Elton Sawyer

Elton Sawyer
Born (1959-11-05) November 5, 1959
Chesapeake, Virginia, United States
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
29 races run over 2 years
Best finish 38th (1995)
First race 1995 Hanes 500 (Martinsville)
Last race 1996 NAPA 500 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
392 races run over 20 years
Best finish 5th (1998, 1999, 2001)
First race 1983 Cardinal 250 (Martinsville)
Last race 2002 Ford 300 (Homestead)
First win 1994 Cardinal Pride/Budweiser 250 (Myrtle Beach)
Last win 1999 Busch 200 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 131 2
Statistics current as of November 2, 2013.

Elton Sawyer (born November 5, 1959, in Chesapeake, Virginia), is a former NASCAR driver. He is married to former NASCAR driver Patty Moise. Sawyer is currently the Managing Director of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Beginnings

Elton Sawyer began his career in the NASCAR Busch Series. He ran a handful of races in 1983, 1984, and 1985, scoring 8 top tens while running his own team. From 1986 to 1989, he ran full-time seasons with Lewis Motorsports. Sawyer ran competitively, scoring many top tens, while finishing between 14th and 18th in points in all of those years. Sawyer left the Lewis organization, after not winning in his four seasons with the team, and headed to the team owned by A.G. Dillard. In 1990, Sawyer ran his best career season, scoring 4 top fives and finishing 13th in the points. However the following year, the Dillard team faced sponsorship problems, which kept Sawyer from completing the whole year. He salvaged a 20th place finish in the points that year. The sponsorship issues that affected Sawyer in 1991 also caused problems for him the next two years. He was not able to find a solid ride, and only competed in 4 races.

Mid 90's

However, luck changed for Sawyer in 1994 when he found a solid ride at Sutton Racing. He would go on to win his first Busch Series race at Myrtle Beach Speedway. He would only have six more top tens the remaining of the year, finishing 14th in points. In 1995, Sawyer continued driving in the Busch Series full-time for Sutton, but he was named to replace Loy Allen, Jr. in the No. 27 Winston Cup car Junior Johnson & Associates.[1] Sawyer's Cup season did not fare too well, but his Busch year was his best of date, finishing 9th in points. In that same year, Sawyer competed in the Winston Select, driving the #27 car of Junior Johnson that made it in, thanks to Jimmy Spencer winning twice the previous year.

Sawyer started the 1996 Cup season driving for David Blair Motorsports. However after sponsorship problems, he was released from the team. He then decided to jump back down to Busch, however he did not grab a solid ride until 1997, when he rejoined Sutton. Sawyer would go on to finish 8th in points. In 1998, he had a great year, finishing 5th in points, after scoring 10 top tens. In 1999, Sawyer joined Akins Motorsports in the Busch Series. Sawyer had one of his most competitive years, winning a race at New Hampshire International Speedway. He also scored 14 top tens, and finished 5th in points. 2000 was also a great year for Sawyer after he scored once again 14 top tens and finished 6th in points.

Decline

2001 turned out to be Sawyer's last full season in NASCAR. He raced competitively, scoring his career high of 19 top tens in a season, while finishing 5th in points. Akins had sold the #98 car to Michael Kranefuss in April 2001, however the team was unable to secure sponsorship after the season and folded causing Sawyer to search for a ride for 2002. Sawyer did race 3 races in 2002 for the ailing Jeff Purvis at Brewco Motorsports. However, Johnny Sauter was viewed to be a better replacement for Purvis, and Sauter received the ride in 2003. Sawyer continued looking for a ride; however, he was unable to find one due to the trend of teams wanting young drivers with sponsorship money.

On February 2, 2015, NASCAR announces that Sawyer would become the Managing Director of the Camping World Truck Series, replacing Chad Little, who was moved to a new role within the organization. Sawyer had previously served as the Director of Team Operations for Action Express Racing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.[2]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1996 David Blair Motorsports Ford 18 25

Busch Series

References

  1. ↑ Pearce, Al (May 17, 1995). "Driver To Do Double Duty: Sawyer To Run Cup, Grand National Races". Daily Press. Newport News, VA. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  2. ↑ "NASCAR moves Chad Little to inspection role; Elton Sawyer to lead Truck Series". Fox Sports. February 2, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1983 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1984 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1985 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1986 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1987 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1988 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1989 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1990 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1991 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1992 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1993 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1997 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 1999 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Elton Sawyer – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.

External links

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