NASCAR Nationwide Series
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NNS: Sadler Facing Familiar Foe
Elliott Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. locking horns for Nationwide title again…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted November 06, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Elliott Sadler finished runner-up in Nationwide Series points last season. (Photo: Getty Images)
Elliott Sadler has been down this road. He recognizes all the sights.

Last year, Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were 1-2 in the Nationwide Series point standings for the final 10 races of the season. Stenhouse eventually won the championship.

Fast-forward a year. There are two races remaining in the run for the title, and the only thing that has changed about the two drivers is that their battle is closer. In fact, it’s as close as it could be.

Sadler and Stenhouse are tied for the point lead entering Saturday’s Great Clips 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, with only the season finale the following week at Homestead-Miami Speedway remaining on the schedule.

Sadler held the point lead for the previous four weeks, but Stenhouse took the upper hand last week at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing fourth with a late-race charge while Sadler, who was strong early in the race, faltered near the end and finished 11th. The result was a six-point swing, giving each driver 1,170 points for the season and setting up major drama for the final two weeks.

In third place, and still technically in the championship race, is Austin Dillon, who is 21 points behind the co-leaders.

Saturday’s race sets up well for Sadler. He won the March race at Phoenix, scoring the first of his four victories this season. Stenhouse was third in that race. But an accident at Phoenix near the end of last season stained Sadler’s chances of catching Stenhouse for the 2011 title.

With the points so close, the specter of a tie at the end of the season emerges. In that case, the title would go to the driver with the most wins. Stenhouse has six, two more than Sadler.

Although Sadler has bounced around all three NASCAR national series, he hasn’t scored a championship.

The next two races will mark his final appearances for Richard Childress Racing, where Dillon is his teammate. Indications are that Sadler will stay in the Nationwide Series next season, possibly with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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