NASCAR WCUP: Sadler getting pumped up for race in Darlington

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

March 13, 2001

Elliott Sadler - 21 - Motorcraft Ford Taurus and the Wood Brothers are really looking forward to Darlington. The team stumbled this past weekend at Atlanta falling from 10th to 19th in points, but both driver and team are looking forward to the trip to South Carolina. Sadler talks about why he likes Darlington and how the team has changed, and Pat Tryson discusses getting the team pumped up in preparation for the next race.

ELLIOTT SADLER: "This team has gone through a lot of changes this year especially with Motorcraft coming on board and getting us in the right direction with the right resources we need to get us on track. It really shows. We're a lot better in points and we're racing a lot better on Sundays." WHAT IS IT ABOUT DARLINGTON THAT YOU LIKE? "I think it is a driver's racetrack. It's a slick racetrack. You're up against the wall the whole time so you have to use our head. I'm a pretty patient driver so I think slick race tracks like that reward drivers with that kind of patience. That's probably why we've had fairly good finishes there. I think we're back to basics. We're not reinventing the wheel. We're not trying to make something out of nothing. I think we're just taking basic equipment and running basic set-ups and we're getting results out of it. We've got a lot of confidence on this team now. There's no magic. I just think the guys are working a lot harder together and the team moral is better than we've ever had. We are a lot better together. We were like oil and vinegar the last two years, and we're not like that any more so I think that is the biggest difference."

PAT TRYSON: "It's important to get the team pumped back up. We've found a couple of things with the car (from Atlanta) that may have caused some of the problems there. It is important that everyone on the team gets pumped back up, has confidence in Elliott and the program. We're going to two racetracks (Darlington and Bristol) that Elliott really likes. We've had good finishes at both of those tracks. I'm just trying to spend time with everybody one-on-one. That's important. And we are taking the car that ran really good at Rockingham to Darlington and hopefully we can get in the top ten."

Text provided by Marti Rompf

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