NASCAR WCUP: Sadler on a qualifying roll heading to Darlington

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August 29, 2001

Elliott Sadler is on a qualifying roll heading into the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The third-year driver of the #21 Motorcraft Taurus has qualified fourth in each of the last two races, matching his career best. Sadler also qualifies well at Darlington, where he has started inside the top-20 in four of his five starts.

ELLIOTT SADLER-21-Motorcraft Taurus-WHAT'S THE KEY FOR YOU AT DARLINGTON? "I like Darlington a lot. We've qualified very good there in the past and run real good there. I'm looking forward to Darlington. We've got a pretty good race car going. It's a hard race track, and I think I usually run pretty good and the real hard, driver-style race tracks. Hopefully we can go there and have another good finish."

IS IT TOUGH TO GET THE RIGHT SET-UP AT DARLINGTON BECAUSE THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE TRACK ARE SO DIFFERENT? "Both corners are a lot different at Darlington than the other one. They don't hardly represent each other at all, so you gotta kind of give up one to be good at the other one. So, if you're tight in three and four, you're loose in one and two, and vice-versa. So, we'll just try to get our car real, real good in one corner and try to get the best we can in the other one. It's a weird race track - especially after five laps when your tires are all gone anyway, so then nothing handles good at either end."

YOU'VE OFTEN TALKED ABOUT HOW MUCH RESPECT YOU HAVE FOR GLEN WOOD. HAVE YOU EVER TALKED TO HIM ABOUT RACING AT DARLINGTON? "Sometimes. We talk about the David Pearson days and how he said he always ran his quickest lap of qualifying no matter what. He never slowed down for practice or qualifying. And just things of that nature. He always talks highly of the '60s and '70s - he can tell you story after story, and I feel very lucky to be around him that much to hear that many stories. Do you know how many race fans would die to hear those kinds of stories from Glen Wood? He's meant an awful lot to that race program, and a lot of guys that work there with him." (NOTE: David Pearson won six races and nine poles at Darlington for the Wood Brothers between 1972-78.)

IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT DARLINGTON, SPECIFICALLY, THAT HE'S TALKED ABOUT THAT YOU CAN USE? "We talk a little bit about racing, but mostly how to handle people on and off the race track, and what they try to represent in the Wood Brothers and a family sport. They are great people, and they kinda want me to go in their same footsteps."

Text provided by Marti Rompf

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