Sadler ends drought with Nationwide Series win
Elliott Sadler ended a long victory drought in NASCAR stock-car racing by winning the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway.
Sadler passed Brad Keselowski with 26 laps left in the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 and held the lead in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for his first Nationwide Series win since 1998.
Sadler’s last win in NASCAR’S premier Sprint Cup Series came in 2004, and the Emporia, Va., native also won a NASCAR truck series race in 2010.
“It’s a very emotional win, it’s been a while,” said Sadler, 36, who finished second in the Nationwide title chase last year behind champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. “To be able to do it this early in the season gives us a lot of momentum.”
Keselowski, the 2010 Nationwide champion who also drives in the Cup series, held on to finish second and Stenhouse was third. Polesitter Denny Hamlin finished ninth.
Keselowski said, “My car was a lot stronger, compared to Elliott’s, on the long run rather than [the] short run. We needed some more laps. If he would have made one mistake, we would have had him.”
Danica Patrick, the former Indycar driver who switched to NASCAR full time this season, qualified 30th and finished 21st, three laps behind the leaders.
Patrick won the pole position at the Nationwide season opener last week at Daytona International Speedway before finishing 38th after her No. 7 Chevy was caught in a crash.
But it was evident from the start Saturday that she didn’t have the speed to keep pace with the front group on the one-mile Phoenix International oval, and she fell one lap behind the leaders after only 30 laps.
james.peltz@latimes.com