Elliott Sadler took the lead with fewer than 30 laps remaining and held off Brad Keselowski over the final laps to win Saturday's Basha's Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. It is Sadler's first victory in the series since 1998 and sixth overall. The win comes in his second start driving for legendary car owner Richard Childress.
Keselowski took second, ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Sadler's Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick. Harvick dominated the race, leading 107 of the 200 laps, but he was unable to climb from seventh after the final pit stop despite having four fresh tires while the leaders had two.
Sam Hornish Jr., who won at Phoenix last November, placed sixth, ahead of Trevor Bayne and Joey Logano. Polesitter Denny Hamlin finished a disappointing ninth after dominating the race's early laps. Michael Annett completed the top-10 despite smacking the wall hard in the event's middle stages.
Sadler had not won a Nationwide Series event since claiming the October 1998 race at Rockingham, driving for team owner Gary Bechtel. He moved to the Cup Series for 1999 and remained there on a full-time basis through 2010, winning three times but never coming close to fulfilling the promise held for him. Last season he returned to the Nationwide circuit with Harvick's team, finishing second in points but failing to record a win. When Harvick and his wife DeLana sold the team to Childress, Sadler was retained as driver of the No. 2 machine. He finished second at Daytona last week, taking the point lead (winner James Buescher has declared for the Camping World Truck Series championship). He extends that lead with his victory today.