Elliott Sadler

Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series. Sadler was born in Emporia, Virginia, along with his older brother, Hermie Sadler, who is an announcer for Speed Channel.^[1]

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.

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. In 1995, he was crowned track champion at South Boston Speedway, winning 13 races including a 6-race winning streak.

Sadler attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia where he had a scholarship to play on the basketball team until he injured his knee, effectively ending his basketball career.

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 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 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 run 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. 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's car flew into the air, flipped twice, landed on his roof, spun towards the banking, and flipped six times. Sadler emerged uninjured.

2004–2007

Sadler started 2004 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 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.

Sadler failed to win again in 2005, but clinched four poles. He finished 13th in points. He also drove sixteen races for RYR's Busch car, the #90 Citifinancial Taurus, and had three top-five finishes. In 2006, Sadler won the pole at Talladega and finished 22nd 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.

Before the start of the 2007 Daytona 500, Sadler was among many other drivers caught in a cheating scandal. Despite being docked 25 points, he still went on to score a season best 6th place finish. Sadler 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 had the longest streak without a DNF than any other driver before failing to finish a race in 2007.

2008–2010

For the 2008 season, Sadler received new sponsorship; Best Buy for 15 races, Stanley Works for 13 races, McDonald's for 6 races, and Siemens for 2 races. He struggled in 2008, garnering 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 and he returned to the ride for 2009.

After all of the offseason issues Sadler found himself in the #19 Stanley Tools Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports in the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season. In the 2009 Daytona 500 Sadler took the lead on Lap 123 and stayed in the lead for the final stages in the race. On the last green flag lap Sadler got passed by Matt Kenseth and seconds later the caution came out. Kenseth wound up finishing first while Sadler came up in fifth. He ended the year 26th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

In 2010 Sadler returned to RPM and run the #19 Ford with Stanley Tools sponsorship. During the year however, Sadler announced that he will be leaving the #19 Ford after the 2010 season. He ran a part-time schedule in the Camping World Truck Series in the #2 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Incorporated.^[2] In this ride, Sadler won his first NASCAR race in 6 years at Pocono in the Pocono Mountains 125 in July.

The next day Sadler was involved in a wreck where he hit the inside fence (a blind spot on the track, not well-recorded by video cameras) after being hit from behind by A.J. Allmendinger. Kurt Busch was hit from behind by Jimmie Johnson causing him to spin into Clint Bowyer who received little damage but still finished 12th. The wreck was so horrific it threw the engine away from the car and caused the race to be red flagged for 25 minutes to clean up the wreck. There were several reports by fans that his car flew through the air. With a grimace on his face, he climbed out of the car and laid down on the track. He was taken to the medical facility where he later emerged and gave an interview to on hand media personnel. He said he was fine & was a little sore, but had the breath knocked out of him and had taken "the hardest hit of his career" at Pocono. He was proud of his team back home that had built a safe car and of the pit crew and of all of the hard work they had put into the race thus far. On August 3, Elliott Sadler announced on NASCAR Now that NASCAR told him it was the hardest head-on crash ever recorded in NASCAR history. On November 5, 2010 Elliott Sadler won the pole for the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway qualifying at 195.397, the fastest qualifying speed since 1999.

2011

On November 5, 2010. Sadler announced a 2-year deal to drive the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series and also will drive a selected amount of races in the Camping World Truck Series. Sadler took the championship points lead in the Nationwide Series after the eleventh race in the 2011 season. He ended up finishing second in points with 24 top-ten finishes in 34 events.^[3]

Personal life

Sadler is heavily involved in the Autism Speaks charity because his niece Halie has 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.

He was the cover athlete on EA Sports NASCAR 07 and was also on the special edition NASCAR 09.

Elliott Sadler's wife, Amanda, gave birth to their first child, Wyatt Herman Frittz Sadler on February 15, 2010. They welcomed their second child, daughter Austyn Rose Sadler on November 7, 2011.

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

• 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