JR Motorsport’s Elliott Sadler snatched the lead with four revolutions left and fended off Daniel Suarez by 0.246 seconds to win the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series Chase race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.
A momentous nudge from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Suárez on the final restart was just what the doctor ordered for the JR Motorsports driver. It enabled Elliott Sadler to jump out in front and never look back on his way to his third victory of the 2016 Xfinity Series season.
The savvy Virginian was racing with a heavy heart in Saturday’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300. The veteran’s mother Bell Sadler had just been let out of the hospital after two weeks of recovering from two different surgeries.
“We fought through a lot tonight,” Elliott Sadler said in Victory Lane. “I’m also going to get a little emotional on you. I’ve been in the hospital all week with my mom in ICU watching her fight and fight through a lot of pain and suffering. (She) made her way back home tonight to watch the race. Mom, I love you. Furthermore, she leads so much by example.”
Elliott Sadler also credited his team, who helped Sadler battle from outside the top 15 earlier in the race. It was a true sign of class that you would expect from a consummate professional such as Sadler.
“These guys are my heroes,” Sadler said. “We had a 10th or 15th place car at best. Still had to come in and really take our time and work on it. Also, great pit calls by Kevin (Meendering, crew chief) and the guys to get us in position. Got a good push there at the end. But I do want to say thanks to Josh Berry for helping me a ton tonight. That kid also did some cool things on the restarts. This OneMain Financial team has no quit in them. We just fight till the end. This is a great way to start the Chase.”
Daniel Suárez kept the runner-up spot with his late race performance at Kentucky Motor Speedway. Sprint Cup rookie Ryan Blaney finished out the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 in third. Sam Hornish Jr. and Matt Tift finished out the final top five speedsters.
Matt Tift continues to impress. After racing in the Camping World Truck Series last week, he returned to the Xfinity Series. Tift just recovered from brain surgery in July to remove a remove a benign, low-grade tumor.
NASCAR Xfinity Chase drivers Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones and Erik Jones all could be in jeopardy after being caught up in wrecks. Dillon and Erik Jones tangled while racing for second with 12 laps remaining. The contest was red-flagged for over five minutes to clean up the aftermath.
Joe Gibb’s Racing’s Erik Jones entered the race with the championship lead. The successful driver was denied a series win at Kentucky Motor Speedway for the second time this season. He led on five different occasions for 100 total laps. Jones finished 28th, one spot ahead of fellow Chase contender Austin Dillon.
“I just got sucked around,” Jones said after the incident. “I tried to slow down but Ty was holding me down there pretty tight on the restart. As a result, we were slamming doors through (Turns) 1 and 2. It was my fault but it’s a pretty tough aero situation to be in. I also just couldn’t hang on to it. I tried to slow down but he also kept slamming down on my door and I did all I could to hang on to it. It definitely looks like we’re going to have to run really well at Dover and Charlotte or even win.”
Final Results for the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway:
1. (3) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200.
2. (2) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 200.
3. (8) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 200.
4. (5) Sam Hornish Jr., Chevrolet, 200.
5. (6) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 200.
6. (7) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200.
7. (16) Ryan Reed, Ford, 200.
8. (9) Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, 200.
9. (10) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
10. (11) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 200.
11. (15) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 200.
12. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
13. (12) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 200.
14. (17) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200.
15. (13) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 200.
16. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
17. (29) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 200.
18. (18) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 200.
19. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 200.
20. (25) Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, 200.
21. (24) BJ McLeod, Ford, 197.
22. (31) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 196.
23. (34) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, 195.
24. (37) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 191.
25. (40) Todd Peck, Ford, 191.
26. (14) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 190.
27. (4) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 188.
28. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, Accident, 187.
29. (35) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Accident, 168.
30. (22) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 167.
31. (28) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Electrical, 133.
32. (23) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 125.
33. (27) David Starr, Chevrolet, Engine, 124.
34. (38) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Engine, 86.
35. (32) Blake Jones, Ford, Accident, 73.
36. (33) Matt Waltz, Chevrolet, Electrical, 63.
37. (30) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 57.
38. (36) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 20.
39. (39) John Jackson, Chevrolet, Transmission, 8.
40. (26) Mike Bliss, Toyota, Rear Gear, 2.
