Sam Hornish Jr. cruised to his first Nationwide Series victory Saturday as Elliott Sadler’s championship hopes crumbled behind him.
Taking the lead after a two-tire stop on Lap 131 put him on the front row, Hornish held off teammate Brad Keselowski to win the Wypall 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. Carl Edwards ran third, followed by Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who all but locked up his first series championship with one race left.
The victory was Hornish’s first in NASCAR, but the driver of the No. 12 Dodge scored two IndyCar Series wins at the one-mile track. In fact, Hornish got his first victory in the open-wheel series at Phoenix in March 2001. NASCAR.com
Stenhouse’s fifth-place finish allowed him to take a 41-point lead over Elliott Sadler with only one race to go—next Saturday at Homestead, FL. Sadler’s hopes of winning the championship in NASCAR’s second-tier series essentially came to an end after he was involved in a five-car accident with 24 laps to go, leading to his 27th-place finish. He entered the penultimate race 17 points behind Stenhouse.
All seven cautions in the 200-lap race were caused by accidents on the newly repaved and reconfigured one-mile track.
“I won so much over at Indy that I didn’t know how much to appreciate it at the time,” Hornish said.
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 2 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 3 60 Carl Edwards Ford 4 18 Joey Logano Toyota 5 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 6 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 7 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 8 20 Ryan Truex * Toyota 9 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 10 62 Michael Annett Toyota 11 70 David Stremme Chevrolet 12 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 13 32 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 14 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 15 134 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 16 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 17 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 18 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 19 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 20 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 21 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 22 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet 23 40 T.J. Duke Chevrolet 24 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 25 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 26 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 27 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 28 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 29 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 30 30 James Buescher Chevrolet 31 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 32 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 33 180 D.J. Kennington Dodge 34 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 35 182 Reed Sorenson Dodge 36 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 37 147 Scott Speed Chevrolet 38 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 39 171 Matthew Carter Chevrolet 40 141 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 41 11 Brian Scott Toyota 42 39 Matt Frahm Ford 43 104 Tim Andrews Ford
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