[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Joey Logano thoroughly dominated the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Great Clips 200 from start to finish at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday. Logano led for 169 of the 204 laps despite a green-white-checkered finish at the end. Brian Vickers was beginning to reel in his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate on the final run, but a nasty accident in turn-3 involving Elliott Sadler forced NASCAR to throw the red flag.

Sadler, who came into this race tied for the championship with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., had a pretty eventful day.  Sadler wrecked during qualifying and was forced to start in the rear. He worked his way up to the top-5, but got loose on the restart and dropped 15 positions on the track. Sadler then started a nasty accident in turn-1 after getting loose and hitting the No.88 of Cole Whitt, and was hit head-on by the No.33 of Brendan Gaughan.

Sadler is now down twenty points coming into Homestead and I’m sure Indianapolis is also on his mind at the moment. What if Indianapolis never happened? Sadler might still be in the hunt.

“That makes us feel good, but we’ve given up 20 points in one race, so it’s not over till it’s over. We’ve still got some work to do, but it feels pretty good.” Stenhouse Jr. said.

Vickers came in second, but was no challenge to Logano on the green-white-checkered finish. Vickers clearly did not have a short-run car and spent the final laps trying to hold back Stenhouse Jr. Kyle Busch finished fourth despite making contact with Sam Hornish Jr. late in the race. Kasey Kahne finished fifth.

Austin Dillon, Michael Annett, Brian Scott, Brad Keselowski, and Danica Patrick rounded out the top-10. This is Patrick’s first career Top 10 here in her home state. She resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This race lacked a lot of action out front, but it was a good race for the fans and a decent amount of fans. That is great news for tomorrow’s Sprint Cup event. Thank you and have fun everyone! We will see you tomorrow.

Unofficial Results
2012 Unofficial Race Results : Great Clips 200

Great Clips 200 | November 10, 2012 | Race 32 of 33

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 1 18 Joey Logano Toyota GameStop / Epic Mickey2 0 204 Running
2 5 20 Brian Vickers Toyota Dollar General 0 204 Running
3 8 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Valvoline NextGen 42/1 204 Running
4 2 54 Kyle Busch Toyota Monster Energy 0 204 Running
5 7 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Great Clips 0 204 Running
6 3 3 Austin Dillon * Chevrolet AdvoCare 38/0 204 Running
7 17 43 Michael Annett Ford Pilot Flying J 37/0 204 Running
8 10 11 Brian Scott Toyota Dollar General 36/0 204 Running
9 6 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge Discount Tire 0 204 Running
10 14 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 34/0 204 Running
11 12 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet Brandt 33/0 204 Running
12 9 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet FOE 0 204 Running
13 15 19 Mike Bliss Toyota Bandit Chippers / Embassy Suites 31/0 204 Running
14 4 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Alliance Truck Parts 30/0 204 Running
15 22 199 Alex Bowman Toyota Port of Tucson / Levin Financial 29/0 204 Running
16 20 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves 28/0 204 Running
17 27 81 Jason Bowles * Toyota MacDonald Motorsports 27/0 204 Running
18 36 23 Jamie Dick Chevrolet Viva Auto Group 26/0 204 Running
19 34 01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet DSTP Motorsports 25/0 204 Running
20 18 14 Eric McClure Toyota Hefty / Reynolds Wrap / Embassy Suites 24/0 204 Running
21 23 108 Paulie Harraka Ford MC10 0 204 Running
22 16 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet OneMain Financial 22/0 204 Running
23 19 10 Jeff Green Toyota G-Oil / Embassy Suites 21/0 201 Running
24 33 73 Derrike Cope Chevrolet Maxelence MVP / Dobson Inn 20/0 200 Running
25 39 44 John Blankenship Chevrolet Coal Save the Country 0 200 Running
26 11 33 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet South Point Hotel & Casino 0 199 Running
27 42 70 Nur Ali Chevrolet Tweaker Energy Shot 17/0 199 Running
28 38 4 Daryl Harr Chevrolet iWorld 16/0 199 Running
29 13 88 Cole Whitt * Chevrolet Takagi 15/0 198 Running
30 37 39 Dexter Stacey Ford Maddies Place 14/0 197 Running
31 41 124 Derek White Toyota OCR Gaz Bar 0 188 Running
32 40 41 Noel Dowler Ford Prairie Tech / Apollo 12/0 182 Running
33 21 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet Phoenix Group Metals / stjude.org 11/0 86 Running
34 26 86 Kevin Lepage Ford Qello / Kenger Metals 10/0 39 Running
35 32 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Hyland’s / Great Wide Transport 9/0 20 Out of Race
36 43 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet Koma Unwind 8/0 18 Running
37 25 40 Erik Darnell Chevrolet The Motorsports Group 7/0 18 Running
38 28 47 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 0 17 Running
39 24 100 Blake Koch Toyota Chasco 5/0 17 Running
40 29 42 Josh Wise Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 0 15 Out of Race
41 35 15 Timmy Hill Ford RWR / Lilly Trucking 0 12 Running
42 30 46 Chase Miller Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 2/0 8 Running
43 31 191 Tony Raines Toyota Tri-Star Motorsports / Embassy Suites 0 5 Running

[media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Noel Lanier” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Joey Logano wants to leave JGR with a bang and nothing would sound better than to win another race for the famed Super Bowl winning coach and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion winning car owner, Joe Gibbs. Logano is off to a good start this weekend after posting a lap of 27.14, which beat Kyle Busch by just four tenths of a second. Austin Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr., and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-5.

Vickers is particularly happy this weekend. He will drive full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series next season in 2013, and is excited about defending his championship from ten years ago. Sam Hornish Jr. wants to prove to Roger Penske that he is worthy enough to force Penske to make a fourth team for 2013. Penske cited economic uncertainty as the reason why Hornish was let go the first time after the 2010 season. Hornish has since built a reputation off his Nationwide Series performances, and his run-ins with Danica Patrick.

Austin Dillon is coming into this weekend with good news as well after it was announced he will be running in the Daytona 500 next season driving RCR’s No.33. He is hoping to pull out a victory here in the desert. Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jason Leffler, and Brian Scott rounded out the top-10.

Stenhouse was unhappy about his lap after complaining of his car’s very loose condition. “We had a bad lap because I got loose. I nearly wrecked it.”

He can breathe a little easier though. At least he didn’t crash like Elliott Sadler. Sadler entered Turn 3 on his qualifying lap in the marbles and ended up in the wall. Sadler came up off the dog leg a little too abruptly, and it cost him as he ended up in the marbles as soon as he entered the turn. The two came into this race tied for the championship lead. Sadler will have to race his way through the field and be smart. He won here in the spring. Brian Scott starts this race from the tenth position after collecting his second career Truck Series victory last evening. He hopes to create his own sweep.