Sadler wins crash-filled Xfinity Chase opener at Kentucky

Sadler was second on a restart with four of 200 laps remaining but cleared leader Ryan Blaney with a strong push from Daniel Suarez, who moved into second.

Sadler, got a big enough jump that Suarez, also competing in the Chase, never had a chance to attempt a pass for the lead.

Blaney finished third, Sam Hornish Jr. was fourth and Matt Tifft, making his first series start since brain surgery in July, completed the top-five.

“That’s what it’s all about, boys!” Sadler screamed on his team radio as he crossed the finish line.

It’s been a difficult week for Sadler, who spent much of the week with his mother, Bell, who has been in intensive care in a Virginia hospital. She was released Saturday to return to her home to watch the race.

“I’m going to get a little emotional on you, I’ve been in the hospital all week with my mom in ICU watching her fight and fight through a lot of pain and suffering,” Sadler said after the race. “Mom, I love you. She leads so much by example.

“These guys are my heroes. We had a 10th or 15th place car at best. Still had to come in and really take our time and work on it, great pit calls by Kevin (Meendering, crew chief) and the guys to get us in position. Got a good push there at the end.

“This team has no quit in them. We just fight till the end. This is a great way to start the Chase.”

The win is Sadler’s third this season and 17th of his career.

Suarez said he struggled with a tight condition the entire night but was best at the end of the race.

“Right at the end, we were pretty good, maybe just a little tight but we were strong,” he said. “I feel like we were the fastest car out there at the end. I just needed one or two laps more to get the win.”

Chasers collide

With 12 laps to go, the two Chase drivers that led the most laps in the race – Erik Jones and Ty Dillon – got into each other after a restart and were taken out of contention for the win.

The damage was extensive to both cars and both drivers are suddenly in danger of not advancing beyond the first round of the Chase, with races remaining at Dover, Del., and Charlotte before the start of the second round.

“I just got sucked around,” Jones said after the incident. “I tried to slow down but Ty was holding me down there pretty tight on the restart, slamming doors through (Turns) 1 and 2. It was my fault but it’s a pretty tough aero situation to be in.

“I just couldn’t hang on to it. I tried to slow down but he kept slamming down on my door and I did all I could to hang on to it. It definitely looks like we’re going to have to run really well at Dover and Charlotte or even win.”

Jones ended up with finishing 28th.

The race was red-flagged for several minutes as NASCAR worked to clear the track of debris before the final restart.

Dillon’s team took his No. 3 Chevrolet to the garage for repairs but was not allowed to return to the track because NASCAR said the team worked on the car under the red flag, which is not allowed. Dillon ended up credited with a 27th-place finish.

“I had a lot of fun running up front and leading laps with those guys,” Dillon said after the race. “I had a pretty good restart there and had a good run on the outside of (Jones). I heard him loose and there was nowhere I could go.

“I hate to start off the Chase like that in the hole but we did have speed tonight. We can win races. It just hurts, man, when you see (Sadler) win and we knew we were better than him all night. Tough one to swallow.”

Other Chase contenders find trouble

Jones and Dillon weren’t the only Chase drivers to experience problems in Saturday night’s race.

On Lap 96, Josh Berry got into Justin Marks, who in turn made contact with Brandon Jones, spun and hit the wall. Jones took his No. 33 Chevrolet straight to the garage and became the first of the 12 Chase drivers to experience serious problems in the race. He ended up finishing 26th.

On Lap 130, Suarez got loose and made contact with Hornish, who began to spin and collected Chase driver Justin Allgaier in the incident.

Allgaier’s team was able to make repairs on pit road and he continued on in the race. He ended up with a ninth-place finish.

la	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Margin	Laps Led
1	1	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	200		11
2	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	200	0.246
3	22	Ryan Blaney	Ford	200	0.891	10
4	2	Sam Hornish Jr.	Chevrolet	200	0.917
5	18	Matt Tifft	Toyota	200	1.495	2
6	62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	200	1.972	19
7	16	Ryan Reed	Ford	200	2.213
8	6	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Ford	200	2.671	10
9	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	200	3.185
10	48	Brennan Poole	Chevrolet	200	3.477