“I’m glad to be here. We had a great Daytona 500. We came out of there with a sixth-place finish and it was a great run for us. We don’t feel like we’re digging out of any holes or anything like that. We’re coming to a place where we ran great last fall. We’ve got a lot of horsepower this weekend, and we’ve got a great car. I’m just looking forward to Sunday. This is a great place to come. It’s a great market. We have a lot of great sponsors in this area, and we have a lot of great drivers from California. I think it’s a lot of fun for those guys. To race this close to L.A. is important to a lot of people. It’s a lot of fun to come race here.”
WILL THERE BE A SECOND GROOVE?
“Oh yeah, this is a great racetrack. We’re going to run on the bottom, middle and top, and that creates a lot of passing. As a racecar driver you really love that. I hope it’s warm here for the fans. For us, the hotter the better. It makes the track a little slicker and makes passing a little easier to do. I’m looking forward to the first four or five races of the season and build a solid foundation and build off that.”
TALK ABOUT JUST SURVIVING AT DAYTONA
“That’s restrictor-plate racing at its best. You can have a great car all day and not make it or you can work on it and peak at the right time. We just happened to peak at the right time and run in the top 10 the last 30 or 40 laps. We were in the right place at the right time. From where we started last week to where we ended, I think was great for me and the 9 both. To finish sixth and seventh and to get out of there not in a hole is a big lift. You’re in Daytona for a long time, and if it ends on a good note it makes this trip not as long.”
ARE YOU MOTIVATED TO FINISH BETTER THAN YOU DID HERE LAST YEAR?
“You always want to finish better than 23rd. I’ve won this race before, and we had a great chance to finish second or third here last fall. We had a lugnut get hung in a brakepad with about 10 laps to go running third. We know we can be competitive at this track. We think we’re going to be competitive this weekend. My teammate won here last year, and we’ve got pretty much the same car and notes, springs and shocks. We’re going to work together with the 9 and 10 and hopefully we’ll all have good runs.”
IS THIS A FUEL MILEAGE RACE?
“It’s big and spread out and cars get separated a lot. It makes it that way. We’re going to do the best we can with adjustments. I’ve got Ray Evernham on the box again this weekend and he’s the master at calling races. I’m sure if there’s a fuel mileage part to it we should be fine. I don’t worry about it. I just drive and tell him what the car’s doing and he takes care of the rest. He did an unbelievable job of filling in last week at the Daytona 500. He kept me very optimistic and calm, and it ended up like he said it would. We ended up with a great finish and we got out of there with a lot of good thoughts.”
WERE YOU SURPRISED THERE WAS NOT A CAUTION AT THE END?
“No, and as a fan of NASCAR and as a competitor now, I’m glad they didn’t throw the caution. This is our Daytona 500. This is our Super Bowl of racing. Don’t make it where NASCAR should be that much involved in who won the race. Let the boys race and it ended up being a great finish. I’m a sports fan. Every NBA finals I’ve ever watched, the referees the guys play a little bit more. Every NFL Super Bowl you’ve ever seen they let the defensive backs play the receivers a little tighter. It’s not that it’s special rules. It’s a big game, a big stage. Let the boys race for it. There were not going to go through a wreck and finish. They were ahead of it, so let them boys race for the win. Sometimes I think it depends on the situation. As a driver if you’re in a wreck, you do your job to get out of it or miss it. If you’re in it you stay buckled up and stay as safe as you can for as long as you can. Every driver has everybody else’s safety in their best interest. This is just my opinion. I think that was the right call for the race and the situation and the circumstances. I think they made the right call.”
COMMENT ON BEING KASEY KAHNE’S TEAMMATE
“I love being his teammate. He’s a great person and a great friend. That’s the most important. He’s got a lot of fire, and he understands these race cars a lot. We love working with each other. There are no egos involved. He’s one of my biggest fans, and I’m one of his biggest fans. We want to help each other as much as we can, and it’s been a great relationship so far. We’re all pretty confident coming here to California. I would say last year was Kasey’s break out year.”
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WHAT’S YOUR INITIAL IMPRESSION OF THE NEW FACILITY
“It’s pretty wild. I’m still lost. I haven’t gotten the grand tour yet. It’s a great job. It kinda reminds me of Daytona a lot where the fans get to see the hard work the guys do each and every weekend. It brings them that much closer to the sport, and I think that’s why NASCAR is so good. We know how to bridge that gap between the fans and drivers and teams. Las Vegas is definitely has definitely taken it a step further. It’s first class.”
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND?
“No, we tested here, but we tested on a different tire. I think right now nobody knows what to expect. We know the Goodyear tire is very hard and teams are talking about scuffing and things like that. Right now we don’t know. We know it’s going to be a pit strategy race. With the 13-gallon fuel cell, pretty much every time there’s a caution you’re going to be coming down pit road, we know for gas. Then you’ve got to make up your mind if it’s two tires, no tires. I don’t think you’re going to see many four-tire changes, but we’ll see. Crew chiefs have got their work cut out for them on Sunday.”
COMMENT ON THE TRACK SURFACE
“There were a lot of bumps here in testing, especially over in one and two. We actually had to change our setup around a little bit for the bumps. With this different tire we don’t know if it’s going to enhance the bumps or make them go away a little bit. There are a lot of questions to be answered here once we get into practice. We’re learning some things right now off our Busch car with Kasey. There are some bumps here. Is it enough to keep a guy from winning the race or not winning the race? No, it’s just going to give it a little bit of its own character.”
COMMENT ON QUALIFYING
“Qualifying is going to be fast. With this much banking, it reminds me of Texas the first time we went there. You’re not going to be off the gas that much. Qualifying is going to be fun. I think a late draw is definitely going to help. It’s kind of warm and slippery today in Las Vegas. You go out later you’re definitely going to have a bit of an advantage. I think qualifying is very important because of the pit stall. With pitting every time there’s a caution, there’s going to be a lot of cars on the lead lap and a lot of people on pit road at one time. The way pit road is curved now, the new pit road at Las Vegas, it could make it very treacherous on us drivers trying to see cars coming in and out of the pit box. You really need to have a good qualifying run and get your spot somewhere near turn one on the back half of the curve. Then you’ll be fine.”
ARE YOU GLAD TO HAVE RAY OFF YOUR PIT BOX?
“No, we had fun for a couple of races. I’m glad to see him back involved with all the team, and I’m glad to have Josh (team director Browne) back. The team is back to normal. We didn’t push the panic button or anything like that. We’re only a few points out of the top 10. We’ll put together a couple of good races in a row here at the tracks we usually run well at and we’ll be fine. It’ll definitely be different. We got to working so well together last year, and I’ve got a pretty young .team on the 19 team and they look up to Josh a lot. You lose your leader for two races, especially the first two races of the year, and you want to make a good impression and you want to put your best foot forward. You’re doing it without your leader, and that makes it tough some time. I’m glad Josh is back, and I think the team is back to normal. Everybody is more relaxed this weekend because the team leader is back and we’ll be fine.”
COMMENT ON ATLANTA NEXT WEEK
“We ran very well at Atlanta last year. Kasey has won there. We think we’ve got a good intermediate program. We’re looking forward to that race. It’s a fun racetrack. It’s very slick now and you can run on the bottom, middle and top. Atlanta creates come great, great racing. There’s never any disappointment in Atlanta. Some of the best, closest races we’ve had have come at that speedway. We always look forward to going there. We’ve got a lot of horsepower and our intermediate program is very well stocked at Evernham’s. We should be good when we get there.”
THERE’S BEEN A LOT GOING ON LATELY. WILL IT BE A RELIEF TO GET BACK INTO A ROUTINE?
“To start off the season we’ve had a lot of new things going on in the sport, and I think that’s a good thing for our sport, bringing new things to talk about. It has been tough the last couple of weeks. It seems like we’ve been in a race car a lot. Goodyear keeps trying to change the tire a little bit to make it safer for the drivers. That’s twice as much work for the drivers and twice as much work for the teams to get prepared for it. I think everybody is looking forward to the week between Vegas and Atlanta. It’s just a normal week, no testing, we get back to the east coast, we get a couple of races around home, and I think that’s good for all of us. It’s a tough stretch. You’re in Daytona for two weeks. You come out to California, get a week off and then come back out to Vegas. It’s tough on these guys, but you get all of the traveling out of the way early. We’ll get back to a normal steady race each and every Sunday back on the east coast makes it a lot more fun not having to be away from home.”
COMMENT ON THE APPEAL
“I honestly thought we were going to win it. That’s why we did it. We thought we had a legitimate argument. We gave it our best shot. It wasn’t meant to be. We’re not going to hold our heads down about it. Like I told Ray, we gave it our best shot, don’t worry about it. We’ve got plenty of races left to make up 25 points. I thought we were going to be OK because not many people had lost point pre-qualifying inspection. There were still a lot of cars down there, like the 31 and stuff, that had stuff they ran before qualifying and they didn’t take points away. We felt like we were in good position, but it didn’t work out. We understand their point of view. There’s no problem. We’re back to square one this weekend in Las Vegas and we’ll be fine.”
HOW ABOUT MARCH MADNESS?
“I’m watching a game right now if ya’ll could hurry up. I’m a huge basketball fan, March Madness fan. How about all the overtime games they had yesterday? I was going crazy in my room watching them all day. My boys (North Carolina Tar Heels) are playing right now. They were beating Florida State by 18 when I came out here to talk to ya’ll. Hopefully it’s still going well. I love it. I can’t wait until they start the big tournament next week. I’m looking forward to watching everybody play. It doesn’t get any better to me than college athletics, especially March Madness. Hopefully they (Tar Heels) can win the ACC and they’re the No. 1 seed. I was at the game last week with Duke and Carolina. I’m kinda pulling for (Tyler) Hansbrough to have a good tournament and hopefully they play good.”
COMMENT ON MONTOYA’S MOVE TO WIN THE BUSCH RACE LAST WEEK
“I didn’t watch it. I was at the basketball game. I saw highlights of it. He went for the win and he got into his teammate. Everybody raced differently. That’s between him and Scott and Chip Ganassi. I’m not going to get into it. All I know is I’d better not spin Kasey Kahne out with five laps to go or Scott Riggs or I’m going to be in trouble with Ray. Maybe we just have different rules than other guys. It was great racing. For his team to come back from the fueling problems they had and win the race shows how good he is on a road course and how good his team was. As far as the wreck was concerned, I think that should be left up to him and Scott. They were the ones in the cars at that time. Everybody can play armchair quarterback on Monday. That’s a very easy thing to do, but it’s very different when you’re in that seat and it’s the end of the race and it’s go time.”
WHY DO YOU THINK THEY CHANGED TIRES AFTER TESTING?
“We had some tire problems here during the test as far as right front problems. We were going so fast. I think the track was a lot faster than they thought it was going to be. Goodyear wanted to be safe and they had to change the left side and take some grip away. I think they had to use some precautions. That’s why we’re going to the 13-gallon fuel cell. I think they want to make it safe and not worry about a driver having right front tire problems. Hopefully they’ve helped it.”
YOU WERE FASTEST IN TESTING
“Yeah, it’s discouraging to me. We were the fastest car here testing and we were great on long runs and were great in qualifying trim. We’re pretty much going to have to run a different setup because of the tire. It’s discouraging, and I hate it for the car owners who spend so much money coming out here testing. Then really you can’t use anything you learn, but you’ve got to look at it from the safety standpoint, too. Nobody realized how fast this racetrack was going to be when we got out here for the test. They’re just taking away some lateral grip with the left-side tire. It should slow us down a little bit when we have to corner a little slower. You take a little bit of heat off the right front tire. That should make it last longer.”
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This... is Amanda Prince
Amanda Prince is the girlfriend of NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Elliott Sadler. The new couple has been dating for just a few months, but both are Emporia, Va. natives and their families have known each other for many years.
Amanda plays in a recreational softball league on the Sadler family team, along with Elliott's sister, Marion, and his sister-in-law, Angela. Several months ago, while Elliott was in his hometown taking in a game, the two became reacquainted. There was no denying the chemistry between them and they started hanging out together immediately. Elliott is smitten and admits that prior to meeting Amanda, his personal life had been on the back burner.
Quoting this...
Elliott: "Racing is still No. 1 to me and it's still very important, but now I have someone to share that with... She's just an amazing person. I'm not the most optimistic person in the world -- the glass has always been half-empty for me -- but for some reason it's half-full right now and I have her to thank for that. Things have been on an upswing and things have been a lot of fun. In fact, I didn't think life could be this much fun and man, it's been a blast." [NASCAR.com, Feb. 20, 2007]
Since August of 2005, Amanda has been a 4th grade elementary school teacher. Additionally, she teaches Water Aerobics for the YMCA and taught Elliott's nieces how to swim. She is also active in the Emporia Junior Woman's Club. And according to Elliott, she is a great mom to his 30+ hunting dogs.
Amanda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Longwood University in Farmville, Va., where she graduated magna cum laude in May 2005. In December of 2006, she graduated summa cum laude from Virginia Tech, receiving her Master of Science degree in Curriculum & Instruction. She is a 2001 graduate of Greensville County High School in Emporia.
In the Field: Elliott Sadler
Atlanta to Bristol and in between: TLC, UNC and COT
By Elliott Sadler, Special to NASCAR.COM
March 21, 2007
11:55 AM EDT
I'll tell you a couple things: One, I feel a lot better now than I did a week ago, when I was sicker than I've been in a long time; and two, it's hard to say if I'm more excited about the way my Tar Heels are doing in the NCAAs, or going to Bristol for the first Car of Tomorrow race.
I know some people might try to cover it up -- but getting babied by my mom last week back home in Emporia was great, and that's why I didn't mind talking about it.
I didn't feel too good at all last week, almost all week. I had something like the flu and I really felt bad, but to be back in Virginia when I got sick and to be in a position where my mom could take care of me and fix me soup and things like that was definitely an advantage.
I'd bet there are plenty of times that people have gotten sick and wouldn't have minded if their mom and dad could have taken care of them.
How bad was it? I basically didn't get out of bed for three days and I had to change my shirt about every two hours because I was sweating so bad, and then I was freezing with cold chills coming over me.
Thankfully her TLC had me all well and ready for the busy race weekend in Atlanta.
Yes, we do pick up some marketing savvy by racing in the Nextel Cup Series, but I have no designs on marketing my mother as the ideal "get better quick nurse," or anything like that.
She has taken care of me, my brother, Hermie, and my sister, Missi, for a long time, and we all still live around home, where we were born and raised -- so she still doesn't miss a chance to take care of us.
"Momma Bell" is what most of my friends call her. She's never sick, and she's always on call, it seems like, for any time we have any problems she's always there to come to the rescue, so let's keep her around home, just in case.
We use her pretty hard, right now.
Fortunately she had me well in time to go to Winston-Salem to see the Tar Heels play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
That was pretty awesome. I had never seen Michigan State or Marquette [the other game that session] play in person, so I really wanted to do that. So that was pretty cool -- and I also got to see Carolina play one last time, because I don't think their schedule is going to cross very well with our racing schedule for the rest of March Madness.
So I wanted to watch them at least play one game. By Thursday, I was feeling like I was on the upswing, so my brother and I, along with three of my buddies, decided to go to the game.
Man, we had a lot of fun doing that, and I'm glad I got to experience a little NCAA Tournament action in person.
You know I'm going to find a great spot to watch North Carolina's game on Friday with Southern California. I'm pretty enthused about how they played on offense, at the game I went to, with a lot of great passes, great assists and good screens and stuff like that.
Something that's got me worried, at least after that opening game, was their focus and their team defense. With Georgetown potentially coming, down the road, as well as the tough teams they'll meet trying to get to the Final Four, we definitely have to play better team defense.
So I think coach [Roy Williams] will get them a little more fired up and a little more focused for the next couple events, especially with some hard teams coming into town, so we'll see what happens.
The guys played great offense and I was very impressed with the way Tyler [Hansbrough] played in the first game, so I think he's back and more comfortable. So if we can play a little team defense for an entire game, I think we'll be OK.
Mask or no mask [Hansbrough] is a baller!
Now, if you're asking me if the Nextel Cup Series is going to have its own version of March Madness at Bristol and Martinsville, with the Car of Tomorrow, I don't know.
The test we had at Bristol didn't go as well as we would have liked but I'm sure my team director, Josh Browne, will get me hooked up for the race on Sunday. We feel like we've done a great job at Evernham getting ready for the Car of Tomorrow.
But I think it's going to be the same old Bristol. There are going to be a lot of wrecks, there will be a lot of cautions and there will be a lot of people upset at the end of the race. Surviving is going to be the key.
The Car of Tomorrow isn't going to change that.
I don't care if we race bicycles or dump trucks around there, it's going to create that style of racing, so bring it on. Nobody really knows what's going to happen.
We're somewhat skeptical, but optimistic at the same time about how the Car of Tomorrow is going to perform in the race at Bristol. It should be a good race, but I think there will be a lot of cautions until we get used to what these things want and how they react.
But having said that, I still think it's going to be a great race for the fans, just like it always is.
Bristol is "Heaven on Earth" and the race fans love that place for all the right reasons.
Elliott Sadler, now in his ninth full season in the Cup Series, shares weekly with NASCAR.COM readers life on the road through staff writer Dave Rodman.
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Clear!Blue Communications For Dodge Motorsports, Press Release
ELLIOTT SADLER (No 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Avenger)
COMMENT ON COT
“It’s just a lot harder to drive. It’s going to be harder to race side by side with the COT. It’s a lot more aero dependent than the car of yesterday. We found that out at Bristol and we were surprised that the aerodynamics played a big part in it. We’ll keep working on it. I know we’ll keep learning something new about the COT every time we race it. What we learned from Bristol is that it’s a lot more aero dependent than we thought it was going to be.”
HAS THE COT BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
“I think it’s the most challenging thing I’ve been involved with in nine years because you’re driving two different race cars. It’s hard enough to go to the race track every week and adapt to the race track and try to be fast and compete against some of the other great race car drivers. Now trying to do it with two different race cars that you’ve got to have two completely different setups in, when we leave here at Martinsville we’ve got to pretty much forget about what happened all weekend and focus on Texas because it’ll be a different animal when we get down there with all the cars. It’s not only hard for the driver. It’s hard for the engineers and crew chiefs and everybody involved. It’s been a very tough season so far for everybody.”
IS MARTINSVILLE A RHYTHM TRACK?
“This is a momentum track, a rhythm track, a lot like Bristol. A lot of the short tracks are. You find a spot on the side of the wall, whether it be in turn one or turn three, and you make sure you focus on that same spot every time so you use the same amount of brakes every time. Hopefully you can get back on the gas at the same spot every time. You get a good rhythm going and get focused and get zoned in. Some drivers are better than others here at Martinsville doing that, but if you can find those points and get your car working around them you’re going to have a pretty good day. A lot of racetracks now have writing on the walls and they have all kind of Nextel stuff. I know at Bristol it’s the black Nextel painting going into turn one and turn three. At Martinsville it’s the red stripes on the wall. I’ll sometimes try to lift around them. The car of tomorrow is probably going to use somewhat different spots because it’s a lot harder to slow these cars down than it is our regular car. Hopefully I can find some and do my job as a driver and get in the groove. It’ll probably take two or three laps to find out where I need to be at. If you’re in the top five you’re usually in an open racetrack here. You can usually run some good lap times during the race and save your brakes. You’re going to use your stuff up in traffic a little more, but you can work around it.”
COMMENT ON EXHAUST PIPES
“I think NASCAR implemented a way we should run our exhaust pipes on our COTs. I know we were having problems with them, but we did a lot of testing with them. They were cracking a lot. We actually at Bristol ran heavy weights. We wanted to make sure the performance of the engine would not crack. None of the three Evernham drivers had any extra problems because we went the extra step to make them a lot heavier to make sure they wouldn’t crack, but that came from a lot of testing and observation over the winter. We did a lot of testing to make sure we got this COT as good as we could before we got to the racetrack.”
WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING AT MARTINSVILLE?
“Until we race around each other a bunch and see what these splitters do and see how these cars react, we’re going to be scared of a lot of things I think. We’re not really going to know how the car is going to react to the wing tab knocked off or the splitter tab is knocked off until we have to experience it. We’re worried about it. I think all drivers are kinda curious of it. I think it happened a few times at Bristol last week. Martinsville is a lot tighter racing. I’m sure we’ll find out this weekend whether the splitter can do that or not. I’ll be ready to go back to the other car at Texas. I don’t want to run these on a big track yet until we get all the aerodynamics figured out and figure out what it wants. It’s a little bit better trying to get a car working at Bristol and Martinsville than it is a brand new car working at Texas or Atlanta or a place that’s very, very fast where you’re running over 200 mph. Let’s work out the kinks on these shorter tracks and figure out what we want as a race team before we go to a big track like that.”
ADDITIONAL COMMENT ON AERO PUSH IN COT
“These cars are so much wider in the back and so much taller. They’re creating a bigger hole in the air than we’re used to. It’s definitely caused some aero push, but it’s like that for everybody. As a driver you’ve got to work around it and make the most of it. We’ve never had that at Bristol, so we’ll see what it does here. I think the big telltale will be Phoenix. It’s faster there and flat and we’ll see what the aero push is like there. It might be good. We’ll see. “
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“I love this place, ever since the first lap I took on it in 1997 in a test down here. It fits my driving style. I like it. It’s definitely one of my favorite tracks. I’ve always run pretty well here, qualified well. Certain tracks fit your driving style and this definitely fits mine. I love coming here. It’s a great race track. A lot of people, a lot of excitement. It’s just a fun place to race. It’s so much different than Charlotte the way it’s shaped. I know it might look the same on paper, but the banking is a lot different and the transitions are a lot different. The straightaways seem to be shorter and the turns longer than Charlotte. It’s just a different racetrack. It’s different than Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas, a lot of the other mile and a half tracks. It’s its own entity and has its own characteristics and I just enjoy driving here. I know exactly how I want my car to feel Friday and Saturday to be competitive on Sunday.”
COMMENT ON YOUR 14TH-PLACE RANKING
“I feel like as a team where we’re sitting in the points right now we have no reason to hit the panic button or worry about anything. We’ve been through a lot this year. It’s four first year working together and with the penalties and missing Josh (Team Director Browne) for a couple of weeks and the new COT and having a problem at Bristol running second. For the problems we’ve had to be only 11 points out of 12th we’re in great shape. We think we’re going to get better. We’re learning a lot about the COT car and we’re going to get our mile and a half program better. We’re coming up on some good tracks for me and we’ve got some great opportunities to make up some points and get in the top 10.”
ARE YOU GLAD TO BE BACK IN THE CHARGER THIS WEEK?
“I am very glad to be back in the Charger. I really like the racecar we have right now. We feel like we can race harder and closer, and I’m just glad to be back in it. We’ll give the COT a break a little bit and give my guys a chance to make some better preparations for Phoenix and Richmond. We’ll come back and be strong there, but it’s good to be back in a racecar that I’ve grown up and raced in for nine years. We think we’ve learned some things about the COT. We’re not where we need to be yet, but we think we’ve made some gains with it from Martinsville. We were all very competitive with it at Bristol. We think we found out at Richmond why we weren’t competitive with it at Martinsville, so we’re making the necessary changes. We’re going to try some new stuff at Phoenix and we hope we have a good weekend there. My guys have been working hard on it, and we’re not going to give up by any means. We’re going to keep plugging away with the COT because half the races in The Chase involve that car.”
ONLY 20 RACES LEFT TO MAKE THE CHASE
“We’re six in with 20 left. A lot of great teams are in the top 12 and a lot of great teams have to still make their way in. You’ve only got so many pieces of the pie, so you’ve got to come every week prepared to do the best you can and get as many points as you can because you’re racing a lot of great race teams that are going to get a lot of points every week. We’ve got to be one of those race teams. We’ve got to take what the track gives us each and every Sunday and get maximum points and move on to the next week. We’re only going to do this 20 more times and 20 might sound like a lot but September will be here before you know it.”
ARE YOU HAVING FUN YET?
“I’m having a great time. I’ve had a ball this year. We’ve had some good weekends and we’ve had some bad weekends. I love my team. We’ve got a lot of great guys there that believe in me. I believe in them, and we think we’re going to get better as a team the more Josh and I work together. I think everything is good. I wish my teammates had gotten off to a little better start. They’re struggling a little bit as far as luck is concerned, not as far as speed is concerned. Their season is not over with, either. I’ve still got to do my job as a teammate. We’re going to help each other as much as we can, and we’re all pulling for each other. I think if Scott and Kasey put three or four good runs together and get some momentum going they can get their season turned around and get back in this thing also. Kasey had a great start last year and not so much this year. I’m sure it’s worrying him a little bit, but he’s doing a great job as a driver. He’s the leader of that team and he’s staying focused. Those guys have put themselves in a hole, but he knows he has the talent to get back in the top 12. He knows his team has the talent. They’re not panicking at all. They want to be on the right side of the luck one time as far as finishes are concerned. They know they’ve got the team, they know they’ve got the team in place. You can see that as far as Kasey is concerned. We’ve definitely got great engines each and every week. Kasey knows they’ve got a great team and can make it happen, ,so I don’t see him worrying. He’s a cool customer. They had a couple of bad finishes last year before The Chase. They didn’t panic at all. They knew what they had to do and they went and did it. They made The Chase. I think I’m seeing the same attitude this year.”
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Evernham Motorsports announced that Josh Browne has elected to resign from his team director duties [of #19-Elliott Sadler] and return to the organizations engineering department effective immediately. Longtime Evernham Motorsports employee Scott McDougall, former team director of the #98 Evernham Motorsports Truck/ARCA team, will take over as team director of the #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge on an interim basis. As we look to make vital improvements across our entire program, we are reviewing the allocation of personnel and resources within the organization. Josh is better suited to help the organization as a whole from an engineering perspective and our efforts in that area, said Ray Evernham, team owner and CEO. "I commend Josh for his decision and being a team player."(Evernham Motorsports PR)(7-3-2007)
"Evil." That's how Elliott Sadler described his car Sunday night at Fontana."I have never driven a car like this, I have no idea which way it is going when I get to the corner. The back of the car has a mind of it's own. I turn the wheel left and it takes off right, toward the wall. Feels like the steering box is unhooked from the front tires."
Having won the fall race here in '04 and starting from the sixth position he was looking to have a strong finish. Instead handling problems plagued the 19 team the entire race and they finished in 35th.
On the first stop changes were made to help a loose condition but they were not the kind of changes Sadler said the car required. "We need big changes, a little wedge and air pressure isn't going to do it." This would prove correct when on lap 22 the car spun and brought out the caution. After the spin Ray Evernham started making calls in the pits to try and get the car back into contention. This would not be the case and another spin on lap 65 found Sadler two laps down. A deficit that would not be overcome.
Positives for Gillett Evernham is that Kasey Kahne and the 9 team had another strong run finishing 10th. The 19 team is still struggling. Every week the in-race adjustments made to the racecar take it further and further out of the track and the chemistry between Sadler and McDougall is just not there. He has proven what he can do with a good crew chief. He had Brad Parrott on his box in '04 when he made the chase and won Texas and Fontana. We see what a difference Pat Tryson made to Kurt Busch, Tryson was Sadler's chief when he won Bristol in '01. Communication is key and right now that is something the 19 team is lacking.
Dodge Dealers back on the #19 in 2008: Elliott Sadler’s #19 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge will continue to carry the colors of Dodge dealers nationwide, who again in 2008 will ante up to stay in Nextel Cup.(SPEEDtv.com)(9-16-2007)
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Best Buy, Inc., announced today it has entered a new affiliation with Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
The nation’s leading electronics retailer will serve as the primary sponsor of driver Elliott Sadler and the No. 19 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge Avenger in 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 2008, including the 50th running of the “Great American Race,” the Daytona 500.
“At Best Buy, we’re all about bringing consumers the complete product and service experiences, and that’s what we feel we’ve found with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, “said Barry Judge, senior vice president , Marketing, Best Buy. “With Gillett Evernham Motorsports, not only do we have the focus on performance, but we also have a charismatic fan favorite and proven winner in our driver, Elliott Sadler. We’re confident this new relationship will generate excitement and enthusiasm among our employees, as well as our customers.”
”This sponsorship is a natural fit,” said Gillett Evernham Motorsports co-owner, Ray Evernham. “Gillett Evernham Motorsports is known for bringing technology and innovation to its race program, just as Best Buy is recognized for bringing the newest technology in entertainment to its customers.”
“At Gillett Evernham Motorsports, we always look to align ourselves with companies at the forefront of their respective industries,” said George N. Gillett, Jr., co-owner of Gillett Evernham Motorsports. “We’re honored to have such a prominent brand supporting our racing program, along with our other outstanding partners.”
Since 2000, Gillett Evernham Motorsports has posted 13 wins, 24 poles, 67 top-five and 130 top-10 finishes in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.
Driver Elliott Sadler is also no stranger to Victory Lane, with three Sprint Cup wins, 55 top-10 finishes and seven pole positions to his credit.
“Best Buy is a brand I’ve believed in and supported for years, so to represent them is honestly a dream come true,” said Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Dodge Avenger. “I love all kinds of music and movies, and I’ve always been a ‘gadget guy.’ My house, car, boat and even my motor home are all tricked out with stereos, speakers, gaming systems, GPS, flat screens, DVD players, you name it. The employees at the Mooresville (N.C.) Best Buy store already know me by name, but they’ll be seeing even more of me now.”
To announce the partnership, Best Buy and Gillett Evernham Motorsports held a press conference on Friday morning, Nov. 9, at Phoenix International Raceway, which featured a unique twist on the traditional sponsorship announcement. Instead of representatives just speaking about the new partnership, the relationship was announced through a special video piece that aired on flat-screen TV’s placed in front of the media center stage.
Produced by Best Buy’s internal Yellow Tag production team and filmed last week at the Mooresville, N.C., Best Buy store, the humorous clip featured Sadler, Evernham and local Best Buy employees, known as “Blue Shirts.”
“Best Buy is all about having fun, so we wanted to do something a little different than just sitting on a stage and talking about next year,” said Brad Morrill, senior motorsports manager, Best Buy. “This video reveals the new relationship, but does it in a humorous way that really showcases the personalities of Elliott (Sadler), Ray (Evernham) and Best Buy. There are a lot of sponsorship announcements this time of year, so we wanted to give ours a different look and highlight some of the technology Best Buy is known for.
“The other great benefit is that Best Buy will use this piece to generate awareness and excitement among Best Buy’s 130,000-plus employees, as well as millions of race fans. We believe this is one of the first times, if not the first, a company has announced its motorsports sponsorship across multiple distribution channels to so many different publics.”
As the press conference got underway, a link to the video was emailed to members of the motorsports media, allowing them to view the spot directly from their computer screens.
Fans have the opportunity to view the piece by visiting the Best Buy Racing website (www.racing.bestbuy.com), and the clip will be linked on the Best Buy employee internal website.
Sadler, a native of Emporia, Va., began his NASCAR career in 1995, competing in two NASCAR Busch Series events. In 1997, his first full season of Busch Series competition, Sadler posted three wins, four poles and 10 top-10 runs on his way to a top-five points finish. The following year, Sadler added two more victories, one pole and 10 top-10 finishes to his Busch Series résumé, and made his Sprint Cup debut at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
In 1999, Sadler competed in his first full season of Sprint Cup competition, driving the legendary No. 21 car for Wood Brothers Racing. Sadler remained with the team for four seasons, scoring his first Sprint Cup Series victory during that time at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, 2001.
The 2003 season saw Sadler moving to Robert Yates Racing, where he scored wins at California Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway in 2004. Midway through the 2006 season, Sadler joined Gillett Evernham Motorsports to drive the No. 19 Dodge.
Gillett Evernham Motorsports is a leading team in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and ARCA RE/MAX Series. Founded by CEO Ray Evernham in 1999, the team is in its seventh season of competition at the highest level of NASCAR racing with drivers Elliott Sadler in the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger, Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger and Patrick Carpentier in the No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge Charger in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.
Gillett Evernham Motorsports also fields the No. 9 Ultimate Chargers Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Busch Series, driven by the three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers, Boris Said and Chase Miller. The team is campaigning Dodge Chargers driven by Erin Crocker in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
In 2008, Best Buy will enter its fourth season as a sponsor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In 2005, Best Buy partnered with NetZero as co-primary sponsors of the No. 0 entry, fielded by Haas CNC Racing. For the past two years, Best Buy has served as the primary sponsor of the No. 66 Haas CNC Racing car.
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Q&A With Elliott Sadler
Q&A With Elliott Sadler
Best Buy to Sponsor Sadler