Sadler reflects on another second-place finish at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Another race at Daytona, another second-place finish for Elliott Sadler.

The Virginia-native has now scored three consecutive runner-up finishes at the track dubbed as ‘The World Center of Racing’.

In July 2017, Sadler finished second to teammate William Byron after a multi-car accident occurred after the field crossed the overtime line and the caution flag waved, ultimately ending the race.

In February 2018, the driver was a part of NASCAR history. Again, teammate Tyler Reddick beat him to the line in a photo finish by .0002 seconds. The margin of victory is now the closest in NASCAR history.

Friday night in the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, Sadler was side-by-side with Kyle Larson coming out of Turn 4 in what looked like would be another photo finish.

Justin Haley made an aggressive move around the bottom of the track around Larson and Sadler to cross the line first, but moments after the race conclusion, the move was deemed illegal by NASCAR after instant replay showed Haley advancing position below the yellow line.

Kyle Larson ended up edging Sadler to the line by .005 seconds. Both of Sadler’s 2018 Daytona finishes combined have a margin of victory by less than one second.

Sadler was somber during his post-race media obligation.

“It’s been a tough day for me, lot of stuff going on at home, winning the race here tonight would have made a big difference,” Sadler said.

Sadler, despite being the current series point leader, is currently riding his second longest winless streak in his XFINITY Series career.

The next stop for the XFINITY Series is Kentucky Speedway, which is also the site of Sadler’s last victory in 2016, 55 races ago.

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info