HEADING TO INDY: Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial team will head to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis this week for the 21st event of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Sadler will return to the 0.686-mile track in the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet for the first time since 1998. Sadler has competed at the track a total of three times with a best finish of second in 1997 and 1998.
KHI AT LOR: The KHI organization has made eight starts at Lucas Oil
Raceway, with a total of one top-five and three top-10 finishes. Ron Hornaday holds the highest KHI finish at the Indianapolis track in 2007, bringing home a fifth-place finish.
DOUBLE DUTY: Sadler will double up this weekend, competing in both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series events at Lucas Oil Raceway. Friday night, Sadler will hit the track in the No. 2 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet Silverado for the Truck Series event. He will turn around on Saturday for the Nationwide Series race in the No.2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet. Sadler has made five Truck Series starts this season with a best finish of second at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
HOMECOMING: Front tire changer on the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, Tim Sheets, will be returning to his hometown of Indianapolis this weekend as the series hits Lucas Oil Raceway. Sheets, who attended Carmel High School, has worked in the sport for more than 13 years and attended races at Lucas Oil Raceway growing up. “It’s always great to be able to race in Indianapolis in front of friends and family,” said Sheets. “It’s going to be a bittersweet race at LOR with the series not racing there next year.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The OneMain Financial team will unload chassis No. 064 at Lucas Oil Raceway this weekend. This is the same chassis the team brought to the first race at Nashville Superspeedway this season, where Sadler drove to a 13th-place finish. The team also used this chassis at Dover (Del.) International Speedway earlier in May where they drove away with a sixth-place finish.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet finished 30th at Nashville Superspeedway after a broken gear on lap 179 forced the team to bring the car to the garage for repairs. The Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team quickly assessed the problem on the Chevrolet and was able to finish the event 32 laps down.
TO THE POINT: Following the race in Nashville, Sadler moves to third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Driver’s Point Standings, 14 markers behind leader Reed Sorenson and five back from Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
MOST POPULAR DRIVER: Sadler is contender for the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver award. Fans can vote for Sadler now through November 17 on NASCARNationwideSeries.com.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler
How do you feel heading into this week’s race at Lucas Oil Raceway?
“This will be the first time going to Lucas Oil Raceway in a really long time. I’m used to racing at the big track for the last 12 years, but I’m excited to go back to LOR. It was one of the first races that I competed in the Nationwide Series in 1996. I love that race track, and the fans there are absolutely amazing. They are always wrapped all the way around the track, sitting on the hillside with their blankets and chairs, which is cool as a driver to see. It is always a great atmosphere to race at that place, and it always puts on a good show. It’s always a fun short track to go to, and I’m looking forward to racing there this year as the Nationwide Series will not be there next season.”
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.