Elliott Sadler

Elliott Sadler was a race driver when he was just 7 years old. Karting was his mode and wins were his fuel. Elliott won over 200 races in his Karting career that included the 1983-84 Virginia State Karting Championships. He is hunting guide and even has a breeding facility for Walker Hunting Dogs. Elliott was a Basketball player in high school and the sport got him a scholarship to James Madison University but a knee injury cut his career short.

Sadler has earned numerous recognitions including the '2003 Outstanding Virginian Award' as well as recognition from the Autism Society of America for raising more than $86,400 for the cause.

Coming to his racing career, Elliott has just been as exciting at it as he has in his personal life. After several Kart titles and race wins, Sadler moved to the NASCAR weekly series competition in 1993. He had been here before but '93 was his first full season. He was a good learner and the '93 and '94 experience helped him to be crowned as the track Champion at the South Boston Speedway where he won 13 races including a run of 6 consecutive wins. Throughout 1995 and 1996, Sadler was involved in the NASCAR Nationwide series at a select few events here and there. He went in to the Nationwide series for a full season in 1997.

He won the pole position on his debut race at Daytona and got his maiden win at the 13th race of the season at Nazareth. His three wins got him 5th place in the overall standings. In 1998, his performance degraded a tad bit as he just won two races on his way to eighth place. He could well have been distracted by his runs in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series for Gary Bechtel and Diamond Ridge Motorsports.

In 1999, he was in it for the long haul. Retirement in just two races with one top-ten finish was commendable for the rookie although it wasn't enough to grab the Rookie of the Year title which was picked up by Tony Stewart. Elliott finished in 24th place at the end of the season.

Things were getting worse for Sadler as he sunk down to 29th place in 2000. The misery was at its peak when he failed to qualify at Talladega. Just one top-ten finish wasn't enough to please Elliott, someone who was accustomed to winning. So he joined the Wood Brothers in 2001 and took them to their first win in 18 years, at Bristol. He had a third place as his only other top-ten finish for the season and an eventual 20th place in the standings.

2002 was Elliott's second and last season with the Wood Brothers. He only managed two second places in the entire season and left for Robert Yates Racing at the end of the season. With two top-5s and 9 top-tens, Elliott began his crawl back up the standings to 22nd place where he ended the season. He continued his rise the next year and this time 'round, he was fantastic. He had two wins, eight top-5 results and 14 top-ten results on his way to ninth place in the overall standings. He only had one retirement which was the least of all drivers who participated in the entire season.

After a relatively successful 2004, expectations were higher in 2005 but things didn't turn out as Elliott would have liked. His best finish was second place at Bristol and the highlight of the season became the second place that he earned at the All-Star Event. A 13th spot was not good enough yet it was all he could manage.

One top-five finish and seven top-tens were all he could manage on his way to 22nd place. It was a disappointing 2006 season and his best finish was a fourth place at the first race of the season in Daytona. In 2007, things went further downhill as Sadler just saw two top-ten finishes, a sixth and an eighth, and ended the season in 25th place. This was his worst performance since his debut season's 29th place finish.

Elliott will need to stop the rot and has to find a way to regain his form. A tremendous driver in his early days, Sadler has been unable to prove his mettle at the top level and in 2008, he may start with a more modest goal before aiming at bigger things.