Evernham stable struggles with Daytona on horizon (cont'd)

Elliott Sadler has one top-10 finish this season. It came at Daytona. This week we are going to Daytona. Last week, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all had a good run with an interim crew chief. This week Sadler has an interim crew chief. See, things are looking better already.

"I've been fortunate at Daytona with three straight finishes of sixth or better," Sadler said.

"The sixth in the season-opening Daytona 500 is the best finish of the year for the 19 team. That's disappointing. We left Daytona expecting to be competitive every weekend. It's not because we haven't put forth the effort. We just need something good to happen and get some momentum."

Something good would be nice. Last week Elliott was 33rd. He was 14th at Sonoma. Before that, 35th, 21st, 26th, 36th, 21st, 27th ... ah, you get the idea. And things are no better for Kahne or Riggs. But Kahne finished seventhth in the Daytona 500 with cars sliding all over the place. He was 25th last July but Sadler was sixth. At Talladega Sadler, Kahne and Riggs all finished in the top 15. You have got to try and be optimistic.

"We're looking forward to getting back to Daytona for the night race," Sadler said.

"It has turned into a special event. The Fourth of July weekend is all about fireworks and there are usually fireworks on the track as well as after the race. This would be a great weekend for us to get our Dodge Charger back up front and create some fireworks of our own."

Elliott, say hello your teammate Kasey Kahne.

"It's difficult to believe, but seventh in the Daytona 500 is our best finish this year," Kahne said.

"Just when we think we've found the answer, we uncover another issue to address. This weekend, it's not about the Car of Tomorrow. Instead, the focus turns to restrictor-plate racing. Our Dodge Dealers team just needs something good to happen to get some momentum as we head into the second half of the season."

Something good would be nice. The first half of the season ends Saturday night, hopefully with a bang instead of thud. Now, remember, driver and crew have to find something to be optimistic about.

"It is always exciting to run a special paint scheme, especially at Daytona under the lights," said Kahne.

"We've run some cars with Adam Sandler movies on them in the past and they've always been a big hit. The last movie scheme we ran was in Michigan last year. We were fortunate enough to take that car to Victory Lane and hopefully we'll be able to have the same success this weekend. We had a great run at the Daytona 500. Hopefully we'll have that same kind of success this time around."

Got to be optimistic. The race is scheduled for Saturday night, July 7th. That would be 07/07/07. Maybe one of the Evernham cars will start seventh. That could be lucky. Maybe one will start 13th. That would be unlucky. Hey, wait a minute. The last time NASCAR raced on July 7 was in 2001. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race. He had gone 39 races without a win. He was struggling going into Daytona with finishes of 19th, 20th and 39th in the previous three races.

Maybe one of the Evernham cars will start third. The last time before 2001 that the Cup Series raced on July 7 was in 1990 at the Pepsi 400 and the winner started third. The winner was ... oh, imagine that: Dale Earnhardt.

Those are the only two times in the modern era (since 1972) that NASCAR has raced on July 7. So maybe one of the Evernham guys will start 13th, one will start third and they will race side-by-side to the checkered flag and decide it in a photo finish!

Or maybe one of them will change their name to Earnhardt. Hey, you've got to be optimistic.

Just ask any Yankee fan.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.