By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
For the fifth straight weekend to start the 2018 XFINITY Series season, Elliott Sadler finished in the top 10 at the end of the day.
Starting 11th for Saturday’s Roseanne 300 at Auto Club Speedway, the veteran kept it quite in the opening stages before making gains toward the front in the final stage, as cautions kept the race from having those long runs in the race’s final half.
“My car was way better on the long run near the end of the race,” Sadler said. “We knew some cautions were coming and we had some sets of tires left on the ground. JRM cars were fast again this weekend.”
Indeed, they were. Sadler, who came home third in his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, was beaten to the line by teammate Justin Allgaier. The two had a hearty battle for the runner-up spot before the No. 7 of Allgaier edged Sadler by just 0.047 at the line.
“That’s what I love about this racetrack, it gives you so many different options,” he said of the racing. “I was trying to make the shorter way around the distance and [Allgaier] was keeping his car up near the top. Good, clean racing. We gave each other plenty of room, we did race each other hard. That’s what it’s all about.”
Teammates battle late and @J_Allgaier gets the better of it finishing P2.@Elliott_Sadler finishes P3. #NASCARGoesWest pic.twitter.com/k9ddT9HsfS
— NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts (@NASCAROReillyAP) March 17, 2018
When the dominator of the day, Joey Logano, restarted 16th with 26 laps to go after pitting, Sadler held the top spot for four laps before the No. 22 powered back by toward the victory. And with the race’s final caution waving with 10 laps to go leading to one more round of pit stops, Sadler was happy to have the pit crew to keep him up front.
“When the chips were down, they nailed it and got me into position,” he said. “I tried to push Joey to maybe get to the outside of him, but man, he was so fast through the center.”
This third-place result continues a run of six straight top-10 finishes dating back to the 2017 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November. His five consecutive top 10s to start this season makes him the only driver to finish top 10 in every race thus far in 2018. He leaves the California track as the points leader, just four points ahead of JRM teammate Tyler Reddick.
“I think that four top fives in the first five races for this team, that’s a pretty good rebound coming out of the offseason,” he said. “That’s a pretty good start for us. They’re putting out great racecars, trying to do the best I can with them.”