Sadler stays out, fights off Andretti for first Cup victory

By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
March 26, 2001
9:49 AM EST (1449 GMT)

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Not only did Elliott Sadler win his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in Sunday's Food City 500, but he rewrote the Bristol Motor Speedway record book as well.

Elliott Sadler celebrates in victory lane after becoming the third first-time winner this year.

Sadler, a third-year pilot for Wood Brothers Racing, won from the 38th starting position, something no other driver has ever achieved in the 40 years of racing at Bristol. In fact, just two other drivers have won from a backstretch starting spot - Davey Allison and Dale Earnhardt.

Sadler took the lead on lap 431 when then-leader Kevin Harvick was forced to pit with a punctured left-front tire. From there, it was all Sadler, who on the strength of a late-race gamble to stay out on the track became the third first-time winner of the 2001 season in his 75th career Winston Cup start.

Official Results  Official Standings  The Buzz: March 25  Video: Victory Lane  Video: Gordon, Stewart incident  Video: Final laps  Video: Harvick takes lead  360° view: Bristol

The final tire run consisted of 162 laps -- an astounding amount on a set of Goodyears. The win also marks the first win at Bristol for the Wood Brothers in 51 years of racing.

With the victory, the Woods' No. 21 Ford became the first single-car team to win since Ricky Rudd in the fall race at Martinsville in 1998.

"This means more than anything in the world," Sadler said. "To win these Winston Cup races is huge. We had older tires than everybody else, but had a good car. Everybody believed in us. I'm so happy about this I don't know what to do. We get to go to The Winston in Charlotte and we're gonna win that one too."

Actually, with the win Sunday, Sadler did qualify for his first NASCAR All-Star race, and in the process knocked John Andretti and Joe Nemechek out of the May 19th running of The Winston.

En route to Victory Lane, Sadler had to stave off a furious charge from Andretti, who notched his best finish of the season with a second-place finish. His previous-best run, a sixth-place effort, came at Darlington last week.

However, during post-race inspection, Andretti’s No. 43 Dodge failed to meet the mimimum height requirements. NASCAR said a statement on the matter will be released Monday.

Elliott Sadler's top two career finishes have both come at Bristol.

"Those late cautions hurt me cause lapped car got me up in outside wall," Andretti said. "I was way too tight from them on. The closer I got to Elliott, the more I pushed. I was gonna try to get him. He deserves it, great win for him."

Joining Sadler and Andretti in the top-5 were Jeremy Mayfield, Jeff Gordon and Ward Burton, who used a two-tire stop late in the race to gain valuable track position.

In Turn 4 of the final lap, Gordon got together with Tony Stewart, sending Stewart spinning around. Not to be outdone, Stewart retaliated by bumping Gordon in the pits after the race.

"I had been working on him for awhile," Gordon said. "I wouldn't expect anything less from him."

Much like Saturday's Busch Series affair, rookie Kevin Harvick caught the bad luck bug after dominating the early portion of the event. Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet, led 77 of the first 79 laps, but soon thereafter was mired deep in the field.

On lap 79 with Harvick leading, fellow rookie Kurt Busch spun in Turn 3, forcing the fourth caution of the day.

The Richard Childress Racing crew got Harvick out first ahead of Marlin, Kyle Petty and Mark Martin, but he was forced to pit a second time to pull sheet metal away from the left front tire, leaving him near the end of the lead lap in 38th position.

Andy Houston's crew works on his car in the garage. Houston lost hundreds of laps and finished 39th.

However, he picked up several positions on the following stop, moving up to 16th. From there, he patiently worked his way to 8th with 140 laps to go.

Then, on a gamble by crew chief Kevin Hamlin, Harvick stayed out on lap-371 when the caution flew for Jerry Nadeau's spin in Turn 4.

It paid off, as he held the lead until lap 431 when the left-front tire of his Chevrolet was punctured, handing the lead to Sadler. He had to pit out of sequence, and returned to the track in 23rd position.

Roush Racing's woeful 2001 campaign continued Sunday. Coming through Turn 4 on lap-247, the right-front tire of Jeff Burton's Ford blew, sending the No. 99 machine hard into front stretch wall.

The pain didn't stop there, either. When Burton bounced off the wall, he was sent directly into teammate Mark Martin's path, demolishing the front of Martin's No. 6 Ford.

"My car was really tight and I lost the right front," Burton said. "It took two of us out in one shot. I had a pretty good car. It's been this way this year.

"We'll come back and kick some ass. I told Mark I was sorry. It's bad when you wreck but it's worse when one of your teammates is with you. That's the way this year has gone."

Burton, thought by many to be the lead championship contender heading into the season, is in the midst of his worst season. His best finish this season is 18th.

By comparison, at this same stage last year Burton had already tallied two top-5s, three top-10s and a win.

While Andretti worked his way to the front, Kyle Petty saw his finest run of the season end prematurely. Petty, who qualified a season-best seventh for Sunday's race, worked his way to as high as third before engine trouble dropped him to the rear.