Sadler ready for return to Bristol

Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet

Photo by: Ted Rossino

HEADING TO BRISTOL: Elliott Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team will head to Bristol Motor Speedway this week for the second time this season. In the NASCAR Nationwide Series' first appearance at the track in March, the No. 2 team battled bad luck after a cut tire in the first practice session forced the team to a backup car. Sadler went on to earn a fourth-place finish, the team's first top-five finish of the season.

EXPERIENCE AT THE WORLD'S FASTEST HALF-MILE: Sadler is no stranger to the Bristol, Tenn., short track. In the Nationwide Series, Sadler has nine starts, including three top-five finishes, one pole (2010), one win (1998) and 125 laps led. The driver also has 25 starts at Bristol in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with three top-five and four top-10 finishes, one pole (2005), one win (2001) and 113 laps led. Sadler also has one start at BMS in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2010.

KHI SUCCESS AT BRISTOL: Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) has made 18 starts at Bristol Motor Speedway since 2005. KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick collected his first win in his own equipment in March 2009. To date, KHI has two poles, one win, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.

SPOTTED IN BRISTOL: The winners of the one-of-a-kind Race Weekend Road Trip VIP Experience with the Nationwide Insurance Code Spotter Sweepstakes will have the opportunity to redeem their prize this weekend. Betty and Daniel Keck of Horseheads, N.Y., will be the special guests of KHI, participating in several race weekend activities with Elliott Sadler and the team.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 OneMain Financial team will unload chassis No. 064 for this weekend's competition at Bristol. This is the fourth time the No. 2 team has utilized this particular chassis, including a fourth-place finish when the Nationwide Series competed in the March event at Bristol. The team also ran No. 064 at Nashville Superspeedway in April and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in July.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sadler and the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet team brought home a 10th-place finish at the driver's first appearance at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The KHI team battled back from a mid-race incident to bring home the team's 16th top-10 finish of the season.

TO THE POINT: Sadler moved up one position in the Nationwide Series Driver's Point Standings to second after the team's 10th-place finish at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last weekend. Sadler sits eight points behind leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and one point ahead of third-place Reed Sorenson with nine events remaining on the 2011 Nationwide Series schedule.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Elliott Sadler How do you feel heading into this week's race at Bristol? "Bristol Motor Speedway is special to me because I went there as a fan when I was a kid. My dad used to take me there for many years in a row, and above all, I was a fan there first. To be able to race there years later, win a Nationwide Series race there in 1998 and to come back and win my first-ever Sprint Cup Series race there in 2001is pretty special. We have a lot of poles, lead a lot of laps and we always just seem to have really good runs there. It fits my driving style very well. I really love that race track. It is close to home and a lot of friends and family from home make the trip to Bristol. Any night race in Bristol is just electric. There is just such excitement for the drivers and fans, and it's one of my favorite races of the year."