Dustin Long · @dustinlong
29th Jul 2012 from Twitlonger
#NASCAR ... What ELLIOTT SADLER SAID about the penalty for jumping the restart:
QUESTION: What’s your view of what happened?
SADLER: “I don’t know. NASCAR just told me, (NASCAR Vice President of Competition) Robin Pemberton, we had some lengthy discussions that I did not jump the start. The video clearly shows the 22 (Keselowski) going first, beating me to the restart line. The 12 then hitting the 22, getting him really loose and spinning his tires. The 3 is also pushing me. It’s not like I can stop either. We just got a better restart and beat them to the start/finish line. Robin Pemberton just told me, right out of his mouth, I did not jump the start. This is a very tough penalty. Very hard to swallow at the inaugural race here at Indy as I race to win.’’
QUESTION: What were your options then?
SADLER: “They didn’t give me any options. I asked them what would the protocol be? You tell what the protocol is if the leader beats me to the restart line, which he did, and it’s on video just as clear as day, and then he spins his tires. It’ just like missing a shift. Do I stop and wait for him to get his shifting right? Or do I stop and let him get his tires? Oh yeah, by the way, I’m getting pushed by the 3 car who also is getting pushed by the 43. I don’t know the protocol and they did not give me one.’’
QUESITON: How do you move forward?
SADLER: “I don’t know. This is a tough one to swallow. We really wanted to win this inaugural race. We didn’t get to win that. We didn’t get to win the Dash for Cash and we should have won that. We lose a lot of points for the championship. It’s hard to recover from something like this. My heart was definitely ripped out my chest and I don’t know why. I still don’t why right now. I beat the 22 to the start/finish line but he beat me to the restart box and he started first. The video shows it just absolutely as clear as it can be. I honestly can stand here right now and tell you I have no idea what I did wrong and NASCAR really can’t tell me what I did wrong either.’’