Elliott Sadler drove his way to victory on his 41st birthday in the Xfinity Series’s 25th Annual Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. The race came to a conclusion in overtime and under caution when Joey Logano’s #22 Discount Tire Ford went head on into the outside wall in the final turn of the event. Logano had made a last ditch attempt to block the oncoming #1 OneMain Chevrolet of Elliott Sadler and was sent sliding up the track and into the barrier. Sadler took the lead and stayed out in front of hard-charging rookie Brennan Poole to claim the win.
“It’s a great birthday gift to me,” said an emotional Elliott Sadler, who broke a 65-race winless streak dating to May 2014 at Talladega. “We really needed this win. I told everybody this morning, ‘We’ve got the car to win this with.’ Things went our way, we had a little luck, and we were able to make it at the end.”
JR Motorsports finished one and two when second place finisher Justin Allgeier was inches a head of Brennan Poole’s DC Solar Chevrolet. Elliott Sadler and Allgeier only led a total of one lap combined, but kept their hotrods in contention and upfront throughout the contest. When the #43 of Jeb Burton drew the caution at lap 114, the cars were shuffled and the stage was set for a sprint to the finish. Sadler and Allgeier were positioned behind Joey Logano at the race’s last re-start.
Joey Logano who led 19 revolutions around the 2.66 mile superspeedway and appeared to be the fastest at the front. After took the bump from Elliott Sadler that sent him into the outside wall, and dropped him into a 27th place finish, Logano appeared to take the rough racing at the end with a smile.
“I know Elliott Sadler is a great speedway racer, and he knew what he had to do to win the race, and I knew what I had to do to try to keep him behind me,” Logano said. “He went to make the move on the top, and then he pulled it down to the bottom and got it underneath me, and then I was a little late to the block. He was already there. Around I went and hit a bunch of other stuff along the way.”
Matt Tifft, who drove the #18 NOS Energy Toyota of Kyle Busch, did a superb job at his first Sparks 300 at Talladega. Tifft not only finished in the 8th position but won the pole award and started out front. The Joe Gibbs-owned Toyota led the second most laps of the race (21), and seemed to be one of the fastest cars throughout the day.
Rookie Brandon Jones and his #33 Okuma Chevrolet led the most circuits in the Sparks 300 on Saturday. 36 times Jones crossed the start-finish line out in front, but was shuffled to the middle of the field during the last stages of the race and finished in the 18th spot.
Jeremy Clements and his #51 Kevin Whittaker Chevrolet finished in a career-best fourth place. That accomplishment was well deserved considering he started in the 34th spot after a underachieving qualifying effort. NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Brendan Gaughan rounded out the top five in fifth. Gaughan and Clements managed to find their way to the front on eight different occasions and were in position to bring home the glory in overtime.
Xfinity Series regular Daniel Suarez finished in a respectable seventh place but was disappointed with the result because of his strong qualifying effort the put him in second to start the contest. Sprint Cup regulars Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and Aric Amirola finished in the sixth, ninth and tenth spots.
The Xfinity Series Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway to two hours and 19 minutes to complete. 116 revolutions were performed at an average speed of 132.477 miles per hour. The competitive affair saw 20 lead changes among 13 different drivers. There were a total of seven cautions that ate up 29 laps around the 2.66 mile paved Tri-Oval. The margin of victory was not calculated due to the race ending under the caution flag in overtime.
Matt Tifft took home the Coors Light Pole Award for his efforts in qualifying on Friday. Jeremy Clements reeled in the Mobil 1 Driver of the Race for his fourth place finish after starting back in the 34th spot. The Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race once again went to the group from Hendrick Motorsports. Brennan Poole once again brought in the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award for his third place run.
The Final Results of the Xfinity Series Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway:
| 1 | 1 | Elliott Sadler |  |
9 | 116 | 1 |
1
 |
Running | 44 | 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | |
18 | 116 | 0 |
3
|
Running | 39 | 0 | |
| 3 | 48 | Brennan Poole | |
11 | 116 | 5 |
0
|
Running | 39 | 0 | |
| 4 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | |
34 | 116 | 7 |
3
|
Running | 38 | 0 | |
| 5 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | |
6 | 116 | 1 |
1
|
Running | 37 | 0 | |
| 6 | 2 | Austin Dillon | |
3 | 116 | 7 |
-2
 |
Running | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | 19 | Daniel Suarez |  |
2 | 116 | 2 |
-1
|
Running | 35 | 1 | |
| 8 | 18 | Matt Tifft | |
1 | 116 | 21 |
2
|
Running | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 88 | Chase Elliott | |
14 | 116 | 7 |
-2
|
Running | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 98 | Aric Almirola |  |
17 | 116 | 0 |
-3
|
Running | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | 42 | Justin Marks | |
20 | 116 | 0 |
2
|
Running | 30 | 0 | |
| 12 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | |
35 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 29 | 0 | |
| 13 | 6 | Darrell Wallace Jr | |
15 | 116 | 0 |
1
|
Running | 28 | 0 | |
| 14 | 14 | Benny Gordon | |
19 | 116 | 0 |
15
|
Running | 27 | 0 | |
| 15 | 01 | Ryan Preece | |
26 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 26 | 0 | |
| 16 | 4 | Ross Chastain | |
29 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 25 | 0 | |
| 17 | 43 | Jeb Burton | |
12 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 24 | 0 | |
| 18 | 33 | Brandon Jones | |
16 | 116 | 36 |
-2
|
Running | 25 | 0 | |
| 19 | 3 | Ty Dillon | |
5 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 22 | 0 | |
| 20 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | |
38 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 21 | 0 | |
| 21 | 20 | Erik Jones | |
4 | 116 | 0 |
-2
|
Running | 20 | 0 | |
| 22 | 44 | J.J. Yeley | |
10 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 19 | 0 | |
| 23 | 24 | Brandon McReynolds | |
21 | 116 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 18 | 0 | |
| 24 | 11 | Blake Koch | |
13 | 116 | 1 |
-1
|
Running | 18 | 1 | |
| 25 | 15 | Travis Kvapil | |
40 | 116 | 0 |
-2
|
Running | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | 05 | John Wes Townley | |
24 | 116 | 0 |
-3
|
Running | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | 22 | Joey Logano | |
8 | 115 | 19 |
-2
|
Running | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 | 90 | Mario Gosselin | |
25 | 115 | 0 |
-1
|
Running | 13 | 0 | |
| 29 | 07 | Ray Black Jr | |
28 | 115 | 0 |
1
|
Running | 12 | 0 | |
| 30 | 40 | Carl Long |  |
31 | 115 | 0 |
4
|
Running | 11 | 0 | |
| 31 | 16 | Ryan Reed | |
7 | 113 | 8 |
-1
|
Running | 11 | 1 | |
| 32 | 13 | John Jackson | |
32 | 112 | 0 |
0
|
Running | 9 | 0 | |
| 33 | 85 | Bobby Gerhart | |
33 | 111 | 0 |
2
|
Running | 8 | 0 | |
| 34 | 28 | Dakoda Armstrong | |
22 | 82 | 0 |
-2
|
Electrical | 7 | 0 | |
| 35 | 97 | Ryan Ellis | |
36 | 81 | 0 |
2
|
Engine | 6 | 0 | |
| 36 | 78 | B J McLeod | |
39 | 39 | 0 |
0
|
Engine | 5 | 0 | |
| 37 | 25 | Chris Cockrum | |
30 | 30 | 0 |
1
|
Accident | 4 | 0 | |
| 38 | 52 | Joey Gase | |
37 | 30 | 0 |
0
|
Accident | 3 | 0 | |
| 39 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | |
23 | 27 | 1 |
-1
|
Rear Gear | 3 | 1 | |
| 40 | 10 | Jeff Green | |
27 | 2 | 0 |
-2
|
Suspension | 1 | 0 |
