STATESVILLE, N.C. - Elliott Sadler is one of the more entertaining personalities in NASCAR. Not only has he performed on the track in 2009, tied for 11th in points, but off the track he's quick with a joke and rarely lacks for something witty to say. This week the driver of the No. 19 Stanley Dodge is switching from the entertainer to the entertained. While spending the week in Las Vegas, the Emporia, Va. native is taking in some of the best shows on the Las Vegas Strip - including the Beatles-inspired Cirque du Soliel performance "LOVE" as well as the winner of America's Got Talent - ventriloquist Terry Fader.

Sadler Quotes:

ON SPENDING A WEEK IN LAS VEGAS: "Las Vegas is a fun town. We've been working hard the last couple weeks. Daytona and California can be a stressful period while you're trying to get the season off on the right foot, but since we're staying out in Vegas this week instead of traveling home we are going to take advantage of this nice little break to have some fun and blow off some steam. I'm pretty excited to take in LOVE at the Mirage. I've heard amazing reviews and I'm excited to finally see what it's all about. I'm also checking out Terry Fader, who most people might know from America's Got Talent. He's out here and some friends and I got tickets to check it out."

ON THE START OF THE SEASON: "Well, to be honest, I wish we were a little bit further up in the standings. It's nice to be in the top-12 after two races, but it would be a lot nicer to be first, second or third. We had a good night at Daytona, but we kind of let one slip away there that we should have been able to capture. California was a little more difficult - we attempted some things that we thought we learned at Rockingham that might give us a slight advantage, but it kind of backfired on us. Now we know that some of that stuff doesn't work as well as we were hoping and we have to go back to what we know.

"We could have finished a little better in California, but now we are going to take what we learned there and use it in Las Vegas. I think we'll have a better go of it, but we have missed on a couple of opportunities that would have been great to capitalize on early."

Additional Notes of Interest :

• Sadler is ranked 11th in championship driver points after the first two races of 2009.

• Sadler finished 25th at California.

• Sadler led 24 laps in the season-opening Daytona 500 before being passed for the lead on lap 147. The 24 laps led surpasses his 2008 season total of 21 laps led.

• His fifth-place finish in the season opening points race is his fourth consecutive finish of sixth or better in the Daytona 500.

• Kevin Buskirk is in his first season at the helm of the No. 19 Dodge. Buskirk previously teamed with Sadler at Robert Yates Racing as the engineer and later as crew chief of the No. 38. In 2004 the No. 38 team with a combination that included Buskirk and Sadler scored two wins and made the Chase for the Championship. Buskirk spent the last two seasons as the director of research and development at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

• Sadler married his hometown sweetheart Amanda Prince on Jan. 17 in Emporia, Va. (Sadler did receive his passport the Friday before the newlyweds left for their honeymoon).

Chassis Info

Primary: No. 261
Details: New chassis
Backup: No. 259
Details: Raced frequently in 2008.

Race Information
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Date March 1
Distance: 427 miles
Laps: 285 laps
Race No.: 3 of 36
 

Television Schedule
Friday
P1: 3 p.m. SPEED
Qual. 6:30 p.m. SPEED
Saturday
Practice 1:30 p.m. SPEED
Sunday
Race: 3:30 p.m.
TV: FOX
Radio: PRN