RCR Post Race Report — Pioneer Hi Bred 250

[media-credit name=”iowaspeedway.com” align=”alignright” width=”264″][/media-credit]NASCAR Nationwide Series

Pioneer Hi-Bred 250

Iowa Speedway

May 20, 2012

Race Highlights:

Richard Childress Racing teammates finished second (Elliott Sadler), fourth (Austin Dillon) and 10th (Brendan Gaughan).

Sadler is second in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship point standings, trailing point leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 28 points. Dillon ranks third, followed by Sam Hornish Jr. and Cole Whitt.

The No. 2 Chevrolet team is third in the Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, 28 points shy of the No. 6 car’s lead, with the No. 3 team fourth in the standings and the No. 33 team fifth.

Dillon leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings over Cole Whitt.

Combined, the RCR entries posted the fastest lap of the race for 27 circuits.

Sadler and Dillon were among the eight drivers that spent 100 percent of the laps running in the top 15.

According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Sadler ranked second in categories for average running position (3.160), driver rating (121.9), fastest drivers early in a run (130.635 mph), fastest on restarts (127.923 mph), green flag speed (128.852 mph) and speed in traffic (128.352).

Dillon was ranked third in the closers category, maintained the fourth-highest average running position (4.728), had the fourth-highest driver rating (113.6) and was the fourth-fastest driver early in a run.

Gaughan posted his highest Nationwide Series starting position (13th) and highest finish (10th) at Iowa Speedway in three starts at the 0.75-mile track.

Gaughan made 22 green-flag passes during the race.

Stenhouse earned his third win of the 2012 Nationwide Series and was followed to the finish line by Sadler, Michael McDowell, Dillon and Kurt Busch.

The next scheduled Nationwide Series race is the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 26. The 10th race of the 2012 season is scheduled to be televised live on ABC beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Elliott Sadler Brings Home a Second-Place Finish at Iowa Speedway

Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team finished second at Iowa Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. The Richard Childress Racing team kicked off the weekend scoring the pole award, their third of the 2012 season. Sadler led the field to the green flag at the 0.875-mile track, but was shuffled back in traffic to the fifth position early in the race. Sadler reported to the Luke Lambert-led crew that he was battling a tight-handling condition on the No. 2 Chevrolet, and the OneMain Financial team continued to make adjustments throughout several routine pit stops in an effort to loosen the handling. Sadler ran in the top five for the entire race, moving his way into the lead on lap 120, but fell back to the third position as he tried to conserve his right-side tires. By lap 201, Sadler settled into second place and did not relinquish the position until the checkered flag was displayed, notching his fifth top-five finish of the season. Sadler remains in the second position in the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings, 28 points behind the leader.

Start – 1         Finish – 2     Laps Led – 2    Points – 2

ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTE:

“Last week at Darlington Raceway was definitely tough, but I am so proud of my guys. We came back and sat on the pole and worked all race to make the OneMain Financial Chevrolet better. It was pretty good there at the end. I wish that we could have pulled off the victory today, but I am so proud of this team. We are hoping this is the momentum that we need to head into Charlotte (Motor Speedway) next weekend.”

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 AdvoCare Team Score Top-Five Finish at Iowa Speedway

Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet team finished fourth in Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway, marking their sixth top-five finish through the season’s first 10 races. Dillon started the black No. 3 Chevrolet from the sixth position and worked his way into the second position in the first 100 laps of the race before a large piece of debris stuck to the front grille of his car, causing water and oil temperatures to rise. In order to fix the problem, the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender dropped back to the sixth position and aligned the nose of his Chevrolet against the back bumper of the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet in an attempt to remove the debris. The caution flag was displayed shortly thereafter, and following a trip down pit road on lap 115 for four Goodyear Tires and Sunoco Green E15 fuel, Dillon restarted from the fifth position. During the latter half of the race, he struggled with a loose-handling Chevrolet, but did not fall outside of the top five in the running order and was able to cross the finish line in the fourth position. He remains third in the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings.

Start – 6                       Finish – 4                     Laps Led – 0                            Points – 3

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE: “We keep knocking out top-five finishes and that is exactly what we need to do in order to stay in the points race. We finished fourth and we were able to build up our notebook so that when we come back to Iowa Speedway in the Nationwide Series we will have setup information that will help us.”

Brendan Gaughan Notches Top-10 Finish at Iowa Speedway

Brendan Gaughan scored a 10th-place finish at Iowa Speedway with the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 South Point Hotel & Casino team on Sunday afternoon. The team started from the 13th position, and early in the run, Gaughan reported to the Ernie Cope-led crew the No. 33 developed a tight-handling condition. The caution flag was displayed on lap 72 with the No.33 Chevrolet running in the 15th position, and Cope called the driver down pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to alleviate the tight condition. A quick pit stop by the RCR team helped Gaughan pick up four spots as he returned to the field in the 11th position. The Las Vegas native worked his way into the ninth position by lap 125, but continued to fight a tight-handling condition and fell to the 12th position on lap 207. With 10 laps remaining, Gaughan pushed forward into the 10th position, where he would remain as the checkered flag was displayed. The No. 33 team sits in the fifth position in the Nationwide Series championship owner’s point standings.

Start – 13         Finish – 10     Laps Led –  0    Owner’s Points – 5

BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:

“I always enjoy running with Ernie Cope and the whole Richard Childress Racing team. Today we had a really good car, but it was pretty tight right off the bat. Our pit crew was awesome today, and they really helped us get off pit road fast and make those adjustments to help with the tight-handling car. We were able to fight our way to the 10th position.”