Sam Hornish Jr. celebrates his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory on Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. (Bruce Nuttleman | UltimateLapPhoto.com)Click for Full Event Photo Gallery
by Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
Sam Hornish Jr. cruised to his first Nationwide Series victory Saturday as Elliott Sadler’s championship hopes crumbled behind him.
Taking the lead after a two-tire stop on Lap 131 put him on the front row, Hornish held off teammate Brad Keselowski to win the Wypall 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Carl Edwards ran third, followed by Joey Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who all but locked up his first series championship with one race left.
The victory was Hornish’s first in NASCAR racing, but the driver of the No. 12 Dodge scored two IndyCar Series wins at the one-mile track. In fact, Hornish got his first victory in the open-wheel series at Phoenix in March 2001.
"It feels great to be able to race Brad and Carl there at the end," said Hornish, who has been driving part time in the Nationwide Series this season. "I’m just so happy. These guys have all worked so hard. We’ve been on and off all year long. It’s been a tough year for us for a lot of different reasons.
"Every 10 years, I guess, I get to come to victory lane here for the first time in a different kind of car, so it’s pretty special."
Sadler, who entered the race 17 points behind Stenhouse, saw his championship hopes disappear on Lap 175. After cutting across the backstretch dogleg, Sadler moved back up the track well clear of Jason Leffler and polesitter Aric Almirola, who were racing side-by-side.
At the entrance to Turn 3, a tap from Leffler’s Chevrolet spun Sadler, whose No. 2 Chevrolet slammed into the outside wall, collecting Almirola in the process. Morgan Shepherd’s Chevrolet was destroyed when the 70-year-old driver got up into the marbles trying to avoid the wreck. Sadler finished 27th and trails Stenhouse by 41 points.
"I’m sure that the video shows that the 38 (Leffler) just ran right into the back of us," Sadler said. "Not much respect for guys running for the championship. It’s very frustrating. You work all season long to put yourself in a situation, and it all goes away in a split second."
Leffler accepted responsibility for the wreck.
"I was racing Aric, but I take full responsibility," Leffler said. "I ran right into the back of him. It wasn’t on purpose. It was a mistake on my part. I feel bad for him and his guys. When a guy slides across like that, it kills all the momentum. He’s a good driver, a smart driver, so obviously he lifted early to keep from blowing the corner.
"I was racing Aric and just made a mistake. It’s all my fault. That’s the last thing I wanted to do to Elliott and his guys."
The race was less than a lap old when an eight-car wreck in Turn 3 ruined Danica Patrick’s day. Patrick backed into the outside wall and lost three laps to Almirola, who led the first 66 laps, as her car was being repaired. She finished 21st.
Almirola surrendered the top spot to Stenhouse on Lap 67. Stenhouse pulled out to a lead of more than two seconds before caution for D.J. Kennington’s collision with the Turn 2 wall on Lap 84 bunched the field.
Stenhouse stayed out front after pit stops and again pulled away after a restart on Lap 91. Keselowski passed Almirola for the second spot on Lap 107 but couldn’t close significantly on Stenhouse, who maintained an advantage of approximately three seconds as the top two cars worked traffic.
A violent wreck on Lap 130 involving Derrike Cope and Mike Bliss brought out the fourth yellow. Stenhouse was first off pit road under the yellow, and Sadler gained eight positions with a two-tire stop. He restarted fifth behind Stenhouse, Hornish, Keselowski and Logano when the field took the green flag on Lap 140.
Hornish powered around Stenhouse to the outside to take the lead, but the race was yellow-flagged for the fifth time on Lap 143 when contact from Steve Wallace’s Toyota sent James Buescher’s Chevrolet spinning into the frontstretch wall.
After the restart on Lap 151, Hornish opened a margin of more than a second over Keselowski, who surged from sixth to second in the space of two laps and then began to close on his Penske Racing teammate.
---
NASCAR Nationwide Series Race Number 33
Unofficial Race Results for the 13Th Annual Wypall 200 - Saturday, November 12, 2011
Phoenix International Raceway - Phoenix, AZ - 1 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 200 Miles - Purse: $1,180,165
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 5 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Alliance Truck Parts Dodge 200 47 4 129.8 $39,350 Running 1 61
2 10 22 Brad Keselowski(i) Discount Tire Dodge 200 0 118.5 $32,300 Running
3 2 60 Carl Edwards(i) World Financial Group Ford 200 0 117.3 $40,500 Running
4 9 18 Joey Logano(i) GameStop / Call of Duty MW3 Toyota 200 0 114.0 $27,400 Running
5 11 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Drive one. Ford 200 41 2 135.0 $31,718 Running 1 73
6 3 16 Trevor Bayne AirHogs.com Ford 200 38 101.0 $27,768 Running
7 4 33 Clint Bowyer(i) Rheem Heating Cooling & Water Heating Chevrolet 200 0 105.2 $20,000 Running
8 8 20 Ryan Truex # Martin Truex Jr. Foundation Toyota 200 36 93.5 $25,643 Running
9 7 31 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 200 35 99.3 $26,278 Running
10 19 62 Michael Annett Oakley / Pilot Travel Centers / Flying J Toyota 200 34 84.5 $24,893 Running
11 20 70 David Stremme(i) ForeTravel Motorcoach Chevrolet 200 0 86.2 $27,818 Running
12 14 87 Joe Nemechek AM/FM Energy Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota 200 32 83.1 $24,318 Running
13 42 32 Ron Hornaday(i) Dollar General Chevrolet 200 0 80.2 $23,868 Running
14 13 81 Blake Koch # Daystar.com Dodge 200 30 76.5 $23,308 Running
15 27 34 Ricky Carmichael(i) Monster Energy / QT QuikTrip Chevrolet 200 0 76.1 $17,330 Running
16 36 01 Mike Wallace I Hate Steven Singer! Chevrolet 199 28 63.5 $23,763 Running
17 12 09 Kenny Wallace TOYOTA Toyota 197 27 65.4 $22,853 Running
18 35 15 Timmy Hill # Poynt.com / Lilly Trucking Ford 197 26 63.7 $22,693 Running
19 38 14 Eric McClure Hefty Black Out / Reynolds Chevrolet 197 25 50.2 $22,583 Running
20 37 52 Kevin Lepage Tilted Kilt Sports Bar Chevrolet 197 24 49.1 $16,730 Running
21 25 7 Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 196 23 53.3 $22,363 Running
22 30 23 Robert Richardson Jr. North Texas Pipe Chevrolet 195 22 53.4 $22,253 Running
23 40 40 TJ Duke Merrill Lynch Chevrolet 191 21 42.0 $15,650 Running
24 39 51 Jeremy Clements Phoenix Automotive Cores Chevrolet 176 20 64.2 $22,408 Accident
25 1 88 Aric Almirola Suave MEN / Fry's Food Stores Chevrolet 174 20 1 107.6 $27,198 Accident 1 66
26 18 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Chevrolet 174 18 82.9 $22,088 Accident
27 6 2 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet 174 17 80.7 $21,878 Accident
28 21 89 Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Racing Chevrolet 174 16 61.4 $15,340 Accident
29 22 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Toyota 174 15 72.2 $21,733 Running
30 15 30 James Buescher(i) Exide Chevrolet 142 0 76.4 $21,998 Accident
31 17 19 Mike Bliss Millennium Salon / Spa Software & Elemnt Pymnt 129 13 65.1 $22,063 Accident
32 41 28 Derrike Cope MAXelence.com Chevrolet 125 12 45.0 $21,628 Accident
33 34 80 D J Kennington NPP/Clark/Whitemud Dodge 82 11 46.4 $15,125 Accident
34 28 44 Jeff Green Tri Star Motorsports Chevrolet 38 10 38.2 $15,090 Rear Gear
35 23 82 Reed Sorenson Foametix / Bullet Liner Dodge 34 9 42.3 $15,055 Accident
36 26 49 Mark Green Acredale Vending Chevrolet 15 8 40.2 $15,020 Brakes
37 16 47 Scott Speed Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 6 7 40.1 $14,975 Brakes
38 43 46 Chase Miller Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 6 6 38.6 $14,940 Rear Gear
39 29 71 Matt Carter Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 2 5 37.1 $14,865 Vibration
40 33 41 Johnny Chapman Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 1 4 35.6 $14,830 Accident
41 24 11 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Toyota 0 3 34.1 $21,263 Accident
42 31 04 Tim Andrews Go Green Racing Ford 0 2 31.6 $14,745 Accident
43 32 39 Matt Frahm TSP Powder Coating Ford 0 1 32.1 $21,145 Accident
Race Comments: Before an estimated attendance of 40,000, Sam Hornish won the WYPALL 200, his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #28,32 (adjustments outside impound), 47 missed drivers meeting).
Failed to Qualify: (4) 13 Jennifer Jo Cobb #, 75 Carl Long, 42 Josh Wise, 02 Daryl Harr.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 35 Secs. Average Speed: 91.895 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.553 Seconds
Caution Flags: 7 for 44 laps: Laps: 2-9 (#7,11,32,39,41,44,82,04 accident Turn 3 [None]); 37-43 (#82 accident Turn 2 [01]); 86-90 (#80 accident Turn 2 [89]); 131-139 (#19,28 accident frontstretch [89]); 145-150 (#30,66 accident Turn 1 [51]); 162-165 (#23,89 accident Turn 4 [51]); 177-181 (#2,38,51,88, 89 accident Turn 3 {red flag 11 min 27 s} [01]).
Lead Changes: 2 among 3 drivers: A. Almirola 1-66; R. Stenhouse Jr. 67-139; S. Hornish Jr. 140-200.
This article was posted to the website on November 12th, 2011 • Click to view all related content in the following categories
