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March 6, 2012

Elliott Sadler Event Preview: Las Vegas 300

"I love Las Vegas, as a town and as a track."

RCR/HHP Photo RCR/HHP Photo

Event Preview Fact Sheet

Elliott Sadler
No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala

Event/Date:
Las Vegas 300
March 10, 2012

Venue:
Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Race Notes and Quotes:
This Week’s OneMain Financial Chevrolet at Las Vegas International Speedway … Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team will utilize Chassis No. 104 from Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Nationwide Series stable. This is a brand new chassis for RCR and will make its racing debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.  

Rolling the Dice … Sadler has made five starts at the Las Vegas track in the Nationwide Series, earning his top finish of seventh in 1998. The Emporia, Va., driver has experience at the track in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, making 12 starts and earning one top-10 with a best finish of sixth-place in 2004.

By the Numbers … Heading into the third race of the 2012 Nationwide Series season, Sadler leads all drivers in NASCAR’s Loop Data category for average finishing position with a second-place average after finishing third at Daytona International Speedway and earning the race win at Phoenix International Raceway. He has also led more than 10 percent of the laps made this season, leading the field for 34 of 320 laps, ranking him fourth among all drivers and first among championship contenders in that category.

Last Time By … The last time Sadler competed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series was in 2011, where he brought home a solid 12th-place finish.

Earning One for OneMain Financial … Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team earned their first win of the 2012 Nationwide Series season last week at Phoenix International Raceway. Starting from the eighth position, Sadler remained in the top-10 for the entire race, taking over the top position with less than 30 laps remaining. As the laps ticked away, the Emporia, Va., drive never relinquished the lead, nabbing his first win and second top-five finish in two races thus far this season. This was Sadler’s first Nationwide Series victory since 1998 at Rockingham Speedway, serving as his sixth-career series win. It also marked his first win with RCR.

Notch One for the Crew Chief … Luke Lambert earned his first victory as a crew chief for RCR with the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team’s victory last week at Phoenix. Lambert, who served as interim crew chief last season for RCR’s No. 31 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series for 17 races, moved to lead the OneMain Financial team in the Nationwide Series shop for 2012. Lambert made a call at Phoenix International Raceway on the last pit stop to only take two tires, helping Sadler gain valuable track position that ultimately resulted in the victory. Fans can follow the man on top of the pit box on Twitter: @LukeLambertCC

To the Point … Sadler remains at the top of the Nationwide Series driver point standings for the second week in a row. The victory last week at Phoenix helped propel him to 10 points ahead of the second-place driver, RCR teammate Austin Dillon.

Tune In … Prior to the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Sadler will make a trip outside the 1.5-milie oval to join the hosts of NASCAR Trackside. Fans can tune in on Saturday at Noon ET on SPEED.

Meet the Press ... Sadler will take questions from the media at the infield media center on Friday, March 9 at 12:30 p.m.

ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTES:
What does it mean to be coming off a win going into the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
“Momentum is huge in this sport. Our team is so strong and so focused that I know the win last week at Phoenix will just add to our drive. We have one goal, and that is to win the championship, and I think this week we will continue to go along with our game plan. It was such a great feeling to be in Victory Lane, and I am so proud of our team and excited to home a win for OneMain Financial and Richard Childress Richard Childress. The RCR Nationwide Series teams are going to be good each and every week, and I know that we are now faced at focusing on the next task at hand, Las Vegas Motor Speedway.”

What are your thoughts on racing at Las Vegas?
“I love Las Vegas, as a town and as a track. It is a track that has a whole lot of character to it, with a lot of bumps in turn one and two. It is a very fast track and a normal mile-and-a-half where its typically loose-in and tight middle-off-type. I liked the old Las Vegas, but man I really like this new Las Vegas. It’s a fun race track. The groove always opens up, and you can run in the bottom, the middle or the top. It seems like it gets better every year that we go back.  It is just a great destination for fans. I wish that we raced there twice a year to be honest with you. It always puts on a good race. For some reason, it seems like it is a close race there toward the end, which makes it a lot of fun to be a part of.”

What’s your favorite thing to do in Las Vegas?
“I’m a craps table man. I have to throw those dice. I love going there, it’s a neat place. On race weekends there can sometimes be an audience if there are a couple of us there together. It is something different, and it’s not like any city that we go to for a race weekend. Las Vegas weekend is definitely one that I look forward to with great restaurants, great shows. My wife and I love going out to Las Vegas, which is why I wish we had two races out there.”
 


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