WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (August 8, 2015) – Roush Fenway Racing’s Elliott Sadler finished eighth during Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Watkins Glen International. Sadler qualified 11th Saturday morning for the 82 lap event. Sadler got off to a great start and missed a few of the early fender benders at the start of the race. Sadler entered pit road 10th under green on his second pit stop of the day, but NASCAR penalized Sadler for driving through one to many pit boxes. The pit road drive through penalty dropped Sadler back to the 20th position. Rebounding from the penalty, Sadler pushed his No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford Mustang through the field to make up for the lost positions. After two more pit stops, Sadler was able to work his way forward and cross the finish line in the eighth position.
“It was great to get back on a road course today,” Sadler said after the race. “However, I messed up and got a penalty, which hurt our momentum. I drove through too many pit boxes coming in and put my guys in a hole. They made some good adjustments on the next stops and we were able to fight back. Our car needed three or four laps to get going and that red flag hurt us a little bit in the closing laps. But I’m just so proud of my guys. Besides the penalty, we executed great pit stops, worked hard all weekend and we’ll improve next weekend at Mid-Ohio.”
Sadler started from the 11th position for the 82 lap event on Saturday morning. Sadler did a great job from the drop of the green flag and stayed clear of any bumping and banging, which typically happens at the start of the race.
On Lap six, the full course caution flag waved for the first time of the day. Sadler was scored in 12th and radioed to the team, “the car is a little tight in both directions.”
Lap 20, Sadler came down pit road under green for a predetermined pit stop. Sadler’s crew added four fresh tires and fuel. Sadler entered pit road 12th and exited ninth.
The yellow flag waved again on Lap 26. At that point, Sadler was scored in the eighth position.
On Lap 53, Sadler drove his No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford Mustang down pit road under green again for another planned pit stop. Sadler’s crew added four fresh tires and fuel to Sadler’s car. Unfortunately, NASCAR penalized Sadler for driving through one too many pit boxes. This penalty resulted in a pit road pass through. Sadler originally entered pit road 10th, but after the pass through penalty, Sadler dropped back to 20th.
The full course yellow came out again on Lap 62. Since Sadler was further back in the field, the team decided to come down pit road and put on the last set of fresh tires and top off the car with fuel. When the field went back to green flag racing, Sadler had fresh tires and started picking off cars one by one.
With 10 laps to go in the race, Sadler worked his way back into the ninth position.
The red flag came out with seven laps to go at Watkins Glen. Sadler was scored in the eighth position when the red flag waved. When the red flag lifted and the mess was cleaned up, Sadler only had four laps remaining in the race. On the restart, Sadler battled with the seventh place car, but just didn’t have enough time to make the pass. Sadler crossed the finish line eighth, adding another top-10 finish to his resume this season.
The NASCAR XFINITY Series and Sadler’s No. 1 OneMain Financial Ford Mustang will be back in action next week at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
NEXT UP:
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200
Newton, IA
Saturday, Aug 15th, 2015
3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN
RACE SUMMARY
Elliott Sadler
Started: 11th
Finished: 8th
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
POINTS SUMMARY
Elliott Sadler
2015 Season Total: Fifth with 666 points / -58 points back from the leader
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
Elliott Sadler
Starts – 20
Wins – 0
Poles – 0
Top-5s – 4
Top-10s – 11
