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| Born | April 30, 1975 | ||||||
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| Hometown | Emporia, Virginia | ||||||
| Awards | 1983-1984 Virginia State Karting Championship North Carolina Gold Cup 1991-1992 1995 South Boston Speedway Track Champion | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics | |||||||
| Car #, Team | #19 - Richard Petty Motorsports | ||||||
| 2007 Sprint Cup Position | 25th | ||||||
| Best Cup Position | 9th - 2004 (NEXTEL Cup) | ||||||
| First Race | 1998 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| First Win | 2001 Food City 500 (Bristol) | ||||||
| Last Win | 2004 Pop Secret 500 (California) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics | |||||||
| 2007 NNS Position | 101st | ||||||
| Best NNS Position | 5th - 1997 (Busch) | ||||||
| First Race | 1995 Ford Credit 300 (South Boston) | ||||||
| Last Race | 2008 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond) | ||||||
| First Win | 1997 Core States Advantage 200 (Nazareth) | ||||||
| Last Win | 1998 AC Delco 200 (Rockingham) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Statistics | |||||||
| Best NCWTS Position | 104th - 2000 | ||||||
| First Race | 2000 Kroger 200 (Richmond) | ||||||
| Last Race | 2003 Advance Auto Parts 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
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| Statistics current as of September 19, 2008. | |||||||
Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975 in Emporia, Virginia) is a race car driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the #19 Best Buy Dodge Charger for Richard Petty Motorsports. He has three career Craftsman Truck Series starts, his best finish coming at Richmond in 2000. His older brother Hermie Sadler is an announcer for SPEED Channel. Sadler is the last person to score a win for the Wood Brothers Racing organization with his first win at Bristol in 2001.
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1983-1995
Sadler began racing in go-karts at therfhuifhs age of seven, and moved up to the Late Model stock car division at the local race track. His accomplishments include over 200 total wins, the 1983-84 Virginia State Karting Championship, and the North Carolina Gold Cup in 1991-92. He was runner-up in 1989 for the World Karting Association national title.[citation needed]
When he turned 18, he moved to the Winston Racing Series and ran full-time beginning in 1993. That same year, he achieved his first victory, and in 1995 was crowned track champion at South Boston Speedway, where he achieved 13 wins that year, including a 6-race winning streak.
Sadler attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia and was a walk-on on the basketball team until he injured his knee, effectively ending his basketball career.
1995-1998
Sadler made his Nationwide Series debut in 1995 at South Boston. He qualified fifteenth in the #46 DeWalt Tools Chevy, and finished eighth. He ran another race that season at Richmond International Raceway, but finished 24th. He began 1996 driving a part-time schedule for his family-owned team, before switching over to the #29 WCW Chevy owned by Diamond Ridge Motorsports. He had three top-tens in the Diamond Ridge ride, his best finish coming at the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex, where he finished fifth. After making thirteen starts that year, he finished 35th in points.
Sadler and Diamond Ridge began 1997 unsponsored, but grabbed two poles, at Daytona and Darlington respectively. Midway through the season, Phillips 66 came on board as the team's sponsor and Sadler won his first career race at Nazareth Speedway. He followed that up with back-to-back wins at Myrtle Beach Speedway and Gateway International Raceway. He won an additional four pole positions and finished a career-best fifth in points. He also attempted the UAW-GM Quality 500 in the Cup Series for Team SABCO, but failed to qualify.
In 1998, Sadler's team switched to the #66, and won early in the season at Bristol. He made his Cup debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the #92 for Diamond Ridge, starting 31st but finishing 42nd after an engine failure. He ran another Cup race later at Bristol, finishing 24th. After another win at North Carolina Speedway, Sadler announced he would leave Diamond Ridge at the end of the season.
1999-2003
Sadler moved up to the Cup Series full-time in 1999, driving the #21 Citgo Ford Taurus for Wood Brothers Racing. His best finish that year was a tenth at Texas Motor Speedway, and he finished 24th in points, runner-up to Tony Stewart for Rookie of the Year honors. He also returned to the Nationwide Series on a part-time basis, filling in for the injured Andy Santerre for Innovative Motorsports, his best finish fifth at California Speedway. He also drove a handful of races for Lyndon Amick. Sadler's only top-ten finish in 2000 was a tenth at Bristol, after failing to qualify at Talladega Superspeedway, and he dropped to twenty-ninth in points. He also had a wild flip at Michigan Speedway after cutting a tire in practice.
In 2001, Motorcraft became Sadler's new sponsor, and he won his first career Cup race at Bristol. He had another top-ten and finished 20th in points. After seven top-tens and a drop to 23rd in points in 2002, Sadler left for Robert Yates Racing to drive the #38 M&M's Ford. In his first season of competition with Yategsdgdfgs, Sadler won the pole at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway, and finished 22nd in points. In 2003, Sadler had a vicious crash at Talladega after near-contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and touched the right-front fender of Kurt Busch. Sadler blew into the air, flipped twice, landed on his roof, spun towards the banking, and flipped 5 times. Sadler was uninjured.
2004
Elliott Sadler had his finest season in NASCAR yet. Sadler started the year with a top-10 finish in the Daytona 500,and six races later won at Texas Motor Speedway for his 2nd career win. He stayed in the top-10 in points all season, and won at California Speedway, beating Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin. He'd made the Chase, and finished a career high ninth in the championship standings. He had another flip at Talladega after he spun out and blew over onto his roof. Sadler was uninjured, and he was even able to drive his car back to the garage.
2005-2007
Sadler failed to win again in 2005, but won four poles. He also drove sixteen races for RYR's Busch car, the #90 Citifinancial Taurus, and had three top-five finishes. In 2006, Sadler had a pole at Talladega and was nineteenth in points. He made seven Busch starts, his best finish was second at Richmond. After a lack of results, Sadler left RYR midway through 2006 for Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
In the 2007 Daytona 500, Sadler among many other drivers were caught in a cheating scandal. Despite being docked 25 points, he still went on to finish a season best 6th. Sadler then had many ups and downs throughout the season. In 2007, Sadler led 62 laps, posted two top-10 finishes and finished 25th in points. Sadler went longer than any other driver before failing to finish a race in 2007.
2008
For the 2008 season, Sadler has new sponsorship, including Best Buy for 15 races, Stanley Tools for 13 races, McDonald's for 6 races, and Siemens for 2 races. Sadler qualified 35th for the Daytona 500 after having right tire issues in the Gatorade Duel race. In the race, Sadler went on to his fifth top-ten finish in the Daytona 500 by finishing sixth. At California, Sadler finished 24th. At Las Vegas, Sadler posted a 12th place finish and was 9th in points.
Sadler struggled in 2008, his second full season with Richard Petty Motorsports. He had only 2 top fives, 8 top tens, and 16 top twenties. He had 4 DNFs and 12 finishes of 30th or worse. Sadler led 21 laps in 2008, his fewest since the 2000 season. He ended the year 24th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.
On December 27, 2008, it was reported that A.J. Allmendinger would replace Sadler in the #19 Best Buy Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2009. Elliott threatened a lawsuit for breach of contract, however the lawsuit was dropped after the GEM Petty Enterprises merger as he was returned to the seat for 2009.
2009
Sadler and teammate Reed Sorenson found themselves in a great position to win the 2009 Daytona 500. On lap 119David Stremme cut a tire after Sadler and Sorenson exited, putting them in the lead. On the restart, Kyle Busch, the only other car with a veichle as good as Sadler's, was involved the Big One. Elliott's brother Hermie reported weather about 50 minutes away from the track. Sadler dominated the latter parts of the race, while Sorenson fell back to ninth. On turn 2 on lap 148, Sadler took the outside after his crew chief recommended he get a run. Matt Kenseth, followed by Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger, and Clint Bowyer passed Sadler. Nine seconds later, a caution came out when Aric Almirola, Sam Hornish Jr., and Kasey Kahne got together. 15 minutes later, the race was called, Kenseth being declared the victor.
Sadler mentioned he was very distraught. According to the NASCAR on Fox team, sticking to the inside "would put that #19 Dodge in the Daytona 500 Experience."
Sadler was also quoted on how bad his luck was, and how a series of events in the last few turns could have been changed, and it would have given him the victory.
Teams
From 1999-2001, he raced for [Wood Brothers Racing]. From 2002-2006 he raced for Robert Yates Racing. In mid 2006, he joined what was then Evernham Motorsports, Owned by Ray Evernham. In August 2007, George Gillett bought a majority share in the team, changing to the name to Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM). In January 2009, GEM merged with Petty Enterprises and the name again changed to Richard Petty Motorsports, which is where it stands now.
Personal
Elliot is heavily involved in the Autism Speaks charity, because his niece Halie suffers from the disorder. In 2008, Best Buy (his sponsor) sponsored the Best Buy 400 Benefiting Student Clubs of Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. His car had a custom paint scheme specifically for that race. His hood and helmet were signed and auctioned off following the race, with the proceeds going to Autism Speaks.
References
- Elliott Sadler Bio
- Elliot Sadler going to Evernham Motorsports
- Evernham Motorsports confirms Elliot Sadler as driver at Michigan
- Doug Yates confirms Elliott Sadler is leaving
- Silly Saga: Elliot Sadler going to Evernham
- Allmendinger to replace Sadler in GEM's NO. 19
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/05/30/esadler.hood.auction.autism/index.html
External links
- Elliott Sadler Career Statistics
- Coca-Cola Racing Family's Elliott Sadler profile
- Elliott Sadler Race Fans site - News, Races & Stats
- Hermie & Elliott Sadler Foundation for Autism
- Elliot Sadler's Pay The Fan Auto Racing Blog
- Elliott Sadler Fun Club Official Nascar Pool @ Nascarracingpool.com
- Elliott Sadler Bio and His Weekly Comments on the Last Race
| Preceded by Jeff Gordon/Jimmie Johnson | NASCAR EA cover athlete 2007 | Succeeded by Tony Stewart |
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