Once at odds, Sadler helps Allmendinger get into 500 (cont'd)

Sadler said both he and Allmendinger made a point of clearing the air between them as soon as they arrived in Daytona.

"We sat down when we first got down here -- our buses are parked beside each other -- and said, 'Look, we need to work together. We need to help each other. Let bygones be bygones,'" Sadler said.

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"Like I've said from Day One, I've never had a problem with Elliott. ... We happened to be the two guys put in the middle."

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A.J. ALLMENDINGER

"So, personally everything is good. This is racing. If you're going into a race with a grudge or something wearing you and you're not focused 100 percent on your job, you're going to get your butt kicked every week. You can't do that."

There is more to the Allmendinger story, of course. When he first arrived in Daytona for Speedweeks, Allmendinger and his sponsor thought his No. 44 Dodge was safely in the field for the 500.

Much to his dismay, he soon found out differently. Thanks to a wild mish-mash of points swap madness authorized by NASCAR, Allmendinger went from being inside the top 35 in owners' points to outside in an instant without anyone ever getting on the race track.

"It wasn't shocking -- because nothing shocks me in this sport any more. It's one of those things where coming down here you learn about it, and it kind of kicks you in the gut," Allmendinger said.

"I was more kind of saddened because that was one of the big reasons Valvoline signed on. They thought they were in the 500 [or certain]. Coming down here to learn they weren't was tough."

That meant he had to race his way into the 500 in his Gatorade Duel -- and would have been left on the outside looking in if not for the assistance of Sadler and Sorenson. Allmendinger further turned up the heat on his hot seat when he promised his sponsor beforehand that he would race his way into the season's biggest event.

"I had to promise them we were going to be [in]. You can sit and whine about it, moan about it, just worry about it -- or you can go out there and get the job done. That's the only option you have," Allmendinger said. "You can't change it. It's the system. It's the way they worked it. So you've only got one option, and that's to get the job done. That's what we focused on when we got here."

As surprising as it might have seemed to some outsiders, Sadler was ready to assist from the moment the points swap epidemic left Allmendinger sitting in a precarious spot. That was impressive, considering Sadler is proving to be the consummate team player for a revamped organization that openly tried to get rid of him only six weeks earlier.

"You've got to be a man about these things," Sadler said. "Kasey Kahne is the flagship driver of Richard Petty Motorsports. But I'm the most experienced, the oldest ... been here the longest. If I don't lead by example and set good ways for the drivers to go by, who will? A lot of times you have to be the bigger man -- race the way that's not only good for you but your company -- and hopefully everyone will benefit in the future. That's what I did [Thursday]."

Sadler admitted that he is determined to have a good season and validate that he deserved to come back to drive the No. 19 this year. His quest to do so actually began in earnest Thursday, but he really hopes it kicks in during the 500.

"I feel like I have something to prove. I want to go out there and run the best that I can on Sunday and shut the naysayers up," Sadler said. "The biggest thing that I can do is bust my butt every Friday, Saturday and Sunday as hard as I can and turn it back on everyone else. I want to show them that, yes, I am a damn good race car driver and I've been here 11 years for a reason."

He doesn't have to convince the appreciative Allmendinger.

"Like I've said from Day One, I've never had a problem with Elliott. I think he's a great race car driver. He's a great teammate," Allmendinger said. "Obviously, there was a lot of stuff that happened over the last two months. Honestly, it was probably out of both of our hands. Really, neither of us could do anything about it. We happened to be the two guys put in the middle."

On Thursday, they were two guys who teamed together to put Allmendinger into the Daytona 500.