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Elliott Sadler survived/won Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway.

Sadler, for whom it was his 10th series victory, led nine times for a race-best 40 laps.

“We stayed on the bottom (on a final restart), stuck to our guns, David Ragan did a good job of pushing us and we were able to hold those guys off at the end,” said a jubilant Sadler. “It means a lot for me to get this JGR team to victory lane. They’ve worked their butts off last year and we weren’t able to reward them. We have a lot of momentum on our side, we let one get away from us at Darlington, so to come back here and get one for all of our sponsors this is really good.”

Chris Buescher was a career-best second ahead of Regan Smith, Ragan and pole-sitter Sam Hornish Jr to make up the top-five.

“Congratulations to Elliott Sadler, but this Roush Performance Mustang was awesome all weekend,” said Buescher, after his Nationwide restrictor plate debut. “We knew we had a good piece, we just had to pull through with it. Regan Smith pushed me at the end. That’s about all you can ask for because I’m still very new to this speedway racing, so to be able to pull off a second is really cool to me. We got the finish we deserved today.”

Joe Nemechek, J.J. Yeley, Landon Cassill, Starr and Bayne comprised the remainder of the top-10.

After nine races, Elliott continues to lead the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings ahead of Sadler (-1), Smith (-3), Bayne (-31) and Dillon (-31).

Next up for the NASCAR Nationwide Series is a trip to Iowa Speedway for the running of the Get To Know Newton 250 presented by Sherwin-Williams on Sunday, May 18.

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NASCAR Nationwide Series Race – Aaron’s 312

Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega, Alabama

Saturday, May 03, 2014

1. (2) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 117, $58020.

2. (8) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 117, $48925.

3. (32) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 117, $35675.

4. (13) David Ragan(i), Ford, 117, $26025.

5. (1) Sam Hornish Jr, Toyota, 117, $35900.

6. (38) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, 117, $27825.

7. (34) JJ Yeley, Dodge, 117, $26625.

8. (12) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 117, $25975.

9. (16) David Starr, Toyota, 117, $25350.

10. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 117, $26475.

11. (36) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 117, $25100.

12. (19) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 117, $24975.

13. (15) John Wes Townley(i), Toyota, 117, $18800.

14. (29) Tommy Joe Martins, Dodge, 117, $18625.

15. (7) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 117, $25150.

16. (39) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 117, $24575.

17. (18) Eric McClure, Toyota, 117, $24250.

18. (5) Dakoda Armstrong #, Ford, 117, $24325.

19. (37) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 117, $23975.

20. (27) Ryan Sieg #, Chevrolet, 117, $24550.

21. (6) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 116, $23850.

22. (31) Kasey Kahne(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 111, $17520.

23. (33) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 111, $23370.

24. (4) Ryan Reed #, Ford, 108, $23470.

25. (40) Chad Boat #, Chevrolet, Accident, 107, $23570.

26. (24) Josh Wise(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 91, $22920.

27. (17) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 87, $22795.

28. (26) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Accident, 86, $16670.

29. (9) James Buescher, Toyota, 86, $22520.

30. (20) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 78, $16595.

31. (3) Darrell Wallace Jr(i), Toyota, 74, $22595.

32. (22) Robert Richardson Jr, Chevrolet, Engine, 63, $22170.

33. (10) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, Accident, 61, $22135.

34. (11) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, Accident, 61, $22100.

35. (28) Dylan Kwasniewski #, Chevrolet, Accident, 43, $22055.

36. (30) Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, Engine, 31, $14730.

37. (35) Carl Long, Dodge, Electrical, 14, $20695.

38. (25) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 4, $14661.

39. (23) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, Vibration, 3, $14525.

40. (14) Blake Koch, Toyota, Vibration, 1, $14425.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 131.224 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.124 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 29 laps.

Lead Changes: 27 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders: 0; R. Reed # 1-29; B. Gaughan 30; T. Dillon # 31-33; E. Sadler 34-39; B. Scott 40-41; E. Sadler 42; B. Scott 43-45; J. Clements 46; J. Gase 47; R. Blaney(i) 48-49; B. Scott 50; E. Sadler 51; B. Scott 52; E. Sadler 53; B. Scott 54; E. Sadler 55-57; B. Scott 58-59; E. Sadler 60-66; J. Yeley 67; E. Sadler 68-83; R. Smith 84-103; D. Starr 104-107; C. Elliott # 108-110; D. Starr 111; E. Sadler 112-115; C. Buescher # 116; E. Sadler 117.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Sadler 9 times for 40 laps; R. Reed # 1 time for 29 laps; R. Smith 1 time for 20 laps; B. Scott 6 times for 10 laps; D. Starr 2 times for 5 laps; C. Elliott # 1 time for 3 laps; T. Dillon # 1 time for 3 laps; R. Blaney(i) 1 time for 2 laps; J. Yeley 1 time for 1 lap; J. Clements 1 time for 1 lap; J. Gase 1 time for 1 lap; C. Buescher # 1 time for 1 lap; B. Gaughan 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: C. Elliott # – 339; E. Sadler – 338; R. Smith – 336; T. Bayne – 308; T. Dillon # – 308; B. Scott – 277; B. Gaughan – 250; J. Buescher – 244; C. Buescher # – 229; R. Reed # – 225.

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