NASCAR Nationwide Series
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NNS: Sadler Not Tired At Bristol
Elliott Sadler 2-for-4 in early months of Nationwide season…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 17, 2012   Bristol, TN
Elliott Sadler won a late-race tire gamble and scored his second Nationwide Series victory of the season Saturday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Sadler, rebuilding his career at Richard Childress Racing, stayed on the track during the race’s final caution period and led the closing 35 laps to win the Ford EcoBoost 300.

“After what I’ve been through the last couple of years in racing, this damn sure feels good,” Sadler said.

In the season’s second race, Sadler ended a 91-race winless string in Nationwide events by scoring at Phoenix. He used the same Chevrolet Saturday to go two-for-four for the season and stay on top of the point standings. He leads by 25 points.

The race’s fourth and final caution appeared with 32 laps to go as Kyle Busch bounced off the wall. Sadler and Kasey Kahne, who would go on to finish second, stayed on the track while the other leaders pitted for tires.

It was somewhat of a gamble, but Sadler wasn’t challenged the rest of the way.

Luke Lambert, Sadler’s crew chief, said he questioned his decision for a second.

“But we knew the most important thing was where we needed to be on the restart,” Lambert said.

Sadler said Lambert made a great call.

“He reminded me I won a race here in 2001 (in Sprint Cup) by doing the same thing,” Sadler said. “What a great day. This is Bristol. I wanted this worse than anything because I love this track so much.

“To win two of the first four is awesome. There’s blood in the water is what they say.”

Following Sadler and Kahne in the top five were Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Danica Patrick finished 19th, two laps down.

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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