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NASCAR-WCUP: Citgo Racing - Weekly Update

28 April 1999

Driver: Elliott Sadler, 1st season, 1 top 10

Car: #21 CITGO Ford Taurus

Last Week: DIEHARD 500 Talladega, AL

It wasn't the run Elliott Sadler was looking for, but compared to the season opening Daytona 500, the Wood Brothers didn't have a bad day in the Talladega 500. While the team fought to a 29th place finish, the knowledge gained was invaluable.

Friday, in the first round qualifying session, the CITGO Ford turned a lap at 50.367 seconds (190.124 mph). The run resulted in a 46th place effort. After requalifying the next day, the team was forced to use a provisional to gain entry on this restrictor plate track.

Mike Beam and the crew had the CITGO Ford running quite a bit better in the final practice session. It was during this session that Beam found the nose on the CITGO Ford was not quite perfect --- which is a sore spot with the Ford Taurus on the superspeedways.

In Sunday's event, Sadler was able to improve on his 41st starting position and brought the CITGO Ford home in 29th.

Quoting Elliott: "It's a tough deal. We built a brand new car coming in here and track tested it. We just couldn't get things worked out like we wanted to. The car is in one piece, which is an improvement over Daytona. We'll go home and cut the body off the car and start over again."

Racing This Week: CALIFORNIA 500 PRESENTED BY NAPA, Fontana, CA California Speedway Sunday, May 2, 1999 Live ABC-TV 11AM PT, 2PM ET Live MRN Radio 11AM PT, 2PM ET

Nuts and Bolts: Driver Elliott Sadler started 7th and finished 7th in last year's Busch race at Fontana, CA. In the two Winston Cup races at Fontana,The Wood Brothers with driver Michael Waltrip, finished 20th in 1998 and 11th in 1997.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DRIVER ELLIOTT SADLER, APRIL 30, TURNING 24 YEARS OLD

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