing resumed, Dillon tried to push veteran driver Joe Nemecheck for the final three laps of the race, but another car broke up their tandem draft, causing Dillon to lose momentum. With a loss of momentum, coupled with a limited view out of the front of his car’s windshield, Dillon salvaged a 17th-place finish and remains third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship standings.
Start – 5 Finish – 17 Laps Led – 2 Points – 3
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE: “Well, the race definitely didn’t go as planned for our AdvoCare team, but I had a fun day and learned a lot about restrictor plate racing. We had ourselves a shot at the win in the closing laps and that’s all you can ask for. Short track racing at Darlington International Raceway is up next, and I can’t wait for that.”
Kevin Harvick Gets Caught in the “Big One” at Talladega and Settles for a 22nd-Place Finish
After starting the Aarons 312 from the third position, Kevin Harvick settled in near the back of the pack in efforts to preserve his No. 22 Armour Chevrolet throughout the early laps on Saturday afternoon, before getting involved in the “big-one” during the final scheduled lap of the event, relegating the Richard Childress Racing team to a 22nd-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway. After rain canceled qualifying on Friday, the 43-car field was set by points for the eighth race of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, lining up the No. 33 Armour Chevrolet in the second row. The Bakersfield, Calif., native dropped to the back of the pack soon after the field took the green flag to protect his engine from the high water and oil temperatures of pack racing. Throughout the course of the race, Harvick brought the Armour Chevrolet to pit road on five separate occasions for scheduled pit stops, gradually making his way toward the front as the laps ticked away. The Ernie Cope-led crew completed their final fuel only pit stop on lap 82 sending their driver back on track in the top position. The RCR veteran driver continued to run within the top five until the final scheduled lap, when another car made contact with the No. 33 machine on the backstretch, sending Harvick for a spin collecting several other drivers. The late-race accident left Harvick and the Armour crew with a 22nd-place finish, dropping the No. 33 team to fourth in the Nationwide Series owner’s championship point standings.
Start – 3 Finish – 22 Laps Led – 8 Owner’s Points – 4
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
“What a race. I think there were just too many cars going for the same position at the end, which lead to the wreck. I really thought that we had a chance to get the Armour Chevrolet in victory lane today but that’s racing. I’m really proud of the whole RCR team and our performance today.”
