MONTREAL (August 21, 2011) — Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team brought home a 10th-place finish in the driver’s first appearance at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team battled back from a mid-race incident to bring home a top-10 finish and moved up one position in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s Point Standings to second.
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the green flag dropped on the third and final road-course event of the 2011 Nationwide Series season. Starting from the 16th position, Sadler worked his way up to 11th by the seventh lap.
Several lead cars began to pit around lap 11 to top off with fuel, and Sadler moved into the third position. Crew chief Ernie Cope encouraged the driver to keep saving his brakes, fuel and tires until the end of the event.
The first full-course caution fell on lap 15 for a spin involving the No. 81 car. Cope called the No.2 OneMain Financial down pit road for four tires and fuel on lap 16. Several leaders did not pit, and Sadler restarted on lap 18 in the 18th position.
In keeping with Cope’s fuel-mileage strategy, Sadler came down pit road for a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 27 to top the Chevrolet Impala off with fuel. The No. 2 returned to the track in the 28th position on lap 28.
Sadler continued to work on saving brakes, tires and fuel on the OneMain Financial Chevrolet as he moved forward in the field. He pushed to the 15th position when another full-course caution fell on lap 41 for an incident involving the No. 52 car in turn five. Cope instructed the driver not to pit, and the field returned to green-flag racing on lap 44 with Sadler in the 11th position.
As the field entered the hairpin turn after returning to green, the race leader checked up, causing a jam of several cars in front of the No. 2. The OneMain Financial Chevrolet was hit and sustained damage to the right-side fender, causing the fender to rub the right-rear tire. The No. 2 came down pit road on lap 46 for the KHI crew to make repairs to the damaged fender and to add four tires and fuel.
Sadler returned to racing on lap 47 in the 29th position, and Cope encouraged Sadler to keep saving his equipment until the next caution since the leader was more than 40 seconds ahead.
The field was slowed for the third full-course caution on lap 52 for a spin in turn 10 involving the No. 30 car. Sadler came down pit road for fuel and a chassis adjustment to help the KHI machine turn better through the course, and restarted in the 21st position on lap 56.
Just after Sadler rejoined the field, a quick full-course caution came on lap 56. The No. 2 opted not to pit and restarted in the 18th position on lap 60. Another full-course caution quickly followed on lap 62 as Sadler moved into the 13th position. With the possibility of rain in the area, Cope communicated that the No. 2 was faster than seven cars in front of him and to keep pushing his way forward each lap.
The green flag waved on lap 65, and Sadler battled to the 10th position. The field was slowed for the sixth time for a full-course caution on lap 68 for the No. 77 car spinning across the track in one of the turns.
As rain drops began to fall on the track, the race resumed green-flag racing with Sadler in the eighth position for a three-lap showdown. On the restart, the driver was caught behind traffic and shuffled out of the top 10. The field took the white flag with the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet in the 13th position. Sadler worked his way through the 15-turn course and positioned himself in the 10th spot when the checkered flag waved. The OneMain Financial team’s result marks the team’s 16th top-10 finish this season and moves Sadler up one position to second in the Nationwide Series Driver’s Point Standings. He sits eight points behind leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and one point ahead of Reed Sorenson in third.
Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team will head to the 0.533-mile short track of Bristol Motor Speedway next Friday night for a showdown under the lights. ESPN will broadcast the event live at 7:30 p.m. ET with live coverage from PRN beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
Comments from driver Elliott Sadler:
“It was a great points day for us. We battled through with a damaged car after we were hit around the hairpin turn. We had a great car, and we were able to battle back from that adversity. The guys on the OneMain Financial Chevrolet team never gave up, and we will continue to battle. It was a great experience to compete in Montreal at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the first time in my career. The fans were great and provided a cool atmosphere for everyone. We are heading into Bristol next weekend, and the No. 2 team will continue to push toward our goal.”