RCR Post Race Report — Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered by Coca-Cola

Race Highlights:    

  • Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fourth (Austin Dillon), sixth (Elliott Sadler) and 28th (Kevin Harvick).
  • Sadler leads the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championship point standings over Dillon by four points. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ranks third, followed by Sam Hornish and Justin Allgaier.
  • The No. 2 Chevrolet team is second in the Nationwide Series owner championship point standings, 38 points shy of the No. 18 car’s lead, with the No. 3 team third in the standings and the No. 33 team fifth.
  • Dillon leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings over Cole Whitt.
  • Each of the RCR entries led laps during the race, with Sadler leading 10 laps. Dillon led eight laps and Harvick led two laps.
  • According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Dillon made 204 Green Flag Passes, ranking him fifth.
  • Sadler led the field in Quality Passes with 169, ranked second in Fastest Drivers Late in a Run and maintained the third-best Average Running Position (7.663).
  • Harvick ranked fourth in the Closers category, moving up three positions in the last 10 percent of the race, and was sixth in Quality Passes (153).
  • Kurt Busch earned his first Nationwide Series win of the season and was followed to the finish line by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael Annett, Dillon and Joey Logano.
  • The next scheduled Nationwide Series race is the F.W. Webb 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 14. The 17th race of the 2012 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio..

 

 

 

Elliott Sadler Posts Top-10 Finish in Wild Night Race at Daytona International Speedway

 

Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team brought home a sixth-place finish Friday night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway. Starting from the 13th position, Sadler partnered up with Joey Logano in the No. 18 and pushed the car to the lead by lap 14. Sadler and Logano swapped places several times to maintain safe temperature levels on their engines, running in the top 10 for the majority of the 100-lap event. A multi-car incident on lap 67 left the No.2 Chevrolet with right-front fender damage. During the ensuing caution period, crew chief Luke Lambert called Sadler in for several pit stops to repair the damage, working methodically to stay on the lead lap. When the field returned to green-flag conditions on lap 72, Sadler worked his way up from the 17th position to fourth within four laps. After the No. 2 Chevrolet took the lead on lap 82, another caution flag slowed the field on lap 84, with Sadler pacing the field. As the green flag dropped to restart the event, the OneMain Financial Chevrolet and the No. 18 car reconnected and the duo drove to the front, but with six laps remaining, the two disconnected, sending Sadler back to the 15th position. The partners reunited and made a dash to the front, but a caution flag on lap 98 halted Sadler’s progress and he was positioned in fifth place for the green-white-checkered finish. Several cars wrecked coming to the finish line, but Sadler was able to avoid the incident to finish in the sixth position with the No. 2 team posting their 11th top-10 finish of the season. Sadler remains atop the Nationwide Series driver championship point standings, four points ahead of RCR teammate Austin Dillon.

  

Start – 13                     Finish – 6                Laps Led – 10                    Points – 1 

                  

ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTE:

“You never know what is going to happen at Daytona International Speedway. We had some damage from a mid-race incident, but our OneMain Financial crew worked their tails off to get the car back on track. Joey (Logano) and I worked really well together all night tandem drafting, but on the last lap we got disconnected and couldn’t get back to the front. Overall, a great effort from our OneMain Financial team, and we will head onto New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the points lead.”                 

 

 

 

 

Austin Dillon Finishes Fourth In Wild Finish at Daytona International Speedway

 

Austin Dillon made a charge for the win before getting spun and sliding sideways across the finish line in the fourth position to conclude a wild NASCAR Nationwide Series race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway. Dillon started the Daytona 250 powered by Coca-Cola from the rear of the 43-car field after his team was issued an infraction following qualifying on Friday afternoon. Working with spotter Andy Houston, Dillon maneuvered the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet through two-, three- and four-wide pack racing during the early stages of the 100-lap race. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender was running in the 15th position on lap 65 when a multi-car incident broke out just in front of the No. 3 Chevrolet. Dillon dove low on the high-banked tri-oval and successfully avoided damage to his patriotic, red, white and blue Chevrolet, moving up to sixth in the running order in the process. The team pitted during the ensuing caution period and quick work by the Richard Childress Racing crew gained Dillon three positions. Restarting in the third position on lap 72, Dillon spent the next few laps tandem drafting with various partners, making his way to the front of the field, and was listed as the race leader when the final caution flag of the event was displayed at lap 98 for debris, setting the field for a green-white-checkered finish that extended the race one lap past its advertised distance. Dillon partnered with the No. 1 Chevrolet of Kurt Busch for the restart until Busch made a move on the No.3 Chevrolet for the lead, leaving Dillon to connect with the No. 43 car of Michael Annett for the remaining laps. The Dillon/Annett duo drafted to the front of the pack and attempted to make a move for the win coming to the checkered flag but the Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet was turned in the process and crossed the finish line sideways in the fourth position before crashing in front of field. Following his eighth top-five finish of the season, Dillon sits second in the Nationwide Series driver championship points standings, four points behind RCR teammate Elliott Sadler. With the fourth-place finish, Dillon joins Annett, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Sadler as drivers who are qualified for the first of four legs of Nationwide Insurance’s Dash 4 Cash bonus next Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The top finisher among those four drivers will win $100,000.

 

Start – 42                      Finish – 4                   Laps Led – 8                            Points – 2   

                             

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:  

“It was a wild race. I think going into the weekend, everyone knew that it would be. I can say it is an amazing feeling to have as much momentum as Michael Annett and I had and be in position to overtake the race lead coming to the checker flag at Daytona (International Speedway). It didn’t end up quite how we wanted it to for the No. 3 team, but if you’re going to wreck it should be while going for the win on the last lap. It’s cool to be qualified for the Dash 4 Cash bonus at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. That’s a really special program that Nationwide Insurance has put together and I can’t wait to try and win the $100,000 bonus.”    

 

 

 

 

 

The “Big One” Relegates Kevin Harvick to a 28th-Place Finish in NASCAR Nationwide Series Event at Daytona International Speedway

 

Kevin Harvick and the No. 33 Rheem/Menards team finished 28th after being collected in the “big one” during Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway. The Bakersfield, Calif., native started the 100-lap event from the fourth position and remained near the top 10 early in the event, while swapping drafting partners and protecting his ECR engine from the high temperatures of superspeedway pack racing. Harvick worked his way toward the front of the field when he was collected in the “big one” on lap 67, a wreck which involved 14 cars and sent the yellow and black Chevrolet to the garage for repair to the extensive damage on the front end of the Richard Childress Racing machine. The Ernie Cope-led crew worked on the front end of the Rheem/Menards Chevrolet before sending Harvick back on track for the lap-88 restart in the 31st position, 17 laps down to the leader. Harvick gained track position in the final laps, ultimately crossing the finish line in the 28th position.

 

Start – 4                     Finish – 28                  Laps Led – 2                Owner Points – 5    

 

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:

“This was not the way the Rheem/Menards team and I were hoping to end things tonight. We had a fast car in practice and qualifying, and ran near front of the field during the race until we got caught up in that wreck. But that is all part of superspeedway racing, one moment you’re leading the field and the next you’re running mid-pack and get caught up in a wreck.”