By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Despite the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway being two months old, the wound of losing the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship is still open for Elliott Sadler.
The veteran driver still blames Ryan Preece for costing him a shot at his first NASCAR championship over then teammate William Byron.
Sadler was unable to clear Preece and got loose trying to pass for position on the inside lane, leaving the door open allowing for Byron to pass him and ultimately winning his first NASCAR championship.
“It’s not something you think about for a week and forget about. It’s still on my mind; the way it all happened,” said Sadler. “It is very disheartening, but I am very thankful for the season I had. We had a good season, good team. There is always something in your mind that you maybe could have done different to create a different outcome.”
After the event, Sadler expressed his displeasure with Preece on pit road. Sadler believes that Preece should have shown him the respect he earned because he was racing for a championship.
“All it was was one car that blocked me for about five laps. That was the whole thing. When you earn the right to run for a championship in that race that you would get better respect. We saw it the next night in the Cup race. We didn’t have that.”
Sadler alluded to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race when Kyle Larson and others moved out-of-the-way so Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch could battle it out for the championship.
Since the scuffle on pit road, Sadler has not talked to Preece stating “there’s nothing to say.”
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Sadler still believes that Preece was not racing for the NXS Owner’s Championsip anymore because Sam Hornish was nearly a half a lap ahead. Sadler believes that reason alone is why losing the championship still hurts.
“When you catch someone like that, we had just made the pass on William and we were pulling away with less than 10 laps to go and you are racing for absolutely nothing at all, that your owner championship guy is half a lap ahead of you. Why not give the respect that is due? We had earned that right, I had felt like and I had thought. That’s why it hurts so bad.”
While Sadler will be competing full-time in the No. 1 One Main Financial Chevrolet for JR Motorsports this season, Preece will run a partial schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing. What will Sadler do if Preece comes near?
“He better not get anywhere near me. That is all I am going to say.”