NASCAR WCUP: Sadler tests at Michigan; Cold, but successful

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 12, 2001

Elliott Sadler and Wood Brothers Racing are testing at Michigan International Speedway this week. Tuesday got off to a late start due to weather. It rained in the morning and, even with the help of a jet dryer, it took close to three hours to dry the track due to temperatures in the 40s and an overcast sky. Despite the conditions, Sadler and his crew felt they made progress at a track, where the team has produced less than stellar results the past two years.

ELLIOTT SADLER, -21- Motorcraft Taurus -- "I think today went great. We brought a brand new car up here that is a sister to another car we had, the one we ran at Texas, and it performed just as good. We came up here to try to make sure we had a good car to carry to California. It was very, very impressive. This is the most comfortable I've ever felt here at Michigan. If you look at my stats here, they're not too great. I've never been really comfortable here. I'm really proud of these guys and what we've learned and accomplished at each and every test. It seems like we've got stuff going in the right direction. We're not fumbling over each other. It seems like we have a duty each time we test, a mission to accomplish certain things, and it seems like we are right on target again today. And I'm pretty proud of these guys for that."

ONE OF THE OTHER TWO CARS YOU HAVE HERE IS THE CAR YOU RAN AT TEXAS TWO WEEKS AGO. WHAT IS THE OTHER CAR? "The other car is my favorite car at the Wood Brothers race shop. It is the one we ran at Atlanta last year, and we ran it at Darlington and Rockingham this year. It is a really good racecar and we brought it because it is our best piece to compare with, and the new car is actually a little bit faster. Since we know it's a really good racecar, there is no need testing the other car any more. We know it's a great racecar so we're going to load it up so that we'll have it for The Winston in Charlotte. We're going to run the best car we have at The Winston, and we'll go from there."

PAT TRYSON, Crew Chief, -21- Motorcraft Taurus -- "I thought today went real well. We spent a little time doing qualifying stuff. We were pretty fast for the weather and tires and everything. It's a good start for when we come back, but the weather will be different and there will be more rubber on the racetrack. We did some race stuff with the car we thought was our best and that went real good. And we found some little stuff here and there, and we tried some stuff. That is what testing is about. We've still got more work to do, but we're not too bad, and we're pleased with what we learned."

WHAT DO YOU GET FROM A TEST WHEN THE WEATHER IS SO MUCH DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT WILL BE WHEN YOU COME BACK? "You get a baseline set-up that you can adjust around when you come back. And you get to try some stuff that you wouldn't otherwise have time to try. The problem with a race weekend is that you only get an hour and a half of practice so you don't have time to experiment. You are pretty much stuck with what you have. You can't try anything new or different so this is an opportunity to try things that hopefully will help us in the long run and help us in the next couple of weeks."

Text provided by Marti Rompf

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