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DARLINGTON, S.C. — Elliott Sadler said Friday that JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s announcement that he will not return to Sprint Cup racing this season gave his own No. 1 team “incentive to finish on a high note.”

That high note came sooner rather than later, as Sadler held off a fast-charging Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez to win Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Darlington Raceway.

 

Following the burnout, Sadler stood on the car across the start-finish line and let out a cheer, full of emotion. The past few weeks have been rough for the No. 1 Chevrolet driver, between his mother’s illness and his uncertain future, with OneMain Financial only recently deciding to re-sign.

And of course, his boss, friend and mentor Earnhardt Jr.’s tough situation that has been prevalent in his mind.

“This is for Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” Sadler said, looking into the camera and giving a thumbs-up in Victory Lane. “… This is for you, my man.”

Earnhardt Jr. also tweeted shortly after Sadler took the checkered flag, wishing his driver a huge congratulations.

 

Fittingly, Sadler’s first call came from the bossman himself shortly after, in the midst of victory celebrations.

“To hear his voice and jubilation and yelling and screaming and saying a lot of the cool things he likes to say — I can’t really repeat a lot right now,” Sadler said. “He and I have a special relationship and have for a long time.”

Junior’s day continued on its upswing, as JRM’s Cole Custer won the pole for the Camping World Truck Series Race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

00 @colecuster00 on the pole for the @NASCAR_Trucks ��������
weekend keeps getting better

—
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr)
September 3, 2016

For Sadler, this XFINITY win is about giving back to a friend who has afforded him so much.

“Look, he’s a real race car driver, guys,” Sadler said. “He’s a true-grit, blue-collar guy … he’s one of the good guys. And to see him have to take a step back is really tough on him, but to see him handling it the way he is means a lot to me as driver, but also as a friend. He’s given me a great opportunity to drive his cars this year and I think he 100 percent pays attention to what we do and how good we run.

“And I think maybe he can feed some his excitement through us. Since he’s not in a race car, to hear him talking on the telephone today — it’s neat to hear that excitement in his voice and give him something to be proud of, give him something to cheer about when he’s had so much bad news as far as him being able to race.

“… I’m very honored and humbled to be the one to be able to win for him.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track gallery | Standings | Chase Grid

SHOP: Sadler gear

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Elliott Sadler had a passenger for Saturday’s VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway — in spirit at least.

After a breathtaking battle against Denny Hamlin over the closing laps, Sadler crossed the finish-line .454 seconds ahead of Hamlin to win for the first time at the Lady in Black — and immediately dedicated the victory to JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who announced on Friday he would sit out the remainder of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season because of a concussion.

RELATED: Junior announces he will miss rest of 2016 season

“This win today is for my man, Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” Sadler said. “I know he’s going through a tough time. He’s not being able to race his race car for the rest of the year. He was riding there with me today, and he’s given me such a great opportunity to be a part of his race team.”

With two laps left in the 147-lap event, however, the outcome was in the balance. Sadler had a lead of .715 seconds when he crossed the stripe to complete Lap 145. But he started sliding toward the outside wall in Turn 2 and had to fight to keep his No. 1 Chevrolet under control.

Hamlin pulled to the inside and the cars raced side-by-side down the backstretch, but as they entered Turn 3, Sadler regained momentum and pulled ahead in the top lane as the drivers approached the white flag. Hamlin got an excellent run through Turns 1 and 2 on the final lap but not enough to make a pass.

“I messed up, man,” Sadler said of the close call on the penultimate lap. “I could kind of see him coming, and I was trying to make up some time, and I started focusing on a lapped car in front of me, and I ran out of room and almost gave it to him.

“But all in all, we were able to hold him off.”

The victory was Sadler’s first at Darlington in 32 starts across all three of NASCAR’s national series. He won for the second time in the XFINITY Series year and for the 12th time in 320 XFINITY starts.

Making only his second start of the season in the series, Hamlin was frustrated in his attempt to win at Darlington for the fifth time.

“We definitely had a good line going through (Turns) 1 and 2,” Hamlin said, “But I didn’t get a good restart (on Lap 112, after the last of three cautions), he got position on me, and track position meant so much. Once he ran the high line, my car was entirely too tight to run low.

“It eliminated our passing opportunity unless we could slide-job him there in Turn 3 on that one lap he messed up, but it didn’t happen.”

Daniel Suárez ran third after challenging Hamlin for second place — until a brush with the wall ended his chances. But the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota held third place ahead of Kyle Larson, who spun entering pit road from the lead on Lap 103 to cause the final caution and caused a major shakeup of positions within the top 10.

Brennan Poole came home fifth and clinched a spot in the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase, as did Darrell Wallace Jr. (17th on Saturday) and Brandon Jones (ninth). That leaves three spots still open with two regular-season races left before the Chase field is set.