MANEUVERING WATKINS GLEN: Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala will hit Watkins Glen International Saturday for the Zippo 200 for the second road-course event of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series season. Earlier this season, Sadler raced his way to a fourth-place finish at Road America, the first road course on the schedule. The series will complete its road-course racing for the season next weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada.
SADLER AT THE GLEN: Sadler will return to the seven-turn road course for only the third time in his Nationwide Series career. He has a best finish of 11th when he competed at the track in 1997, and this will be the first time he is back competing in the series since 1998. Sadler, however, made 12 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with one top 10 and a best finish of seventh in 2006.
KHI SUCCESS AT WGI: KHI has made a total of 10 Nationwide Series starts at the New York road course. The organization has earned four top-five and six top-10 finishes, with a best finish of third in 2010 earned by team co-owner Kevin Harvick. KHI also has two pole awards at Watkins Glen with Harvick in 2009 and Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart in 2005.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 OneMain Financial team will bring chassis No. 074 to Watkins Glen. This road-course specific chassis also ran with the No. 2 team at Road America where Sadler brought home a fourth-place finish.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team started from the pole in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Iowa Speedway Saturday night, and earned a third-place finish, garnering the 10th top-five finish of the season for the KHI team.
TO THE POINT: Sadler maintains the third position in the Nationwide Series Driver’s Point Standings. He currently sits 29 points behind leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and 17 points behind Reed Sorenson.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler
How do you feel heading into this week’s race at Watkins Glen International?
“Watkins Glen is a very fast road course. It is a lot faster than Road America, or Sonoma, where I raced in the Sprint Cup Series. If you can get up through the S’s, and if you can get around the back side on the carousel, you are going to have a pretty good day. We have a decent record there. We are taking the same car that we finished in the top five at Road America, so we are feeling really good about that. I just really like road courses, and they seem to be one of my strong suits. We are going with high hopes and intentions, and I think we are going to come out of Watkins Glen with a great finish.”
ARE YOU A CODE SPOTTER? This month kicks off the NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion VIP Experience segment of the Code Spotter sweepstakes. Fans can play the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes for a chance to win a one-of-a-kind VIP Experience with the Nationwide Series champion. To play, enter the code ELLIOTTSADLER once per day through midnight on September 5th at www.CodeSpotter.com.
MOST POPULAR DRIVER: Sadler is eligible for the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver award. Fans can vote for Sadler now through November 17 on www.NASCARNationwideSeries.com.
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.