August 22, 2010
By Allen Madding
Elliott Sadler made his NASCAR Busch Series debut in 1995 competing in a part time schedule in a family owned car -- as he also did in 1996. Gary Betchel then offered him the No. 29 WCW Chevrolet for the remainder of the 1996 season for the 19th event at Michigan and they teamed up for the remainder of the year.
Betchel and Sadler ran the NASCAR Busch Series full schedule in 1997.
Sadler qualified on the pole for the season opening Gargoyles 300 at Daytona.
He recorded his first win in the series in the Core States Advantage 200 at Nazareth, Pennsylvania after qualifying on the pole.
He repeated the performance of qualifying on the pole and then winning the event in the Advance Auto Parts 250 at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He then won the following event, the Gateway 300 at Madison, Illinois.
By the end of his first full Busch Series season, Sadler had recorded four poles, three wins, six top five finishes, and ten top tens.
Sadler ran another complete schedule in 1998 with Gary Betchel’s team recording one pole, two more wins, five top fives, and ten top tens. He also made his first two starts in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series that year in a car fielded by Betchel. At the end of the season, Sadler had gotten enough of the attention of the Cup Series teams that he was extended an offer by the Wood Brothers to drive their No. 21 Citgo Ford fulltime in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
Over the years, Sadler has driven for the Wood Brothers, Robert Yates Racing, and lately Richard Petty Motorsports. To date, he has recorded three wins in the Sprint Cup Series, five in the Nationwide Series, and one in the Camping World Truck Series.
Some have questioned why he has failed to chart more wins after the quick success he enjoyed his first few years in the Busch Series. This weekend at Bristol, Kevin Harvick addressed that lingering question.
“Every time Elliott has been in our No. 2 truck and this week in our No. 33 NNS car he has been competitive”, Harvick said. ”You are as good as what you drive. You don’t win as many races as he has in Cup and suddenly forget how to drive.”
Harvick may well be onto something as Sadler recorded his first win in nine career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series behind the wheel of Kevin Harvick, Inc.’s Grand Touring Vodka No. 2 Chevrolet in the Pocono Mountains 150.
Saturday night, Sadler led laps and ran in the top five positions for the majority of the night before finishing third in the Food City 250 at Bristol. Despite what the problems may have been over the last several years driving for other teams, it appears that Sadler and Kevin Harvick, Inc. could be a promising pairing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and in the NASCAR Nationwide Series if sponsorship could be secured to fund it.
After the Food City 250, Sadler discussed his prospects for 2011. When asked what he would be doing in 2011, he answered directly, “I don’t know. Honestly, I have no idea.” A promising deal with another Cup team suddenly went to another driver leaving Sadler to wonder what his future holds. “I told my wife coming in the other day that this might be my last night race at Bristol,” Sadler said. “That’s kind of sad because I came here growing up to watch the races here and have raced here a long time.”
Sadler said the only thing currently in the works for him was a possibility of a handful of races in the KHI No. 2 truck. “I have talked to Kevin about running six or seven races in his truck," Sadler continued. "But that depends on how sponsorship works out.”
With the amount of teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, it is hard to believe a talent like Elliott Sadler has so far been overlooked for the 2011 season.
Sadler's performance in the KHI No. 2 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry at Dover, Charlotte, and Michigan followed by this weekend’s performance in the KHI NO. 33 NASCAR Nationwide Series car are a testament to his driving skill and ability. He is still a very competitive driver capable of racking up wins and top ten finishes. He should be a hot commodity among the drivers searching for a ride in 2011.
If a competitive team with competitive equipment does not sign Sadler for 2011 in one of the top three series for a full schedule, it will be a loss for the sport.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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