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Elliott Sadler No. 2 Nationwide Series Advance: Daytona International Speedway

06/27/11

TWO CARS, ONEMAIN FINANCIAL: At Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway this weekend, OneMain Financial will be on board not only the No. 2 Chevrolet Impala driven by Elliott Sadler, but also the No. 4 Chevrolet Impala piloted by his team owner, Kevin Harvick. The duo, both competing for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), will be sporting the colors of OneMain Financial in an effort to promote the new brand of the organization.

SADLER AT DAYTONA: Sadler has competed at Daytona in the NASCAR Nationwide Series four times, with a best finish of 15th in 1997. He has led a total of 30 laps around the 2.5-mile track, and looks to lead more this weekend. Sadler also has experience at the superspeedway across two other NASCAR series, making 24 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, with four top-five and nine top-10 finishes at the track with 58 laps led. The Emporia, Va., native has made two starts at Daytona in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with one top-five and one top-10 finish, and 56 laps led.

KHI’S FOUR HORSEMEN: KHI will field four entries in Friday night’s race with Nationwide Series championship contender Sadler in the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, KHI co-owner Harvick in the No. 4 Chevrolet Impala, Clint Bowyer in the No. 33 Menards Chevrolet Impala and driver Tony Stewart in the No. 9 TapouT Chevrolet Impala. These four powerhouse drivers have compiled an impressive set of series stats including 44 starts, seven poles, eight wins, 26 top-five finishes, 31 top-10 finishes and have led 542 laps at the infamous 2.5-mile superspeedway.

PROVEN RECORD: In February of 2005, Tony Stewart grabbed KHI’s first win in the Nationwide Series behind the wheel of the No. 33 car. The following year, Stewart not only claimed victory again in the season opener but also gave KHI its first one-two finish as the No. 77 KHI Chevrolet Impala came in second behind the No. 33. Since 2005, KHI has recorded three additional wins, two poles, eight-top five and 11 top-10 finishes and led 194 laps at Daytona.

DASH 4 CASH: In the first of four Dash 4 Cash events of the season, Sadler has the opportunity to compete as one of the top four drivers in the series for $100,000. The highest finishing driver of the four at Daytona will win the monetary prize and will automatically qualify for the next event at Iowa Speedway in August. The three-highest finishing drivers that receive Nationwide Series Championship driver points will also qualify for Iowa. The other events include Richmond International Raceway in September and Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.

TO THE POINT: Heading into the race at Daytona, Sadler remains in the second position in the Driver’s Point standings for the third week in a row. Sadler sits five points behind leader Reed Sorenson, who took the victory at Road America last weekend.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team finished fourth in a wild event at the first road course race of the season at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Running in the top-10 for most of the day, crew chief Ernie Cope developed a fuel-mileage strategy with only two pit stops planned during the scheduled 50-lap event. After three green-white-checkered attempts, the field received the checkered flag under caution with the No. 2 in the fourth position, and just enough fuel to cross the finish line.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 team will bring chassis No. 073 to Daytona this week. This superspeedway car is the same chassis the team took to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April where Sadler grabbed his first pole of the season. The team led eight laps before finishing in the fifth position at the 2.5-mile track.

ARE YOU A CODE SPOTTER? This is the last week fans can play the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind Race Weekend Road Trip VIP Experience with Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 team at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Last month kicked off the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) segment of the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes and the segment ends this Sunday, July 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET. To play, enter the code KHINC now at CodeSpotter.com.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler
How do you feel heading into this week’s race at Daytona International Speedway?
“At Daytona, it’s either feast of famine for me. We had a really fast car there in February, but got caught up in a wreck early and finished 38th. Of course, my team owner Kevin Harvick will be in another OneMain Financial car, so I’m sure that we will find each other and help each other throughout the whole race. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to help OneMain Financial to celebrate their brand launch this weekend, and I hope that we can bring home a victory for everyone! Daytona is a special place to a lot of people because it is the France family’s birthplace and where the roots of NASCAR started. I always look forward to going down there on the Fourth of July weekend. It’s a special race that kind of marks the middle of the season. When you leave Daytona, you have a feeling of how the rest of the season will go. It’s going to be a great race.”

Media Access: Members of the media can now log on to www.kevinharvickinc.com to gain access to press kit information online. For more information, please email Erin Sagester at KHI at esagester@kevinharvickinc.com.

CitiFinancial
CitiFinancial, soon to be OneMain Financial, is the premier community lender in North America. With more than 1,300 locations across the United States. CitiFinancial has been serving communities since 1912.  Additional information may be found at www.citifinancial.com.

Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

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Fast Facts:

Elliott Sadler
Nationwide Series Statistics at
Daytona International Speedway
Starts: 4
Wins: 0
Poles: 1 (1997)
Top 5: 0
Top 10: 0
Laps Led: 30
Average Start: 12.8
Average Finish: 29.2

Race Info:
July 1, 2011
Daytona International Speedway
2.5-Mile Tri-Oval
Subway Jalapeno 250 presented by Coca-Cola
100 Laps/250 Miles

Broadcast Info:
TV: ESPN will broadcast live at 7:30 p.m. ET
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Chanel 90 will broadcast live at 7:30 p.m. ET

Car Specs:
Chassis: 073
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)


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