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NASCAR BGN Series Kenwood Home & Car Audio 300 Report: #29, Elliott Sadler

20 October 1997

 
 #29 Elliott Sadler, Phillips 66 Performance Chevrolet Monte Carlo
 NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division
 Kenwood Home & Car Audio 300 Race Report
 California Speedway
 October 19, 1997

                    TREMENDOUS RUN FOR ALLEN IN CALIFORNIA

FONTANA, CA - Luxaire driver Glenn Allen would have paid any price for just
one more gallon of gas during Sunday's Kenwood Home & Car Audio 300. Trailing
leader and eventual winner Todd Bodine by only a few car lengths on lap 147 of
150, Allen was smelling victory and at the worst a second place finish. As he
exited turn one, the car sputtered, Allen wiggled the car hard and sucked
enough gas out of his fuel cell to make it back to pit road for a splash of
gas. Allen returned to the race and picked up a strong 7th place finish.

"We knew it was going to be close on fuel, our calculations said we were going
to be a lap and a half short, but we had to roll the dice and go for the
victory," Allen said. "We gave it every bit of effort we had, I would have
paid thousands of dollars for just one more gallon."

Allen started the weekend by qualifying for the first Busch Series race ever
in California in 12th place. This continued the string of strong qualifying
efforts on the four new Busch Series tracks this year. Allen qualified in the
top twelve for all four of the races.

The team spent all day Saturday focusing on race setup and calculating fuel
mileage for Sunday's race. When the team left the track Saturday night they
knew they were going to have a chance to win on Sunday. Allen posted the 7th
fastest lap during the final practice session.

As the race began Allen quickly moved up into the top-five. Throughout the
race Allen would maintain position inside the top ten, racing as high as
second place for many laps. But in the end, Allen came up just a couple of
laps short of a second place finish.

"What a great weekend for this Luxaire Racing Team," Allen said. "We are
working shorthanded and still producing tremendous results, that's a credit to
John Monsam and the team for never giving up. I feel like we can score top ten
finishes in the last two races, that would give us top tens in four of the
last five races and tons of momentum for next season."

Todd Bodine stretched his fuel mileage just far enough to claim the victory
over Steve Park by 15.903 seconds. The Busch Series heads to North Carolina
Motor Speedway for Saturday's ACDelco 200 at 2:00 pm Eastern time. In the
spring race at Rockingham, Allen started 9th and finished 9th. 


By Events & Outings, Inc.