April 27, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

Elliott Sadler

With four of the top five drivers in Nextel Cup points representing just two teams, it's no wonder that the Roush and Hendrick boys have received the lion's share of media attention.

After the Subway Fresh 500K in Phoenix on Saturday, Jimmie Johnson retained his first place standing in overall points, while fellow Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon, who finished 12th in the race, moved up one spot to 4th.

2004 Cup Champion Kurt Busch went to victory lane in Phoenix and moved one spot ahead of Roush teammate Greg Biffle to 2nd. Biffle slipped to 3rd, losing a spot after the #16 car suffered terminal damage in a pit road accident.

Finishing just out of the top-10 in Phoenix was Robert Yates Racing driver Elliott Sadler, who quietly moved up three places in points to round out the top-five. Sadler, a Chase for the Championship contender last season, is currently 251 points out of first. He also finished 2nd in the Busch race Friday night.

After eight races this season, Sadler has accumulated one pole (Bristol), one top-5, and four top-10's. While his average start is 20th, Sadler has been able to convert poor starting spots to an average finish of 13.5.

At the season opener in Daytona, Sadler started near the rear of the field in 39th, but finished just outside the top-10 in 11th place. The following week in Fontana, he parlayed a 41st place start to an 8th place finish. And in Phoenix, his 11th place finish followed a 33rd place qualifying run.

Sadler's worst finish of the year was a 29th-place showing in Las Vegas, after he got caught up in a six-vehicle wreck on lap 66. He had qualified 2nd behind perennial pole favorite Ryan Newman.

After Phoenix, Sadler was asked about his team's ability to put together strong runs despite poor qualifying or mid-race trouble. "We make the most of it," Sadler replied. "A bad day for us is 11th or 12th. (Crew Chief) Todd Parrott does a great job of repairing the damages and stuff like that. It's a great team, and that's how championships are won and lost. If we can manage days like this and we can look at them at the end of the year, and if we make the Chase, this is the reason why."

"I'm just proud of my guys," Sadler continued. "It was a great weekend for us. We struggled here last fall, and to come back and finish 11th, and gain some points, and get back up in the top-10 real good, is a great day for all of us."

Heading into the restrictor-plate crashfest known as Talladega, Sadler and crew will need to work diligently to keep their place in the points standings. In 11 Cup races at Talladega, Sadler has just one top-5 finish. His average starting spot at Talladega is 22nd, while his average finish is 27th. Sadler has had two dramatic crashes at the restrictor plate track, most notably a spectacular multi-flip rollover at the fall race in 2003.

Sadler was asked about his Talladega crashes at a Ford Dealer's Fan Appreciation event in Phoenix last week. Sadler joked that he didn't want to be known for his crashes, "especially for how spectacular they are." Nevertheless, he credited his sponsors for their continued support, noting that this year, they would be preparing the #38 for Talladega by putting the decals on upside down and adding tires to the roof.

All joking aside, Elliott Sadler is very serious about proving himself as a driver worthy of making the Chase, both last season and this one.

"I'm feeling a lot of pressure, a bunch," Sadler said about his efforts so far this year. "Nobody's putting it on me but me, because I do want to show everybody we have a great team. We know people have us under the spyglass wondering if we can [make the Chase] again, because we were a surprise.

"We've shown that we can be a top-10 team. We just want to show everybody that we are for real, that we can do it again."

A strong finish at Talladega would go a long way towards solidifying that position.

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. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.