Sadler takes blame for letting victory slip away

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Elliott Sadler knows he should he be happy to get a top-five finish in Sunday's Daytona 500, especially after an offseason in which he wasn’t wanted. The competitor in him, though, can’t stop thinking about what could have been.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the day that I would take a fifth-place finish and lead some laps for the Daytona 500, I probably would have taken it,” said Sadler, who was nearly fired by Gillette Evernham Racing before the team merged with Petty Enterprises. “It’s a great way to start the season. But to be a half of a lap short from being the champion of the Daytona 500 is very emotional to me. I had a chance to win it, and I just made one mistake.”

Sadler was blaming himself for not producing a better block on Matt Kenseth on what turned out to be the last lap of the rain-shortened race. He was also agonizing over his lack of good luck.

“It’s funny. My crew chief told me for the last 45 minutes of the race that it’s raining on the radar,” he said. “But when I least needed it, in the lap where I got passed, it starts raining in turn three. It’s the way it is. Welcome to Elliott Sadler’s world.”

Stewart learning

Normally, a ninth-place finish would be a disappointment for Tony Stewart at Daytona, but getting a top-10 in his first race as driver/co-owner of Stewart-Haas Motorsports, and the way it came about, was satisfying.

Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman had to start Sunday’s race in backup cars — the third car for Newman — after wrecking in final practice Saturday. Veteran teams often struggle under those circumstances, but the Stewart-Haas crew rallied to get both teams out with strong cars, even though Newman finished 36th after a loose wheel caused him to lose two laps early.

“The thing I’m most proud of is coming back from the infield care center (Saturday) and seeing all the guys and seeing their attitude and how hard they worked to get us back out again before the end of happy hour. It’s not what you would typically think you would be most proud of, but that’s what stood out, how we handled adversity.”

Hendrick rain-out

The early ending to Sunday’s race foiled a stragetic move by Hendrick Motorsports and drivers Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.

With rain closing in and the race stopped following a wreck on lap 138, the call came for the drivers to pit for fresh tires. With the rest of the leaders staying out, the hope was the fresh rubber would be enough for the two to get to the front.

However, the race ran only three more laps under green before the rains came, relegating Gordon to 13th and Martin to 16th.

“The team made the call to pit, and it would have been a perfect call had we just gotten a few more laps in,” Martin said. “If the thing had gone longer we were heading toward the front with our buddy Jeff Gordon there. I have never had this much fun before, and I am positive that the rest of the year is going to continue this way.”

Logano’s early exit

Rookie Joey Logano expected to learn a thing or two during the race, but what he learned was not to trust a rookie.

Logano’s day ended on lap 82 when he collided with fellow rookie Scott Speed. Speed’s car got loose and collected Logano’s Home Depot Chevy and sent him hard into the infield wall. Though he walked away from the crash, he couldn't shake the disappointment.

“It's a bummer for all the Home Depot guys,” he said. “It looked like the 82 (Speed) was getting loose on the topside and I was underneath him, and he kept checking up, checking up and as he kept doing that I was really far underneath him. It was just a racing deal. I don’t think I should say what I feel inside. I’m not very happy, that’s for sure.”