Although Eliott Sadler isn’t competing in NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup championship, the driver of the No. 19 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge always looks forward to heading home to race at Martinsville Speedway.
Sadler, a native of Emporia, Va., visited both Martinsville and Richmond International Raceway in his home state long before he ever envisioned becoming a professional stock car racer.
“When I was a kid, we would come out here and watch the races and cheer for our favorite drivers,” said Sadler, whose first start at Martinsville in a Cup car was in 1998 for Wood Brothers Racing.
“Now it’s pretty cool to think that I’m one of the people fortunate enough to be able to race at the highest level of our sport in front the fans,” Sadler said. “I used to be one of those fans sitting in the stands.â€
While Sadler hasn’t had too much to cheer about this season, he has put together a pair of top-10 finishes in his last three starts and hasn’t been knocked out of a race since wrecking at Dover on June 1.
“The last couple weeks we have been racing to some of our best finishes all year,” Sadler said. “We are still racing for wins each week, but we also have the luxury of taking chances to get ahead that some of the other teams can’t right now because they are racing for points.â€
*****from Jim Modlin, courtesy of scenedaily.com*****