Wednesday

Elliott Sadler, 2009 Ford 400 NSCS Race Preview

Filed under Press Releases, Sprint Cup Series

STATESVILLE, N.C. – Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Best Buy Dodge Charger, and his team are heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS) this week to finish out the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season. As the team heads to Homestead, Sadler takes a quick look back at some of the positives of the 2009 season and what is yet to come as the team gears up for a busy offseason before heading back to Daytona in February for Speedweeks.

SADLER QUOTES:

ON THE 2009 SEASON: “I love to race as much as anyone, but I’m honestly really looking forward to the off-season to kind of reset mentally and physically. We have a lot of exciting and positive things going on here at Richard Petty Motorsports and I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. We are making a manufacturer switch, merging with another team and working to make our team as strong as possible heading into 2010.

“This year was full of twists and turns right from the start. We ended last season as Gillett Evernham Motorsports and started this year as Richard Petty Motorsports. To look at our team now from where we were a year ago at this time is really pretty staggering. Last year we only had two cars in the top-35 and a third car qualifying each week on time. Now we have Richard Petty a part of our team and we have four cars securely in the top-35 heading into Daytona. We’ve are headed in the right direction and I’m expecting great things in 2010.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST:

· Richard Petty Motorsports drivers Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson will drive Dodge Chargers for the final time in Sprint Cup Series competition before the anticipated off-season manufacturer switch to Ford prior to the 2010 season.

· Sadler was the first RPM driver to race a Ford Fusion in anticipation of a full manufacturer switch for 2010. Sadler finished ninth in RPM’s Ford debut.

· In 2009, Sadler has accumulated one top-five (Daytona 500), five top-10s (Last, Daytona-2) and ranks 26th in driver point standings.

· Collectively in 2009, RPM drivers have posted two wins, nine top-fives, 24 top-10s and have led 302 laps through the first 35 points races.

· In 10 starts at HMS, Sadler has one top-10 (ninth, 2002) and has led 18 laps.

· In 2009, Sadler has led 49 laps in nine races for a total of 45 bonus points. In 2008, Sadler led five races for a total of 21 laps.
· Wally Rogers replaced Kevin Buskirk as Sadler’s crew chief staring at Bristol-2.

· On Tuesday, Sept. 8, Sadler and wife Amanda announced they are expecting the birth of their first child in March 2010.

· Richard Petty’s pink cowboy hat, Sadler’s race used items – steering wheel, firesuit, gloves and shoes from the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway are all currently up for auction at www.SadlerFoundation.org. All proceeds from the auction will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help fight breast cancer.

· Join over 8,200 Richard Petty Motorsports fans on Facebook and view the latest news, videos and pictures, please click here.

· To follow Richard Petty Motorsports drivers during the race weekend and receive up-to-the minute in-race notes, please follow @RPMotorsports on Twitter.

· Follow @Elliott_Sadler on Twitter for off-season thoughts and updates.

- Richard Petty Motorsports, Press Release