Philadelphia, PA – After last Saturday's 300-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the points battle between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler in the Nationwide Series has once again tighten up.
Stenhouse, the defending series champion, had his worst finish of the season so far with a 26th-place run at Charlotte. He suffered a broken driveshaft and spent more than 20 laps in the garage for repairs.
Sadler finished fifth and trimmed Stenhouse's lead from 28 points to 13.
The two will now take their title bout to Dover International Speedway.
"We had a tough weekend at Charlotte, but we've put that behind us and are looking forward to getting to Dover," Stenhouse said.
Stenhouse was impressive at Dover last year, finishing fourth in the spring race and fifth in the fall event. He finished 11th and 18th there during his 2010 rookie season.
Sadler placed sixth at Dover one year ago and finished 14th there last October. He competed in five Nationwide races at this track from 1996-98.
"I like racing at Dover; it's such a unique track," Sadler said. "Now that the Nationwide Series does not race at Nashville Superspeedway, it is the only concrete track other than Bristol Motor Speedway. Dover has a lot of banking, and a lot of G-forces, and we seem to run well there."
Joey Logano and Kurt Busch are the only Sprint Cup Series regulars competing in this race.
Ty Dillon is scheduled to make his Nationwide debut in Saturday's 200-mile race at Dover, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. Ty is the younger brother of 2011 Camping World Truck Series champion and current Nationwide rookie Austin Dillon and the grandson of NASCAR multi-team owner Richard Childress.
"I want to go out there in practice and learn everything that I can possibly learn before qualifying and the race," Ty Dillon said. "I have a number of great RCR teammates I'm able to lean on for advice and assist with my learning curve. Joey (Coulter) will be helpful, because he was in the same situation last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and all of our teammates were great in helping him as well. My brother, Austin, will also be a lot of help like he was in my Truck Series debut last year."
Forty-three teams are on the preliminary entry list for the 5-Hour Energy 200.
Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, June 2. Race: 5-Hour Energy 200. Site: Dover International Speedway. Track: one-mile oval. Start time: 2 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 200. 2011 Winner: Carl Edwards. Television: ESPN. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Satellite.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.