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NASCAR-BGN: Sawyer Posts Solid Finish in Atlanta

16 March 1999

ATLANTA - LYSOL driver Elton Sawyer started 33rd in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series Yellow Freight 300 but roared his way to a seventh-place finish after avoiding several accidents.

Sawyer actually crossed the finish line in eighth place, but Mike Skinner's victory was disallowed by NASCAR because of an unapproved cylinder head. As a result of Skinner's infraction, Sawyer is credited with seventh-place finish. Dave Blaney is now credited with the victory and Skinner officially recorded a 43rd-place finish.

"I knew we had a strong car," said Sawyer, who led 27 laps. "This is a fast track and I felt that in order to be up front at the end I had to be patient. That's why I took my time and didn't take any unnecessary chances coming up through the pack."

Crew chief Rick Viers made a bold decision and decided their stop on lap 113 would be their last pit stop for the day. The team made no adjustments, filled the car with fuel and sent Sawyer on his way. When another caution flag waved on lap 127, many of the leaders pitted and Sawyer was left in the lead. It was the first time Sawyer had led a lap since the Pepsi 200 at Michigan Speedway in 1998.

"It was a great effort for the whole LYSOL Taurus team," Sawyer continued. "We had some misfortune by getting hung up behind a lap car and lost a lot of track position on a restart, but the guys did a great job. The car was good but we just weren't quite as good as we needed to be. I tried to make a run at Geoffrey Bodine and Mark Martin at the end but we didn't quite have enough for them. It was a real good effort for my whole team. I'm real proud of them."

Sawyer's veteran patience paid off when he barely missed an accident on lap 68 as two cars spun in front of the LYSOL Ford. After the incident cleared, Sawyer lined up 12th for the restart and was ready to make his way to the front. Unfortunately, he was stuck behind a lap car and was shuffled back to 23rd. Once again Sawyer's patience paid off as he picked his way up to 16th when the caution came out on lap 112.

The next stop for the NASCAR Busch Series is Darlington, S.C., for the Diamond Hill Plywood 300. The green flag drops at 5:30 p.m. Television coverage will be provided by ESPN and radio coverage will be provided by MRN.