Three competitors – two veterans and a rising star representing three different teams and two manufacturers – are separated by just two points at the top of the points standings as the series heads to Chicagoland Speedway for Saturday’s inaugural STP 300.
Elliott Sadler’s lead is tenuous. He’s a single point ahead of Iowa Speedway winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. One point further back is Reed Sorenson.
Each has held the points lead multiple times during the season’s first 13 races; Sadler after the past three races.
Sadler, 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Stenhouse and Sorenson currently have a bit of breathing room. Fourth-place Justin Allgaier, from Riverton, Ill. also makes a homecoming this weekend. He is 22 points off the lead while Aric Almirola is looking at a 51-point deficit as he rounds out the top five.
Sadler is the comeback story of the season so far – a surprise in itself as most tapped him as the driver to beat in pre-season polls. He finished outside the top 10 (including a 38th at Phoenix) in three of his first four starts but since has notched seven top fives and nine top 10s for his Kevin Harvick Inc. team.
Stenhouse’s amazing sophomore season with Roush Fenway Racing continues with three top-five finishes in his most recent three races and a series-leading 10 top 10s.
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