RELATED: Full race results | Frame-by-frame of finish
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- NASCAR XFINITY Series Managing Director Wayne Auton said officials felt "100 percent that we got it exactly right" in flagging Elliott Sadler the winner in Saturday's Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
The official results were delayed after a hard crash involving Joey Logano and Blake Koch brought out the caution flag as the field raced to the checkered flag following an overtime restart at the fast, 2.66-mile superspeedway.
The incident was typical for Talladega and chaotic for officials trying to sort out the running order while also making sure those involved in the incident were attended to as quickly, and a safely, as possible.
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"At the end of the race we knew that everybody was going to be jockeying for position trying to get that win to get into the XFINITY (Series) Chase," Auton said. "We use every resource we can. Our main goal is to make sure that we got it right. It took us a little time up in the tower. We feel 100 percent that we got it exactly right. We used film … eyes … we took our time in the tower."
Video replays from cameras located inside the track, outside the track and from high above were studied not only to determine who was leading the race at the time the yellow flag appeared, but also to determine the running order of others throughout the field.
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Auton said there was never any question about whether the caution was necessary.
"Our No. 1 job in this sport is safety of these drivers, safety of crewmembers and of fans," he said. "When you see a car turn hard right … it's pretty scary. With all the safety features we’ve applied, the safer walls that are all the way around all of our race tracks now … and the safety features that we have inside the car, our No. 1 concern was when the 22 car hit (was) to make sure that Joey was OK.
"Automatically we went ahead and put out the caution. We felt like it was the right time. As you saw, another car came in and made contact with the 22 when he came off the wall. We need to start getting the guys to roll out of the throttle for the safety of the other drivers."
Logano (Team Penske) was the leader when the field roared off the fourth turn for a final time. But contact with Sadler -- Logano later said it was likely he that moved down on the JR Motorsports driver -- sent his car into the outside wall.
Although Sadler's No. 1 Chevrolet dropped below the yellow line, it was the result of the contact. More importantly, Auton said, Sadler did not advance his position, which the rule does not allow.
"He was also forced down there when … he and the 22 car made contact," he said. "In our eyes, he did not gain any positions, he was already there. It was legal by the rules."