CONCORD, N.C. -- As the old adage goes, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

In that case, Elliott Sadler may have had some glass to clean up when he got home.

The pole-sitter for Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Showdown felt he had a solid chance at transferring into the Sprint All-Star Race; however, A.J Allmendinger slid up into the No. 19, ending Sadler's night in the first segment.

He had a slew of harsh words for the besieged Red Bull Racing Team driver who finally caught a break after he won the Showdown.

"If you take a look at the replay you can tell what happened. The 84 [Allmendinger] just took us out. There's a reason why he gets taken out of that racecar it seems like every other week. It's a shame," said Sadler referring to veteran Mike Skinner replacing Allmendinger on a temporary basis earlier this season.

Elliott Sadler admitted to crashing Tony Stewart last week at Darlington.

“

We all forget about stuff we do from week to week. I don't want to use that as an excuse, but we all make mistakes.

”

A.J. ALLMENDINGER

Yes, Allmendinger made a mistake and apologized almost immediately after he exited the racecar. But if you recall, Sadler was guilty of the same offense last weekend with Tony Stewart, at Darlington Raceway in a race for points.

How soon we forget.

In a sympathetic manner, Allmendinger said, "We all forget about stuff we do from week to week. I don't want to use that as an excuse, but we all make mistakes."

The elation from Allmendinger's win, an emotion he compared to a Daytona 500 win, likely canceled out any leftover guilt the No. 84 driver had hanging around before the Sprint All-Star Race.

"All these guys on this team have stuck behind me through everything this team has been through," he added. "I didn't mean to get into [Sadler]. It was my fault. I don't want to be known for that."

Speaking of an equally happy driver -- is Saturday a taste of what is more to come from Sam Hornish Jr.?

The No. 77 was looking pretty racy nearing the end of the Showdown as Hornish was chasing Allmendinger for a win, even though a second-place finish advanced him to the All-Star event.

"I wasn't going to take any chances unless I had a good run on him [Allmendinger] and could get by him cleanly, then I was going to do it. But if I felt that he was going to resist too much ... I wanted to be smart and not waste a chance to get into the All-Star Race.

Good call, considering his Showdown car is also his backup car for next week's Coca-Cola 600.

This week on talk radio his crew chief Chris Carrier said he felt his Penske Racing driver, the first rookie to qualify for the All-Star Race since Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers in 2004, was nearing some breakthrough progress in his transition from the open-wheel ranks to NASCAR. It appears so -- he finished seventh in the All-Star Race, coming from his 23rd starting position in the 24-car field and making up two laps in the process.

Last, I hate to say this, but I sympathized with Roush Fenway driver Carl Edwards when he said he was disappointed to hear the Sprint Cup Series leader Kyle Busch had blown an engine; he wanted to beat him fair and square as "Rowdy" Busch has set the standard this season.

So once Busch left the track, dejected and disappointed, so was I.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.