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Daytona 500 Post-Race Press Conference

ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Stanley Dodge Charger) YOUR THOUGHTS ON YOUR DAYTONA 500?

“Yeah, if you'd have told me at the beginning of the day if I would take a fifth‑place finish and lead some laps for the Daytona 500, I probably would have took it. It's a great way to get a good start to the season. But to be a half a lap short from being the champion of the Daytona 500 is very emotional to me. Had a chance to win it. Just made one mistake off of turn four. I didn't drag the brake enough. Kevin (Harvick) and Matt (Kenseth) had a really good run. I thought maybe if I blocked to the outside somebody might come with me. But they had such a good head of steam. Really wanted to go to Victory Lane with my guys. I needed this after the off‑season that I've had. Really would have been cool. Didn't work out, but happy for my guys. Great mentality all night long. Had ourselves in position to win. We'll go to California and try to ride some of this momentum.”

Elliott, I don't want to rub salt in the wound, but they said on the radio you said this is your luck. It's raining on the radar and not raining on the racetrack. What do you do?

"It's funny. My crew chief told me for the last 45 minutes of the race that it's raining on the radar. You know, this is his first race with me as a crew chief. I said, Welcome to Elliott Sadler's world. It's probably raining all around the racetrack. When I need it, in the lap where I get passed, it starts raining in turn three.

It's the way it is. If I would have made a better and smarter move, I'd be in Victory Lane right now. Really wanted it. I put my heart and soul to come in here to Daytona, Speedweeks, try to compete at the top of my game, 'cause I knew I had a lot of eyes on me to run good. It was cool running up front. It was great having Reed and AJ behind me pushing. It would have been cool to finish like that, but just wasn't meant to be. Very hard to swallow. Very emotional. We'll try to get 'em next week."

Elliott, when the 17 gets under you there, what is going through your head? Do you feel like it's lost at that moment? Did you feel sick to your stomach?

“Yeah, I was a little sick to my stomach. I choose to go high because my car wasn't really good on the bottom the whole day. When my spotter told me the 29 was pushing the 17, I could see him coming. Had a really good run. I had to either make a choice, let him go to the outside of me or under me. I decided to let him go under me and hopefully try to side draft a little bit. They had such a good head‑of‑steam.

“You know, I can play that pass back in my head a million times between now and when I leave to go to California, but it's not really going to change the outcome. I needed to do a better job leading the race and put my car in a position to make it wider for them to pass. I can sit here and try to be a Monday morning quarterback, but it's not going to work. We'll take it as a loss and need to do a better job next time, worry about when we come back here in July.”

Elliott, for this to be a Cinderella story you would have had to have won. It's still quite a story when not too long ago you lose your ride, then you go into court, and then you're restored to the ride. First time out you have a better finish than you had all last year. The old term, The Lord works in mysterious ways. You've had quite a mystery over the last few months.

“I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not going to lie to you. I was getting pretty emotional under the caution when it was raining a little bit in turn one and two. I thought it was going to be called a little bit earlier than it was. I was getting emotional in the car thinking, Wouldn't this be the coolest story? I came down here as a fan the first time in 1979 and finished second to Ward Burton, and now to have a chance to win the race.

“Seen guys like Harvick and Newman and them celebrate the last couple years on last‑lap passes, and how fun it looks like to me in Victory Lane. I had a lot of that cool stuff going through my head. But, you know, just wasn't meant to be.

“You know, it's tough. It's hard to swallow. But I'm proud of my guys. New team. New pit stops. They all worked out great tonight. To look in their faces when the rain was coming down when I got out of the car, man, that was hard, because I felt like I let them down."