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Team 19 Best Buy Dodge
Twin 150 Preview
Best Buy Dodge driver Elliott Sadler and
the No. 19 Gillett Evernham Motorsports team had the 35th-fastest time
during Daytona 500 qualifying on Sunday afternoon. Sadler’s best lap of
48.77 seconds/184.521 mph will have him lined up 14th for Thursday
afternoon’s first Twin 150 race. During qualifying at the 2.5-mile
Daytona International Speedway, winds were blowing between 20 – 25 mphs
under sunny skies.
DRIVER ELLIOTT SADLER QUOTES
Qualifying run:
“When it comes to qualifying at Daytona,
you just have to hold the wheel the best you can and get yourself a
starting spot for the race on Thursday. The real heartache and real
racing starts then. My Best Buy guys brought a good handling race car
down here to Daytona and I’m looking forward to the 50th running of the
Daytona 500.
Windy conditions:
“There was definitely a lot of head wind
down the backstretch and that probably slowed some times down a bit.
But, everyone is in the same deal here having to deal with the winds.
The fastest cars qualified at the top and everyone else will have to
determine their starting spots on Thursday.”
Type of racing to expect in Twin
150: “I thinks it’s going to be
some good racing. We saw a great race in the Budweiser Shootout. I think
the new race car put on a good show; hopefully it will be all right in
our race on Thursday, too. We have learned the new race car is a bit
different than the old car here at Daytona. Handling is going to be a
big issue, just like it was at most races with this car last year. We
learned a lot about the draft during testing. Two cars can get hooked
up, bump draft pretty well and pass a lot of cars. The cars are going to
slide around a lot. The media is going to have a lot to write about,
especially after Thursday’s qualifying races. It should be pretty fun to
watch.
Gillette Evernham Motorsports
efforts this week: These guys have
put together a great effort and we’re all working together just great.
Rodney (Childers – Team Director) and the other directors are all
sharing information and trying to make all our cars fast. Like I said
during testing, Kasey (Kahne) and I are going to work more closely
together and help each other out this year; and now we have Patrick
Carpentier who has looked good at Daytona for his first time here. I
watched Kasey’s car during the Budweiser Shootout and liked what I saw
in how his Dodge handled. We have new people and new things going on at
the shop, and we are all learning each other and the new terminology
really fast. We are very optimistic about the changes we have made. I
know the 19 team has a lot more experience on our team than last year
and I think that is going to help me as a driver through the long haul
of the season.”
NOTES
Daytona International Speedway
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Qualified on the outside pole for the
Daytona 500 in 2002 and won a Twin 125 Qualifier in 2003. Best finish in
the Daytona 500 was second in 2002; which came after starting 41st in
the 43-car field. Has recorded two top-fives and four top-10 finishes in
nine previous starts in the Great American Race.
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Sadler’s overall record at Daytona is three
top-fives and six top-10 finishes in 18 previous starts.
Career
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First victory
came at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2001 with his second and third coming
at Texas Motor Speedway and fall California Speedway race in 2004.
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Three of his
seven pole awards were earned at Talladega Superspeedway, sister track
to Daytona
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Has won three
races while earning 16 top-five and 55 top-10 finishes in 321 starts.
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Copyright 2008 by ElliottSadler.com, All Rights Reserved
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