Sunday, August 25, 2002
Sadler gets a fresh start
And faces high expectations
The Associated Press
BRISTOL, Tenn. - For most of his Winston Cup career, Elliott Sadler has been best known as the guy who once ate 16 bologna burgers in one sitting.
Now that he's moving over to Robert Yates Racing, stepping into one of the premier rides in NASCAR, the pressure will be on Sadler to show something on the race track.
“I've had a lot of sleepless nights before I got this deal done, and now that it's done, I think I'm sleeping worse,” Sadler said. “Now, it's a lot of pressure to get in this race car next year.
COMING UP
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Upcoming Cup races
Sept. 1 - Southern 500, Darlington, S.C.
Sept. 7 - Chevy Monte Carlo 400, Richmond, Va.
Sept. 15 - New Hampshire 300, Loudon.
Sept. 22 - MBNA America 400, Dover, Del.
Sept. 29 - Protection One 400, Kansas City, Kan.
Oct. 6 - EA Sports 500, Talladega, Ala.
Oct. 13 - UAW-GM Quality 500, Concord, N.C.
Oct. 20 - Martinsville 500, Martinsville, Va.
Oct. 27 - NAPA 500, Hampton, Ga.
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“I need to win races. We need to run good each and every week. Why? Because this car has always run good. So, I think the pressure on myself is probably going to go through the ceiling.”
Sadler, 27, is stepping into the first car Yates ever fielded when he entered Winston Cup racing in 1989. The car has always been the No.28 Ford and was an instant winner with the late Davey Allison.
Ricky Rudd has been in it the past three seasons, but Yates is letting Rudd's contract expire in December because he had a shot to sign Sadler. With Dale Jarrett in his other car, Yates wanted only two teams.
So Sadler will step into the seat next season, but as of now, the car is switching to No.38 because of a pending split with Texaco-Havoline, the only sponsor the Ford has ever had.
Different number, different sponsor - but same expectations for a team that is used to running up front.
The problem is that Sadler, so far, is not.
He was successful on the Busch series, winning five races and four poles in two seasons. But since making the jump to Winston Cup in 1999, the results have not been as good.
He scored his only Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in March 2001.
Sadler finished second in the season-opening Daytona 500 this year and earned another runner-up at Darlington Raceway in March, but he doesn't have any other top-five finishes this year and sits 24th in the points.
For most of his four seasons in Winston Cup, there has been a greater interest in him rehashing the night he sat in the grass at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and ate as many bologna burgers as he could.
Part of the fascination is hearing him tell the story in his distinct Virginia drawl, never skimping on the details.
But Yates will expect Sadler to become more than the “Bologna Burger Boy.”
Such expectations are what Sadler so desperately wanted when he asked the Wood Brothers this spring for an early release from his contract.
As a single-car team operating on a family business budget, Sadler did not think the Virginia-based operation could compete with the multiple-car teams that consistently beat the No.21 Ford.
Bizarrely, Rudd is now taking Sadler's seat at the end of the year.
Rudd said he has no hard feelings for Sadler..
“I'm not going to sit here and beat up on Elliott Sadler. He's got his dreams and he's going after it and I just hope it works out as good for him as he thinks it is, and that's all I can say,” Rudd said.The Associated PressElliott Sadler, known for his love of bologna burgers, is moving to Robert Yates Racing.
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Sadler gets a fresh start
