Richard Childress Racing

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February 24, 2012

Sadler, No. 33 General Mills/Kroger Team Finish Fourth in Duel 150 at Daytona

Elliott Sadler advanced 12 spots from his starting position in Thursday's second Duel 150 qualifying race, scoring a fourth-place finish that will line up the RCR team 10th for Sunday's Daytona 500.

RCR/HHP RCR/HHP

Start – 16th     

Finish – 4th        

Laps Led – 0

Elliott Sadler advanced 12 spots from his starting position in Thursday’s second Duel 150 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway, scoring a fourth-place finish that will line up the Richard Childress Racing team 10th for Sunday’s 54th running of the Daytona 500. The Emporia, Va., native rolled off the starting grid from the outside of row eight for the 60-lap showdown and had motored his way up to sixth on lap 13 before minor contact with a competitor got Sadler loose. As a result, he lost the draft and 10 positions in the process. The veteran driver quickly collected himself and focused on returning to the front, notching the 10th position at lap 22, seventh at lap 26 and moved into the fourth spot two laps later. He returned to the same position after crew chief Gil Martin called the General Mils/Kroger Chevrolet to pit road for a can of fuel on lap 42. Sadler moved to fifth with seven laps to go and found fellow Chevrolet teammate Kurt Busch as a drafting partner in the closing laps. As the miles winded down, the duo quickly moved to the top side of the famed superspeedway, hoping to build enough momentum to make it to the front. Unfortunately, time ran out but not before Sadler advanced one spot in the 24-car field to finish fourth.

ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTE:
“It was great, man. Halfway down the backstretch, we actually thought we were going to win the race. We got hooked up with Kurt (Busch) and when we had to go around those other guys, we just came unhooked. We should have won the race. Man, if I would have stayed hooked to him, we would have won. I am just so proud of this General Mills/Kroger team. They have come a long way since last Saturday when we unloaded. We know what to do to this thing to make it good for Sunday. We will do that and take care of it.”
 

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