NASCAR WCUP: Rockingham finish and Las Vegas test produce high energy for Sadler

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Following his 11th place finish at North Carolina Speedway this past weekend Elliott Sadler, driver of the 21 Motorcraft Taurus and Wood Brothers Racing are now 11th in Winston Cup points. Sadler's jump from 18th to 11th coupled with a great test at Las Vegas has Elliott and the team on a natural high going into the race at Las Vegas. Elliott talks about the test and the Motorcraft Racing team relationship with Roush Racing and Jeff Burton.

"I'm looking forward to going to Las Vegas. We tested very well there. We were one of the fastest cars there both days. I think Pat Tryson, and the guys did a great job preparing two equal racecars. One was a little bit better than the other one and that I really liked. They did a great job. We were fast right off the truck which means they did a great job at the shop making sure everything was right. I think we learned a lot going to Kentucky. Pat and I learned a lot about each other and what we like, and what we need to do to make these things run so when we got to Vegas we were ready for business. We want to get in the No Bull Five. We want to do whatever we have to do to get in the No Bull Five. I think we can after the test we had. I think we're as good as anybody. I think our team right now is just as strong as anybody's on down force tracks. And we're looking forward to going back to prove it. We've got pretty high emotions right now and a lot of momentum is on our side. We're looking forward using it."

ARE KENTUCKY AND LAS VEGAS SIMILAR? "I think they are just like each other. That's why we chose to go there, to get some time and to learn what we would really like to try at Vegas. So really we've had two tests to prepare for this No Bull Five race. A lot of guys have gone to Kentucky instead of going to Vegas like Jeff Burton. And we've all shared things to help them get ready for Kentucky; things that we learned so that they could try it and see what happens. But we're very, very happy right now on our race team as far as where we're at as far as our cars and our bodies and everything that we believe in. When we leave Daytona we're going to some tracks that I really, really like and where we can run good and we hope Vegas will be one of them."

YOU MENTIONED JEFF BURTON. ARE YOU GETTING A LOT OF FEEDBACK FROM HIM AND HIS TEAM? "I've think we've done a lot for each other. I think stuff we've learned that we've shared with them. We're trying different things that I think will help the whole Roush organization. I'm not probably an experienced enough race car driver to win a championship, but I think we can come up with some stuff to help Jeff Burton win a championship, and that's the way we are looking at it. But I do think we can get a pole or win. We want to help them as much as we can and we think we have already brought a lot to the table from the wind tunnel and chassis stuff. We are doing all our tests with them (Roush) this year. We can compare notes because our chassis are the same and our bodies are the same. That way we can all run good."

Text Provided By Marti Rompf

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