An angry #11-Elliott Sadler told #7-Regan Smith he wasn’t going to win the Nationwide Series championship after Smith turned Sadler while they battled for third on the final restart Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Sadler finished 18th in The Profit 200 while Smith held on for an eighth-place finish.
“He just said he lost control of his car,” Sadler said afterward. “I don’t know why he has to race us that way. I don’t race him that way. He admitted he lost control of his car and took us out.” Losing those 15 spots at the end of the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver fell from third to fifth in the standings, 24 points behind Smith.
“You will not win this championship, mark my word,” Sadler yelled at Smith afterward in the garage. Smith took the blame. “The 20 (of Brian Vickers) went to block him and he went down to block me and I had a run on the inside so I went in there and got way down on the flat (of the apron),” Smith said.
“I lost the nose of my car and then slid sideways trying to keep off of him initially there and when I did, it snapped back into him and took him out. It’s my fault. I hate that happened. You can’t take it back.”
