NASCAR Nationwide Series: Ford EcoBoost 300

Topics:  Ford EcoBoost 300

Elliott Sadler
November 17, 2012

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA

KERRY THARP:  Elliott Sadler joins us.  He drives the No.2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet.  Elliott, talk about your race tonight, what you had to do, and maybe things didn't work out your way, but you're holding your son there and that means a lot to you.  Talk about your season in general.
ELLIOTT SADLER:  I mean, it was disappointing to finish second, but the positives, we won some races together, won four races, won four poles, led some laps, made some really good friends on the 2 car.  I feel like just let the guys down.  I really have a lot of respect for this team.  We've got along so well and probably one of the most fun seasons I've ever had as a race car driver.  You win some races, you have some peaks and you have some valleys, and we just had a few valleys there coming down the stretch that just kind of took the momentum away from us and where we lost control of the championship.
But all in all, yes, it is disappointing.  This one does hurt worse than last year because we did control the points the whole entire season, and we knew Ricky was going to be tough to race for the championship.  But I want to try to take the positives out of it, learn from it, and go home and spend some time with my family.

Q.  Can you talk about how your car seemed very loose much of the night, the car's handling and the parts of the race that you were loose?
ELLIOTT SADLER:  I was really happy with my car to be honest with you.  We were loose and we had a loose lug nut so we had to go to rear of the field, and on the green I think we drove from last car on the lead lap all the way to third battling with the 5 car there for second.
Something went through the front of my car and knocked the whole grille in, and my car is just ‑‑ it's one of those months, one of those seasons, the way it ended up.  But something knocked a hole‑‑ I think we had a shot to win the race.  I felt like we‑‑ maybe not as good as the 54, but I feel like we were just as good as the 5, and right there the last restart, going to turn and it wouldn't turn, and really got tight, and my car hadn't drove like that all weekend long, and come in and the whole entire grille is knocked out of the front of the car.
Just a tough race for us to end that way.  I really wanted to go to victory lane with these guys to kind of end the season.

Q.  Outside I think you mentioned Indy again.  To you is that really sort of the pivotal moment of the season?  Is that where it turned?
ELLIOTT SADLER:  Yeah, I think Indy was just really a blow to our race team, something that we really fought to get over because we just felt like we got done so bad, so wrong as a race team, and that's hard to live with because you put your heart and soul in each and every week that you race, all of us do.  I don't care if you race in the trucks, the Nationwide or the Cup, you put your heart and soul into it, and after Indy it was tough to get over and after Phoenix where I messed up at Phoenix.  That was tough getting over that this past weekend.  But I only lost 10 points at Phoenix and I think I lost 18 or 19 at Indy.
Those two races really kind of caused us to lose a lot of momentum.
KERRY THARP:  Elliott, thanks a lot, and good season, and enjoy your family.