Sadler Wins Statement Race In Iowa

Sadler (2) rebounds at Iowa

Elliott Sadler capped a nightmare week with a dream finish Saturday, winning the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway; his fourth victory of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season.

Sadler's win came just a week after a controversial restart penalty at Indianapolis Motor Speedway cost him an apparent win and slashed his championship lead over teammate Austin Dillon to a single point.

"It's been a tough week," admitted Sadler Saturday, calling the Indy penalty a “life changing event. We felt like we should have won that race last week. My dad had knee surgery this week, and he gave me the best advice. He said, 'Do not let them take this championship away from you. Go to Iowa and kick their butts'."

Sadler did exactly that, qualifying on the pole and running at the font of the pack throughout the race before taking the lead from Justin Allgaier with 58 laps remaining and pulling away to a six car length victory.

"I think we're going to be really good for the rest of the year," promised Sadler. "I'm driving with a lot of confidence, and (crew chief) Luke Lambert is making a lot of good adjustments right now. We're probably communicating the best right now that we have all season."

The Richard Childress Racing driver now holds an 18-point lead over Dillon, who made an unplanned pit stop while running third to correct a vibration. Sam Hornish Jr. finished third to claim the $100,000 Nationwide "Dash 4 Cash" bonus. Michael Annett finished fourth, followed by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Michael McDowell, impressive youngster Darrell Wallace Jr., Jason Leffler, first-time Nationwide driver Brett Moffitt and Ryan Blaney.