Insider's View: Elliott Sadler

It's been a while since I've been able to give you an Insider's View, but hopefully this will make it worth your wait.

The 38 M&M'S Ford has been running great but we've been fighting a short streak of bad luck. We fell out of the top 10 in points this week after being the victim of a wreck on Saturday night.

	The No. 38 Ford is currently 16th in the Winston Cup standings. Credit: Autostock

We're 16th now and our goal is to get back in the top 10. Hopefully that won't be too hard because we know we are capable of running well at Charlotte and Dover. Raymond and all the guys are working their tails off to build fast racecars. We've had five top-10's this season. If we can keep doing that, we'll eventually get M&M'S their first win.

I'm really looking forward to running in The Winston. That's always been one of my favorite races, even way before I made it to Winston Cup. Our team is already qualified for The Winston because Robert Yates won Sears Point as a car owner last year with the same team. I've been in the All-Star race twice and would really like to put a win at The Winston on my resume.

I don't know if you all remember my infamous helmet-throwing incident at the 12 car in last year's Winston. It is hard not to remember because it made about every highlight show across the country for a long time after. Even though I have been playing a ton of softball here lately don't expect a repeat performance. Believe me, I learned very quickly that throwing helmets can get expensive so I won't make that mistake again anytime soon.

ELLIOTT SADLER  •  Driver Page  •  2003 Season Stats  •  Driver vs. Driver  •  Hoops for Hope pits drivers, media

On May 15th, the Thursday before The Winston, we are hosting the M&M'S Hoops for Hope charity basketball game. It's at Halton Arena on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Campus. So far we have a ton of celebrities coming out to take on national sports media. Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, Tony Raines, Hermie Sadler, Wesley Walls, and wrestlers "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Jeff Jarrett are all going to be on my team. Tickets start at $10 for kids and $15 for adults. All proceeds are going to the Autism Society of America.

Hermie and I do all we can to support autism research and we hope this event will raise money and awareness for autism. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. with an autograph session for the first 250 people that attend.

Hermie and I, as well as Flair, will sign autographs. The game starts at 7 p.m. and we're going to have lots of cool prizes to give away at halftime, including some Richard Petty Driving Experiences, t-shirts, etc.

I know if you're reading this then you're probably a fan of NASCAR.com. So am I but... let me tell you something about NASCAR.com's Marty Smith. He is going to play for the media team and he's been talking a lot of smack in the garage about how he's going to whip up on my team. We'll just have to see about that.

I'm sure he'll have a small group of supporters there cheering him on. I hope they get to holler before the game starts because after jump ball it will probably be all down hill for him and the whole media team. I really hope they'll keep the game close for the fans, but those guys will definitely have their work cut out for them.

	Ric Flair

Hey Marty, maybe you should buy you some of those shoes that let you pump them up. You're gonna need all the help you can get, dude.

I heard yesterday we have recruited former NBA Lakers star and current host of The Best Damn Sports Show, Period on Fox Sports Net, John Salley. He's going to help Darrell Waltrip out. He is technically a media member but he decided he wants to be on the driver's side. See, he knows who is gonna kick some butt on the court and wants to be on the winning side.

He's almost seven-foot tall. I also heard UNC-Charlotte 49ers men's basketball coach Bobby Lutz will be coaching the media team. I certainly admire his success with the Charlotte 49ers but I'm not convinced he'll be able to help the media team.

We've had a lot of local support in Charlotte. Ace & TJ from 95.1 in Charlotte and WFNZ's Mark Packer who "Primetime with the Packman" shows are also coming out and have been helping us promote the game. NASCAR.com is going to film the game and the Carolina Cobra Snake Charmer dance team is going to be there -- and have you seen them? Oh my goodness! They are all about as hot as the Green M&M!

Marty Smith has been awesome by helping out the cause and doing some promos too -- and I would love to hear all of your thoughts if you think Mart Dawg can put his money where his mouth is...Anyway it's great to see so many folks involved in this great cause.

The only thing we're missing is tons of loyal fans like you -- so make plans to come out and enjoy the night's festivities. It'll be laid back fun for everyone. I would also love to see if the Dawg will have his own cheering section -- he is gonna need all the cheering he can get.

To buy tickets you can log onto https://www.ticketreturn.com/prod2/Buy.asp or Charge by Phone at 1-866-698-4253. We also have Hoops for Hope T-shirts on sale exclusively at SadlerFanClub.com. They are only $16 and all proceeds go to the Autism Society of America.

Before I bolt, I also wanna send my regards to Jerry Nadeau and his family. His condition seems to be improving and I hope he makes a full recovery. He and I both love to play video games and he's a great person to be around. Jerry and that Army team were certainly on all of our minds over the weekend at Richmond and they'll continue to be in our thoughts and prayers until he's back at the track.

Well, I'm off to play some golf and enjoy the rest of our "off-week" -- yeah right. And by the way -- Happy Mother's Day!