LOUDON, N.H.â€”An angry Elliott Sadler told Regan Smith he wasnâ€™t going to win the Nationwide Series championship after Smith turned Sadler while they battled for third on the final restart Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Sadler finished 18th in The Profit 200 while Smith held on for an eighth-place finish.

â€œHe just said he lost control of his car," Sadler said afterward. "I donâ€™t know why he has to race us that way. I donâ€™t race him that way. He admitted he lost control of his car and took us out.â€

Losing those 15 spots at the end of the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver fell from third to fifth in the standings, 24 points behind Smith.

â€œYou will not win this championship, mark my word,â€ Sadler yelled at Smith afterward in the garage.

Sadler was running third in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Smith was fifth in his JR Motorsports Chevrolet on the final restart of the race, which went 213 laps, which was beyond the regularly scheduled distance.

Smith took the blame.

â€œThe 20 (of Brian Vickers) went to block him and he went down to block me and I had a run on the inside so I went in there and got way down on the flat (of the apron),â€ Smith said. â€œI lost the nose of my car and then slid sideways trying to keep off of him initially there and when I did, it snapped back into him and took him out.

â€œIt's my fault. I hate that happened. You can't take it back.â€

Midway through the seasonâ€”there are 16 races left in the 33-race scheduleâ€”Smith has a five-point lead on Sam Hornish, with Austin Dillon third (12 points back), Justin Allgaier fourth at 20 points behind and then Sadler fifth at 24 points behind.

Smith said he wasnâ€™t thinking points at the time they battled for those spots.

â€œIâ€™d be mad, too,â€ Smith said. â€œIâ€™ve raced Elliott clean for years and never had issues with him. It wasnâ€™t like it was intentional but it happened. I understand his anger.â€