Elliott_sadler

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 Gillett Evernham Motorsports with teammates Patrick Carpentier and Kasey Kahne. He has three career Craftsman Truck Series starts, his best finish coming at Richmond in 2000. His older brother Hermie Sadler races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and occasionally in the Sprint Cup series.

1983-1995

Sadler began racing in go-karts at the 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 onboard 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.

1999-2004

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.

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 Yates, Sadler won the pole at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway, and finished 22nd in points. The following season, Sadler won at Texas Motor Speedway and California Speedway and finished a career high ninth in the championship standings.

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

2008 car

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 1 race. 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 is now 9th in points.

In the Kobalt Tools 500 Sadler spun out 3 times during the race. The 1st 2 times Sadler got loose, but didn\'t hit anything, but the 3rd time Sadler got loose on the straightaway and hit the inside wall and finished 43rd.

Trivia

• Sadler made his Nextel Cup debut at 21 years old, and his age matched his car number at the time 21, owned by the Wood Brothers.
• Sadler is a huge fan of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill athletics. Brother Hermie was a lacrosse team equipment manager, and a roommate of Benny Parsons\' son Keith.
• He loves hunting, and during the off season, he serves as a hunting guide in Virginia. He is also an avid golfer, playing two times a week during the racing season.
• Sadler keeps 38 (a reference to his former car number) hunting dogs at his Virginia home, and he can identify each of them by the sound of their bark. That was also a reference his old sponsor Mars, Inc, through its Pedigree Food for Dogs.
• Elliott was involved in 6 sports in high school, excelling in baseball and basketball. He was recruited by no fewer than 18 colleges.
• Elliott was named after his uncle Bud Elliott, whom Sadler credits as starting the racing tradition.
• Elliott Sadler is on the cover of EA Sports NASCAR 07 video game box in the #38 M&Ms Ford but had switched to the #19 Dodge Dealers Dodge prior to the game coming out
• Previously engaged to former Carolina Panthers cheerleader Lisa Tollet.
• He is an endorser for PayTheFan.com, a Racing and Football fantasy website started by racing legend Dale Jarrett and Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw. Pay the Fan has the highest payout in any fantasy sports game.

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

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

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia