MIAMI BEACH -- Danica Patrick said Friday the best gift her husband has given her is a "stock car." He bought the Nationwide car she drove at Homestead last year.
Patrick said she's very protective of the car and doesn't let many people see it, but she did allow a sneak peek at it during a recent party at her house in Phoenix, with one requirement.
"Now don't get me in trouble, because I don't know if this is legal," she said. "We told everyone they could go in the garage and see the hot rod, but they had a take a shot of moonshine first. I thought it was such a NASCAR thing to do."
Elliott Sadler said Thursday he hopes to return to Sprint Cup someday, but he has some stipulations.
"I love being in a competitive race car," Sadler said. "I would love to be back in Cup, but only if I can do it in a competitive ride."
Sadler moved down to the Nationwide Series this year after 12 seasons in Cup. Unless Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has a terrible day (37th or worse) and Sadler wins on Saturday, Sadler will fall one spot short of the title. But Sadler is happy to race in a contending car again.
"This year has been so much more fun," Sadler said. "When you show up and feel you have a chance to go do something good every week, it makes it a lot more fun. This is the most fun race car since I drove for Robert Yates [in Cup]."
Sadler, 36, will continue to race in the Nationwide Series next year as a Richard Childress Racing entry. He raced for Kevin Harvick's team this year, but Harvick is shutting down his operation and merging the Nationwide car into RCR.
Sadler hasn't won this season, but he has 23 top-10s and 12 top-5s. He admits he misses Cup, but he doesn't miss racing a car that has no chance of running well.
"The best way of coping on being home Sundays is my two kids," Sadler said.
"It helps ease the pain of not being a Cup driver."
Several Cup drivers this year are losing their rides -- David Ragan, Brian Vickers, David Reutimann -- and may need to make a similar move to Nationwide in 2012.
Sadler was asked what he would tell them about the transition.
"To make the most of it," he said. "If you ask them now, they might not want to do it. But I bet if you ask them later they all would have the same answer and say it was way more fun."
It's a four-man battle to end the season with bragging rights as the top non-Chaser. Clint Bowyer holds down the 13th spot entering the Ford 400 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN and WatchESPN), but Kasey Kahne is only four points behind him.
Greg Biffle and AJ Allmendinger also have a shot at ending up 13th. Biffle is 22 points behind Bowyer, and Allmendinger is three points behind Biffle.
Biffle must like his chances. His three wins at Homestead are tops among all Cup drivers. The other three drivers are winless on the 1.5-mile Homestead oval.
Joe Nemechek has earned over $2.8 million while racing in every Cup event this season, but has finished only one race. He has 34 DNFs in 35 races heading to the season finale at Homestead.
Eighteen times he completed fewer than 30 laps. Only twice did he complete more than 30 percent of the scheduled laps.
Draw your own conclusions.