jshaunburke had a great article live from Bristol, so I’ll just stick to the facts this week.
Sadler Makes a Statement: The Ford EcoBoost 300 Review
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Sadler has made a statement early in the season. He’s showing that last year’s second place run was no fluke. In fact, Sadler has now put everyone on notice that this is his championship to lose.
As Nationwide fans, we can’t lose in this situation. We get to watch genuine nice guy Elliott Sadler take on younger up and coming drivers. Sadler is not running full time in Cup, nor will we see him race again in Cup this year unless another one race deal comes about. It’s exactly what Nascar hoped we would see with having drivers declare for just one series.
We’ve also seen many races with less and less Cup drivers in them. This year alone we’ve also yet to see a Cup driver in Victory Lane. And let me tell you that’s a great thing!
Results and Points after the Jump!
| FIN | STA | Driver | Team | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 4 | Elliott Sadler | 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet | 300 | Running |
| 2 | 12 | Kasey Kahne | 38 Great Clips Chevrolet | 300 | Running |
| 3 | 7 | Brad Keselowski | 22 Lennox / Discount Tire Dodge | 300 | Running |
| 4 | 1 | Joey Logano | 18 Turtle Beach / GameStop Toyota | 300 | Running |
| 5 | 16 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 5 TaxSlayer / American Racing Chevrolet | 300 | Running |
| 6 | 3 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 6 Blackwell Angus / Valvoline Ford | 300 | Running |
| 7 | 10 | Justin Allgaier | 31 Brandt Chevrolet | 300 | Running |
| 8 | 2 | Trevor Bayne | 60 YourRaceCar.com / Crawdad's Classics Ford | 300 | Running |
| 9 | 6 | Kevin Harvick | 33 Armour Chevrolet | 300 | Running |
| 10 | 15 | Ryan Truex | 20 Grime Boss Toyota | 300 | Running |
| 11 | 21 | Michael Annett | 43 Pilot Travel Centers / Flying J Ford | 300 | Running |
| 12 | 9 | Austin Dillon | 3 AdvoCare / American Ethanol Chevrolet | 300 | Running |
| 13 | 23 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 12 Alliance Truck Parts / Dodge Dealers Dodge | 300 | Running |
| 14 | 11 | James Buescher | 30 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet | 299 | Running |
| 15 | 13 | Mike Bliss | 44 Bandit Toyota | 299 | Running |
| 16 | 14 | Cole Whitt | 88 HendrickCars.com / TaxSlayer Chevrolet | 299 | Running |
| 17 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 54 Monster Energy / Roadrunner Toyota | 299 | Running |
| 18 | 18 | Tayler Malsam | 19 G-Oil Chevrolet | 298 | Running |
| 19 | 27 | Danica Patrick | 7 GoDaddy.com / Tissot Chevrolet | 298 | Running |
| 20 | 25 | Jeremy Clements | 51 GoodInfo.com / Mahle Chevrolet | 297 | Running |
| 21 | 29 | Erik Darnell | 40 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 297 | Running |
| 22 | 36 | Jamie Dick | 23 Viva Auto Group Chevrolet | 296 | Running |
| 23 | 37 | Mike Wallace | 01 G&K Services Chevrolet | 296 | Running |
| 24 | 31 | Benny Gordon | 24 Kentucky Antler Chevrolet | 294 | Running |
| 25 | 34 | Jason Bowles | 81 American Majority Dodge | 293 | Running |
| 26 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 15 Sam's Club / Met-Rx Ford | 293 | Running |
| 27 | 40 | Eric McClure | 14 Hefty / Reynolds Wrap Toyota | 292 | Running |
| 28 | 20 | Kyle Fowler | 08 Randy Hill Racing Ford | 292 | Running |
| 29 | 24 | Johanna Long | 70 Foretravel / Biomet Chevrolet | 291 | Running |
| 30 | 30 | Joe Nemechek | 87 AM FM Energy Toyota | 291 | Running |
| 31 | 42 | Kevin Lepage | 28 JPO Absorbents Chevrolet | 291 | Running |
| 32 | 41 | Brad Teague | 4 Scag Commercial Mowers Chevrolet | 284 | Running |
| 33 | 17 | Kenny Wallace | 09 Mac Tools Toyota | 201 | Out of race |
| 34 | 33 | T.J. Bell | 50 Turbine Powered Technology Chevrolet | 186 | Out of race |
| 35 | 5 | Brian Scott | 11 Dollar General / Eveready Toyota | 183 | Out of race |
| 36 | 38 | Joey Gase | 39 Go Green Racing Ford | 123 | Out of race |
| 37 | 39 | Tim Schendel | 52 K&J Auto Sales / Meade Chevrolet | 119 | Out of race |
| 38 | 19 | Blake Koch | 41 RiseUpAndRegister.com Ford | 117 | Out of race |
| 39 | 43 | J.J. Yeley | 27 GC Motorsports International Ford | 15 | Start and Park |
| 40 | 26 | Chase Miller | 46 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 7 | Start and Park |
| 41 | 22 | Scott Speed | 47 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 6 | Start and Park |
| 42 | 28 | Jeff Green | 10 TriStar Motorsports Toyota | 3 | Start and Park |
| 43 | 35 | Josh Wise | 42 The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 3 | Start and Park |
Trevor Bayne had a great race, but it wasn’t so great for Kenny Wallace. Neither are a lock to race next week. Look who’s back in the title hunt, it’s Ricky Stenhouse. He moves up to second in points. Here’s how things look:
| Car # | Driver | Sponsor | Make | Owner | Points | |
| 1 | 2 | Elliott Sadler (W2) | One Main Financial | Chevy | Richard Childress Racing | 178 |
| 2 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr (PC) (W1) | Kelloggs Pop Tarts | Ford | Roush Fenway | 153 |
| 3 | 60 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Roush Fenway | 149 | |
| 4 | 3 | Austin Dillon ® | Advocare/Bass Pro Shops | Chevy | Richard Childress Racing | 148 |
| 5 | 88 | Cole Whitt ® | Hellmann's/TaxSlayer/Degree | Chevy | JR Motorsports | 137 |
| 6 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr | Alliance Truck Parts | Dodge | Penske Racing | 129 |
| 7 | 19 | Tayler Malsam ® | G-Oil | Toyota | Tri-Star Motorsports | 116 |
| 8 | 43 | Michael Annett | Pilot Flying J | Ford | Richard Petty Motorsports | 115 |
| 9 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt | Chevy | Turner Motorsports | 113 |
| 10 | 44 | Mike Bliss | Bandit Chippers | Toyota | Tri-Star Motorsports | 92 |
We have just one more race to go before we move to 2012 Owner’s points to see who is locked in. Here’s the way things look heading into Auto Club:
| This | Car # | Driver | Sponsor | Make | Owner | Points |
| 28 | 4 | Brad Teague | Chevy | JD Motorsports | 72 | |
| 29 | 5 | Dale Earnhardt Jr (PC) (i) | TaxSlayer.com | Chevy | JR Motorsports | 69 |
| 30 | 09 | Kenny Wallace | Family Farmers | Toyota | RAB Racing | 67 |
| 31 | 08 | Kyle Fowler | Ford | Randy Hill Racing | 67 | |
| 32 | 81 | Jason Bowles ® | PledgeToVote.Com | Dodge | MacDonald Motorsports | 64 |
| 33 | 50 | TJ Bell | Eastbound and Down | Chevy | MAKE Motorsports | 58 |
Well Nascar fans, join us later in the week for a preview of the fifth race of the Nationwide Schedule, Auto Club Speedway. Enjoy!
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