Elliott Sadler and crew chief Todd Parrott celebrate their win at Fontana. Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Elliott Sadler

RICHMOND, Va. -- For a time during the 2003 Cup season, Elliott Sadler wondered whether or not he'd made the right choice. He was in his dream ride, which also happened to be the best equipment Ford Motor Company had to offer. And he was running like a dog.

The harder he tried, the worse it got. There were personnel changes and philosophical changes. Not much worked. Sadler failed to win a race and finished 22nd in the championship standings.

AUDIO Conversation: Elliott Sadler Listen to the Conversation

But he knew he could, and would, be successful at Robert Yates Racing, especially since Todd Parrott returned to the organization to right the M&Ms racing ship. So Sadler stuck it out, and in 2004 he and Parrott have assembled one of the series' elite teams.

Sadler has been a staple of the top 10 throughout the year, and secured his place in the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup in grand fashion -- winning the Pop Secret 500 at California Speedway. It was his second victory of the season and the most dominant performance of his career.

So on Friday afternoon at Richmond International Raceway, just before qualifying for the Chevy Rock and Roll 400, Sadler sat down with NASCAR.COM's Marty Smith to discuss the Chase, his acting skills and what exactly is going on with his hair.

Q: First, congratulations on winning California, man. You guys were awesome all weekend. Take us back there, and what it means to clinch your spot in the Chase that way.

Elliott Sadler: You hit it right on the head. To clinch a spot, not my just riding around and finishing but by actually winning a race -- when we unloaded the car we were the fastest car on the whole track Friday in qualifying trim. I messed up in qualifying a little bit, and we knew we had some work to do.

Then Saturday we got the car too loose, so we definitely had a roller coaster ride. But during the race Sunday, we took the green flag and I was passing cars left and right, and I was like, "You know what? We might be okay going to be okay. We're a little loose, which means when the sun goes down we're going to be right."

When the guys made that final pit stop and we came out third behind Brian Vickers, who had two tires, and Mark Martin, I had to make a decision as a driver.

I said, "Look, I've got to make a good move here, need get on the outside of these guys, like Kasey Kahne had been doing all night, try to get a good run on Mark here and, I think Vickers with two tires probably won't be able to stay up there."

I made the best move I've probably ever made as a racecar driver.

I got on the outside, got a lot of grip and, man, went to the lead. I was like, "Wow, this is cool!" And then we had the cautions. We knew we had a fast car. Todd (Parrott, crew chief) made a great call at the end with the air pressure adjustment.

Credit: Autostock

I disagreed with it. He was going to loosen me up a bunch. I was like, "Todd, I'm already loose as I can be." (He said) "Don't worry about it, we'll put four tires on -- the stagger with these tires, the codes, I need to loosen you up." And he did it, and wow, that thing took off like a rocket. I'd seen in my rearview mirror all night, watched Kasey Kahne all night pass people on the outside in Turn 1 and 2 on restarts.

I watched it all night long, heard about it, my spotter was keeping me aware of it, and I lost a race like that to Matt Kenseth one time in 1999 at California, a Busch race. I went into Turn 1 on a restart with about 20 to go, he blew by me on the outside, so you remember things that happen to you. So when we took the restart with about 10 to go I was on the wheel.

It was like I was qualifying every lap. I went through (Turns) 1 and 2 on the high side -- I knew if I could keep Kasey behind me off of Turn 2 I'd have a good shot of beating him. And I got through 1 and 2 really good, then opened it up a little bit and kind of got away from them.

We ran some heckuva laps. It was the fastest we'd run all night long. I was just in the groove, really in the groove for five or six laps -- a perfect five or six laps. I couldn't redo them any better. Then I was able to relax a little bit.

Q: To us, it seemed like that race lasted an eternity. Did it seem that way to you, too?

Sadler: It did. And it was really bad down the back straightaway. I couldn't see. I was wearing a smoked visor, and I couldn't see at all. I was trying to have my hand up.

Q: You couldn't see your hand in front of your face?

Sadler: I was putting my hand up to try to block the sun, but there was still a glare, so I was trying to drive with one hand so I could see. I picked out three palm trees at the end of the straightaway that I was counting down to when I knew I had to turn no matter what, and that's kind of how I got around the track for a while.

Where we got lucky at was during the time the sun was down the back straightaway, we were running first, second or third the whole time. I couldn't imagine 20th -- all those guys running up on top of each other without being able to see. But it was definitely a long race. It was cool.

Q: Now that you're in, qualified for the Chase, what's your biggest concern? Is it that someone might take you out, not of your own doing?

Sadler: Yeah, getting caught up in somebody else's stuff. But I'm sitting here telling you right now, the biggest concern on my mind is New Hampshire and Talladega. I think everywhere else we're going to be good. Those are the only two tracks I'm really worried about, that I don't want to lose too many points at those places that I can't make up somewhere else.

Everywhere else I think I'm going to be good. At some tracks I feel like we've got great shots at winning. At some tracks I think if we can just get top 10s at and get away it'll be a good deal. To come this far and be a part of the Chase, you don't want to be taken out by somebody that's not in the Chase with you.

Elliott Sadler Credit: Autostock

You've just got to be close and pay attention to the battles you pick on the track. We've been doing that all year and we're going to try to continue to do that.

Q: Do you feel like you guys should have a separate points system just for those 10 guys in the Chase? It seems odd to me that a guy who's outside of the Chase could wreck you, make you lose a ton of points to a Chaser who performed well that week. Just doesn't seem fair.

Sadler: Yeah, but hey, that's racin'. There's 43 of us out there and there ain't but so much real estate, and the champion should be put through a lot of paces and a lot of trying times.

We don't want to make it too easy. I think 10 races is pretty cool, gives everybody an even shot, but the guy that's the most consistent (will win). I would like, and I've seen (media) talk about this before, a guy that wins a race in the final 10, give him a big boost in points, because you still want guys to win.

But hey, that's part of racing against the other guys -- you've got to give and take and be careful, and the guy who manages his team and car the most on the racetrack will have a chance to win the championship.

Q: Over the past several weeks, I think the most-asked question of me is what's up with your hair? You and Dale Jr. are both rocking the mop. What's up with that?

Sadler: Well, I've been so clean-cut, short hair, my whole life, a couple months ago I said, "You know what? I'm just not gonna cut my hair anymore. I'm just gonna let it grow out long."

I thought Keith Urban looks pretty cool on CMT when I watch him sometimes. He's got the straight hair and all the chicks think he's hot, so I'm gonna let my hair grow out like his and bleach it, because I'm gonna bleach it when it gets long.

I'm gonna do it this winter first, where nobody will see me during hunting season and see what it looks like. I was talking to Junior and was like, "Man, your hair's getting long." He said, "I'm not gonna cut it." And I said, "You know what? I'm not gonna cut mine, either."

And I think he said he's doing it because he's getting ready to turn 30. He's gonna turn 30 before I am, so he's trying make himself look a little younger. We're trying to stay hippies as long as we can.

Q: I got news for you. No matter how hard you try, you won't look like Keith Urban. You're slightly larger than he is.

Sadler: I know! (laughing). But I thought the hair would be cool, ya know? You've got to keep up with the times! Short hair isn't really in anymore. Hey, Kasey Kahne's hair is getting pretty, uhhhh ...

Q: Nappy?

ELLIOTT SADLER •   Driver Page •   Ford Driver's Eye •   Superstore: Sadler gear •   Pedigree Pet Tips

Sadler: Nappy-looking, too, yep. And we all seem to be running good, so I really don't want to mess with it. I think it's cool. It's something different. M&Ms don't care. They said, "Hey, let it grow." Carol and Robert (Yates) don't care. They just say, "Hey, have fun."

They know I'm a pretty free-spirited guy. I like to do whatever, have fun and do something different. If you're doing this way, I wanna do it thatta way. We're having fun with it.

I don't know who's going to be the first one to crack and cut their hair. (Junior) says I'm gonna cut mine first. I say he's gonna cut his first. So we don't know what's gonna happen yet.

Q: I have visions of seeing you put on your helmet and looking like (former dread-locked Miami Dolphins running back) Ricky Williams, with all this hair flying everywhere. Along those same free-sprit lines, your video with Blake Shelton is absolutely hysterical. That had to've been fun.

Sadler: It is, and I'm great friends with Blake Shelton. Every time he asks me to do a cameo I love doing it. When they told me what I got to do in the video ... I thought it was cool. It was a funny video.

He does a great job acting. I love being in it, because I wanted to be a country music singer when I grow up. I always told people that, but I just can't sing so my closest joy is to be in the video, so that works out cool...

Q: Last year, there were times when it got really hard, here. And I heard you say in Victory Lane last week at California, "This is why I came here." Were there times last year, maybe after Shawn Parker left, when you wondered, "Is this going to work out like I thought it was?"

Sadler: Yeah. I mean, when I came here, that's why I came here -- to try and win a championship. And last year it was just up and down, up and down, and a lot of times I looked at myself in the mirror and wondered "Have I made the right decision?"

But Robert and I had an understanding that I was going to go to him and tell him, "Boss, I can't do the job, you need to put somebody in who can." And when I took the job I thought Fatback (McSwain) was going to be here, and then he left. And we brought Raymond (Fox) in. Then we lost a car chief (Parker).

Raymond, it was his first year as a crew chief, and we were just making it way too hard on him. Way too hard. This sport's way too hard to put all the pressure on one guy's shoulders. This year is how I envisioned it the first year I came. It's pretty cool. It makes up for a lot of hard times this team went through last year.

But we stuck together, we've still got everybody in here. Todd (Parrott) has come on and done just an unbelievable job. This is fun, and I told him as soon as I crossed the start/finish line I told Robert, "This is why I came to drive your racecars, man." This is fun.

I'm living the dream, having a ball, got great people around us. He's having more fun, we're all having more fun this year. I think that's why we're running better.

Q: I heard you saying outside, too, that this is the perfect script for NASCAR right now. You couldn't have paid me enough to say before the season started that we'd have 15 guys that could run for a title.

Sadler: I know. That's the analogy I've been using -- If you gave them a blank sheet of paper they couldn't have scripted this any better at the beginning of the year. And good race teams. I mean really good races here the last month and a half, the media's got a lot to talk about, the fans have a lot to talk about with each other with who they're pulling for and who they're not.

It's a lot of great things going on. They're probably (saying), "It's a shame it's coming to an end, that this is the last race. Three or four more races like this, our ratings will be through the roof."

But it's been great racing. It's been fun. It's been hectic. It's been nerve-wracking. I've been about to throw up before every race. But it's been pretty cool to watch other teams during the race, to see when they're pitting, when we should pit, when they take two if we should take two and things like that.

You've got to be really careful with who you're racing and what you're doing to try to keep up with those guys.