Pressure to perform

Sadler understands expectations associated with Yates' team

Elliott Sadler hasn't finished better than 20th in the final Winston Cup points standings. AP

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- For most of his Winston Cup career, Elliott Sadler has been best known as the guy who once ate 16 bologna burgers in one sitting.

Now that he's moving over to Robert Yates Racing, stepping into one of the premier rides in NASCAR, the pressure will be on Sadler to show something on the race track.

"I've had a lot of sleepless nights before I got this deal done, and now that it's done, I think I'm sleeping worse," Sadler said. "Now, it's a lot of pressure to get in this race car next year.

"I need to win races. We need to run good each and every week. Why? Because this car has always run good. So, I think the pressure on myself is probably going to go through the ceiling."

Sadler, 27, is stepping into the first car Yates ever fielded when he entered Winston Cup racing in 1989. The car has always been the No. 28 Ford and was an instant winner with the late Davey Allison.

Ricky Rudd has been in it the past three seasons, but Yates is letting Rudd's contract expire in December because he had a shot to sign Sadler. With Dale Jarrett in his other car, Yates only wanted two teams.

So Sadler will step into the seat next season, but as of now, the car is switching to No. 38 because of a pending split with Texaco-Havoline, the only sponsor the Ford has ever had.

Different number, different sponsor -- but same expectations for a team that is used to running up front.

Career Breakdown   Busch  Cup*  Starts   91  128  Poles   5  0  Wins   5  1  Top 5s   13  4  Top 10s   27  6  Best Pts. Finish   5th  20th  * Through Aug. 17, 2002

The problem is that Sadler, so far, is not.

He was successful on the Busch series, winning five races and five poles in two seasons. But since making the jump to Winston Cup in 1999, the results have not been as good.

He scored his only Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in March 2001.

Sadler finished second in the season-opening Daytona 500 this year and earned another runner-up at Darlington Raceway in March, but he doesn't have any other top-five finishes this year and sits 24th in the points.

For most of his four seasons in Winston Cup, there's been a greater interest in him rehashing the night he sat in the grass at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and ate as many bologna burgers as he could.

Part of the fascination is hearing him tell the story in his distinct Virginia drawl, never skimping on the details.

But Yates will surely expect Sadler to become more than the "Bologna Burger Boy."

"I feel like there will be more pressure on me next year to perform than there ever has been, and that's going to be a tough deal to swallow," he said. "I know how competitive they are, they want to win races. I know how competitive I am. I'll need to come in ... and really be focused week-in and week-out to not only run up front but try to get in Victory Lane."

Yet this is what Sadler so desperately wanted when he asked the Wood Brothers this spring for an early release from his contract.

As a single-car team operating on a family business budget, Sadler did not think the Virginia-based operation could compete with the multiple-car teams that consistently beat the No. 21 Ford.

So he asked the Woods to let him pursue other work.

Hammering out the details of his release took months and Sadler, feeling so guilty about letting the Woods down, forfeited his race winnings for the rest of the year so the owners would have more cash to wave at Sadler's replacement.

Bizarrely, Rudd is now taking Sadler's seat at the end of the year. So Sadler gets Rudd's car and a chance to become a serious competitor, while Rudd trades his keys to the Ford that resuscitated his career for a set to a smaller organization.

Rudd said he has no hard feelings for Sadler and understands why Yates wanted the young driver.

Season-long Saga For a chronology of the storylines associated with Ricky Rudd and Elliott Sadler's signings, click here.

"I think that he's one of the finest young guys that has come up in a long time and he's got a lot of raw talent," Rudd said. "He's young, he's champing at the bit, he's a friend of mine.

"I'm not going to sit here and beat up on Elliott Sadler. He's got his dreams and he's going after it and I just hope it works out as good for him as he thinks it is and that's all I can say."

It's his desire to be a champion that has the rest of Yates Racing excited about working with Sadler.

Among them is crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain, whose relationship with Rudd has gone from warm and friendly to strictly professional this season as tension nearly tore the team apart.

Sadler will be the youngest driver McSwain has ever worked with and the two have already hit it off.

"To get someone who has the energy that Elliott's got, the intensity that he's got, the desire that he's got, it's pretty exciting for me as a crew chief to see someone that's young and wanting to be a big name in this business," McSwain said.

 

Related information

Stories

Sadler takes Rudd's place with Yates Wood Brothers hire Rudd to replace Sadler Ricky Rudd-Elliott Sadler Timeline

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video