Elliott Sadler is happy to see ‘Old Bristol’ make a return

Sadler comments on the on-track argument with Nemechek; The low groove at Bristol; Lack of Kyle Busch in Xfinity

Old Bristol was back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Bristol Motor Speedway. If you’re younger than 20, or if you’re a new NASCAR fan, you might not know what that means. In summery, they brought the show back to the Last Great Colosseum.

That means Bristol Motor Speedway was one groove around the bottom with hot tempers, close racing and excitement. We saw crash after crash, which is a direct result of bumper to bumper racing. We also saw bump and runs for a stage win.

“I think it was a great race. There was a lot of battling going on, front to back,” Elliott Sadler stated from the Bristol Motor Speedway media center.

“It’s definitely a little different when Kyle Busch is not in a race at Bristol. I think everybody have a different sense of opportunity.”

Kyle Busch and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series racers were not allowed to enter the race yesterday. For all of the Dash for Cash races, it’s Xfinity only competition.

Sadler vs Nemechek

Elliott Sadler played a little bit of bumper tag with John Hunter Nemechek.

Early in stage 1, Matt Tifft and Justin Allgaier tangled off turn 2. Sadler checked up down the back. Nemechek swung from the top lane to the bottom, clipping Sadler in the right rear before the entry to turn 3. Sadler was pointed toward the outside wall and made front end contact with the safer barrier.

“The #42 car run over the back of us. Tell him to go to hell. I got a lot of front damage,” Elliott Sadler radio’d to his crew following the incident.

Elliott Sadler, John Hunter Nemechek at Bristol Motor Speedway
Elliott Sadler, John Hunter Nemechek at Bristol Motor Speedway (Photo: Robert Laberge – Getty Images for NASCAR)

After that, Sadler pulled along-side Nemechek and side-swiped him under caution. He then pulled in front of him and stabbed the brake pedal until Nemechek ran into the back of the stopped #1 car.

After the race, Sadler discussed that incident with Nemechek.

“The beef with Nemechek… He just run over the back of us.”

“He drives like that in the track series. That’s cool. I don’t run the Truck Series but don’t come up here and drive like that in the Xfinity Series.”

“We kinda fight back a little bit. My beef with him was, quit drivin’ off your hood and start lookin’ ahead and use your head a little bit.”

“But, I know he’s young. He’s just startin’, I gotta understand that too. But, in the heat of the moment when I’m trying to get myself in position to go for $100,000. And it’s Bristol. You don’t always keep your temper at a regular level, like you should.”

Old Bristol

“Yesterday, at the end of practice I kinda used some experience on how the old track kinda drove,” Elliott Sadler said following the NXS race at Bristol.

“That’s the way I drove all day today. It kinda reminded me of the old Bristol. If you could get your car to hook around the bottom and have good forward drive off then you were gunna be pretty fast.”

“I’m kinda glad the groove didn’t move up. It kinda reminded me of the old Bristol. You got a run on somebody off the corner or if you got into them a little too hard in [turn] 3, you could move them up and go around them on the bottom.”

“I thought it created some great racing. I’d love to see the track put the stuff back down again tonight. To give the Cup cars some opportunity for that.”

“I think they’ll go to the top more. Just because they’re lackin’ downforce, heavier car, going in the corners faster. To create another lane that we usually don’t have toward the end of the race.”

“I think that’s why you saw such a good race today is because the opportunity that the bottom presented.”

Elliott Sadler rebounded from the stage 1 crash to finish 4th at Bristol Motor Speedway.

As far as old Bristol. It took them long enough to figure it out. We the fans have only been asking for it for the last 10 years.

More

Related: Elliott Sadler vs Ryan Preece at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Related: Cole Custer recalls the tackle of John Hunter Nemechek

Related: Cole Custer vs John Hunter Nemechek at CTMS

Related: With 4 guys at the shop, Nemechek went to victory lane

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Elliott Sadler | John Hunter Nemechek | | Bristol | NASCAR

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