Elliott Sadler’s No. 19 Evernham Motorsports team will be bolstered this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by the return of team director Josh Browne, who was forced to sit out two races as a result of a NASCAR suspension.

Browne was suspended during Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway when NASCAR found drilled-out spoiler fasteners on Sadler’s No. 19 Nextel Cup Dodge.

The team was docked 25 owner and driver points and fined $25,000.

Evernham Motorsports appealed the severity of the point penalty but was denied Tuesday by the National Stock Car Racing Commission.

In Browne’s absence, car director Kirk Almquist and owner Ray Evernham led the team to a sixth-place finish in the Daytona 500 and a 24th in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

“With Josh back on the pit box, our team is at full strength,” Sadler said.

“We had a good test at Las Vegas. The track is definitely different, but I think we adapted quickly during the test and have a good handle on making our Dodge Charger fast. The key will be getting the car balanced and handling on the new surface. That will be our focus in practice.

“We have plenty of data from the test for a baseline. Now we will use that data to prepare the car for the race.”

Scene Daily

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