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'It's over' Wood confirms Sadler is free at end of seasonPosted: Friday May 31, 2002 8:25 PM
By Denise N. Maloof, CNNSI.com DOVER, Del. -- You know that for-sale sign Elliott Sadler recently requested? The sandwich board he's been longing to wear? Well, he can pursue either self-marketing tactic now. "It's over," said Eddie Wood, co-owner of Wood Brothers Racing on Friday. "Done." He spoke of the Sadler's request for a release, which will set the driver free after the season, three years before the contract was scheduled to end. Both driver and team now hope to relinquish their roles in one of Winston Cup's latest soap operas, and seek future ones. "Whatever he's got going, he can go do it," Wood said. "And we'll be in search of the elusive driver for us." Sadler was a bit shyer about his release status. "I'm sure we'll have it all out here in a meeting here before long," he said after qualifying eighth for Sunday's MBNA Platinum 400. "But it's coming along good. I'm not worried about it one bit. We'll see what happens." It has, in fact, already happened. Sadler's decision several weeks ago to ask out has prompted more than drama. He's fielded criticism and the distraction of having to address his thinking, but had no second thoughts. "It's not like I just woke up one morning and said, ‘You know what? I think I'll ask for my release,' " Sadler said. "A lot of thinking went through it with my family and different folks that know me very well and know what's going on, to try to make a decision that benefits everybody." Sadler, 27, has spent every minute of his four-year career with the Wood Brothers. He's a Virginian driving for Virginians; the Wood Brothers are one of NASCAR's more venerable teams, but the just-thrilled-to-be-here feeling is long gone for their driver. In 1999, Sadler finished 20th in the Cup points race and was runner-up to rookie-of-the-year Tony Stewart. Points finishes of 29th and 24th followed, respectively, in 2000 and 2001, and last year's frustrations launched Sadler's introspection. Not even his first career Cup win, last spring at Bristol, Tenn. -- the Wood Brothers' first in eight years -- eased the pain. "We've changed a lot things with this race team, a lot of things -- except me and the motor program," Sadler said. "And I told Eddie that. I said, ‘I know y'all are not going to change your motor program. Maybe I don't drive the car particularly like this package needs. So I'd like to get my release early in the season to give y'all plenty of time to find a driver that fits in your situation better. Maybe I can go somewhere else that maybe I fit in their situation better.'" This season, Sadler has two second-place finishes, at Daytona and Darlington. Otherwise, he's finished in the top 20 only twice -- a total of 12 points events. He sits 25th in the current standings heading into Sunday's MBNA 400. "Oh man, it was the hardest thing I've ever done," Sadler said of asking for his release. "I mean Eddie and Len Wood -- great people. You're not going to find anybody any better. They build great race cars. I am never, ever unhappy with my race car the way they have it prepared. They come to the track always ready to go 100 percent. All of them try. "But we're missing it somewhere, and I'm not sure where. Maybe I can't drive the car loose enough to keep these motors wound up. I don't know. I don't know, and I'm not going to point fingers to see. I just know that we have not run as good as we need to run so we need to try something different." Sadler said other intangibles factored in his decision, particularly the knowledge that Motorcraft's sponsorship expires after the 2003 season, and his own tendency to worry. "If we run like this next year, we're losing Motorcraft, we don't get a sponsor … the Wood Brothers have to shut down," Sadler said. "I don't want to live with that. I sure don't want to live with being the last driver they had before they had to shut down, like I sunk the ship." He's also wants a seat on the current bandwagon. Much attention has gone to the Cup series' young-gun drivers, rookies Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson, and Sadler's sub-30 peers like Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. He's a bit peeved that guys he banged wheels with in the Busch series may have left him in their wake. "OK, well, where'd I miss the boat at?" Sadler said. "And if I keep here at Wood Brothers and we keep not doing well, next thing I know I'm 32 years old. Well, that's old, man, the way sport is going. I think the young guns have changed the way we race and changed the complexion of racing." Some good has come of the controversy and inquiry; the No. 21 team is on a qualifying roll. Sadler qualified second at California, followed by a forgettable 21st at Richmond, a sixth in NASCAR's all-star event, The Winston, and second in last week's Coca-Cola 600. Friday's news follows last week's bleakness at Charlotte, when release negotiations weren't going well from Sadler's perspective (he'd offered to give his portion of any winnings back to the team to help hire the best available driver). And he was downcast despite claiming the outside pole for the 600. "I think we're just very determined to show the world that we're not a lame-duck race team or a lame-duck driver," Sadler said. "That we're going to try as hard as we can each and every week to get our best results and kind of go from there." "I mean, qualifying stuff has proven that," Wood said. "We're not letting up. We're going to race hard until the end of the year. He's going to be in the car the rest of the year just like we'd said the very first day. And I said, ‘You know, it'll take a little while to work it out,' and it did. Now, it's done." |
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