Elliott Sadler Bio | Honorary Team Members | Team Bios Page 1 | Team Bios Page 2 | Team Bios Page 3
Name: Elliott William Barnes Sadler
Birthdate: April 30, 1975
Home: Emporia, Va.
Sadler was born into a racing family. With his Uncle Bud Elliott and Dad Herman, along with their brothers racing on short tracks around Virginia, it was natural that young Sadler would soon climb into a go-kart. He climbed into his first at the age of seven and earned 200 wins before moving into Late-Model stocks and adding several series championships to his resume. In 1995, at the age of 20, he
won a track championship at South Boston speedway. This win captured the eye of Gary Bechtel who gave young Sadler a full time Busch ride in 1997.
Sadler started his Busch career with a pole for the season opener at Daytona. Thirteen races later, he scored his first Busch win at Nazareth Speedway on May18, 1997, leading 107 laps and beating Todd Bodine by .209 seconds. Sadler won 2 more times that year with back to back wins in July at Myrtle Beach and Gateway. He finished that first season 5th in the standings and won the Busch Pole Award for the most poles won with 4. Sadler won 2 more races in 1998 with wins at Bristol and Rockingham.
In 1999 Sadler was chosen to race in the legendary #21 car for the Wood Brothers and took the team back to victory circle at Bristol in 2001. This was the first win for the team since 1993.
After 4 years, they parted ways and Sadler signed with another legendary team, RYR. Sadler became the new Candyman when he jumped behind the wheel of the 38 M&M car. Their first season together was promising with two poles, two top fives and nine top ten finishes. Things looked even better with the addition of Todd Parrott as crew chief at the end of the 2003 season.
2004 started with a bang when Sadler won the pole for the Daytona 500. Later that same week, Sadler won the Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying race taking new sponsor M&M to victory lane for the first time. Sadler would win at Texas and California that year guaranteeing himself a spot in the first Chase for the Championship. He was one of only 4 drivers to remain in the top ten in points the entire season and would finish 9th in points.
Sadler started 2005 strongly, holding on to a top five position for the first half of the season. Problems beset the team during the second half and Sadler fell to 13 in points, but came back and narrowly missed the chase, 11th in points after Richmond, the cut-off race for the Chase. He would go one to finish 2005 13th in points.
2006 would prove to be a dificult season both personally and professionally. In August he made the painful decision to leave Yates and moved to Evernham Motorsports to wheel the #19 Dodge. When he joined the team, his new ride had fallen outside the top 36 in owner points making it necessary for Sadler to qualify on time. This proved no problem for Sadler who scored the outside pole and finished 10th. The first top ten for the #19 that year. Sadler’s best finish for the remainder of 2006 would be a 6th place at New Hampshire.In 2007 Sadler and his new #19 team started well with an outside pole and a 10th place finish at MIS. However, the COT and the new Charger nose would prove a huge obstacle that this team would battle for the entire season. This resulted in Sadler limping home with a disappointing 25th in the standings.
Sadler is looking forward to a great 2008 with a fresh new outlook in many ways bringing with him new sponsorships of Best Buy, Stanley and McDonald's. 2008 also marks Sadler's 10th season in the Sprint Cup Series.
Mentors: Uncle Bud Elliott, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and Hermie Sadler
• Favorite Tracks: Bristol Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Richmond
• Favorite TV Show: Seinfeld
• Favorite Movie: Friday & Wedding Crashers
• Favorite Music Artists: Bon Jovi, Eminem, Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, Toby Keith and Blake Shelton
• Favorite Snacks: M&M’S, Twix & Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Favorite Video Games: Halo, Madden 07, NASCAR 07, Tiger Woods Golf and Project Gotham Racing
• Favorite College Basketball Team: UNC Tarheels
• Favorite College Football Team: Virginia Tech Hokies
• Hobbies: Golf, Hunting, Fantasy Auto Racing and Playing Video Games