Sadler: ‘I would rather win here than the Daytona 500’
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RICHMOND, Va. -- Elliott Sadler's fondness for Richmond International Raceway spans almost all of his 39 years back to his childhood, when he attended stock-car events at the rickety fairgrounds half-mile in the stands. With such sacred ground for racing just 70 or so miles away from his hometown of Emporia, Va., Richmond and Sadler have been perpetually linked as he grew from young fan to veteran racer.
The glaring omission to those binding ties has been the one place at Richmond that Sadler has yet to visit as a matter of post-race procedure -- Victory Lane.
Sadler aims to check that box Friday night as the NASCAR Nationwide Series returns to the .75-mile track for the Virginia529 College Savings 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Such a breakthrough win would potentially set the tone for the eight-race home stretch that follows, but would also fulfill one of Sadler's lifelong dreams.
"I've said this for a long time, I would rather win here than the Daytona 500," Sadler said Thursday on the track's opening day of practice. "I think coming here as a kid so many years in a row to watch the Cup cars run here and the (Nationwide) cars run here and things like that -- to come here as a kid and then being able to race here later is pretty special to me. ... We have high hopes for this weekend and sure, you want to win all the races, but if you get to win here at home and know your family and friends are here to kind of see it and support you, it makes it pretty special.
"I think if you ask any driver if they could win at their home track or the closest NASCAR track to their hometown, they're going to be extra pumped for that particular weekend and the chance to be able to do that."
The proximity gave Sadler a leisurely start to Thursday, allowing him sleep in his own bed, make breakfast with his family and take the brief car ride to the race track. Come Friday, the tasks become more than routine as Sadler buckles down for what promises to be a heated contest for the championship.
Sadler currently ranks fourth in Nationwide standings, 48 points behind rookie phenom Chase Elliott, with a victory May 3 at Talladega Superspeedway. He finished fifth at Iowa the following week but hasn't notched a top-five since. Though he did briefly grab the series lead in June before his modest slide, he's hungry to climb back up the ladder into contention for his first NASCAR national series crown.
"We're definitely not satisfied," Sadler said. "We honestly, as long as I've been racing, have had the worst luck this year than I ever can remember having. I know you make your own luck and it's racing luck, but running third at Bristol and getting taken out by a car that's 20 laps down or running second at Michigan and a honey bun wrapper gets on the front of it and a flat tire at Road America running third with six laps to go. The last month has been crazy stuff that just keeps pinning us behind the eight ball. ...
"We need to stay consistent, but we need to take advantage of any kind of situations we can,especially on the mile-and-a-halves and stuff coming up. We'll see how that starts tomorrow night here at Richmond."
While Sadler is looking forward to the championship hunt over the next two-plus months, he also has special plans for October, a key month for awareness in the fight against breast cancer. Sadler consistently races with pink driving shoes in tribute to his mother, Bell, a breast cancer survivor, and plans auctions to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. He expects to see plenty of pink-coloredpaint schemes alongside his for this fall's trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway, a focal point of the awareness campaign.
"There's not a better feeling in the world than fans coming up to you on a specific weekend thanking you for what you do for different types of involvement that you're in as far as charity is concerned and awareness that is concerned," Sadler said.
While the burden of the season's crunch time begins to gradually bear down, one factor that Sadler isn't sweating is the health of the series on the heels of Wednesday's 10-year entitlement sponsor deal for Comcast XFINITY to replace Nationwide Insurance. The departure of Nationwide at season's end was common knowledge for almost a full year, but the question of which company would step in remained uncertain.
After Wednesday's announcement, teams, drivers and sponsors across the board have a renewed sense of security.
"Six months ago the question kept coming up, 'Man, what are we going to do, we know Nationwide is leaving and playing a different role in our sport starting next year. What's NASCAR going to do? Is the series going to be around? Who's going to be the sponsor?' " Sadler said. "Yesterday with that announcement, I think it's not only great for NASCAR and it's great for XFINITY to come on board, but it's huge for the teams, the owners that support the Nationwide Series, for the sponsors that support the Nationwide Series -- that means that this is going to be here a long time and it's going to protect the sponsors that have made such a big investment in our sport."
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