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NASCAR History: Car Number 38 and Elliott Sadler

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by James Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

January 7, 2010 1:23 pm CST No Comments

Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

Elliott Sadler car number 38 M&Ms sponsorMy son played a role in today’s selected subject. His choice of favorite driver is of no surprise considering he’s a eleven year old boy. What boy doesn’t think back flips are cool? I’ve been subjected to his glare of doubt and disappointment when I refused his request to exit our Honda Odyssey through the window and do the Carl Edwards flip myself. I’d likely make it just enough to land flat on my back, if I was lucky! My son didn’t care though. He stuck his thumbs in his armpits, began flapping his arms and taunting me with, “Bwak, bwak, bwak.”

Since Carl Edwards is in car number 99 and wouldn’t fall into this series, my son said I should do it on one of his first favorite NASCAR drivers and sponsor- Elliott Sadler and the M&M’s number 38.
NASCAR Driver Elliott Sadler

Stats for all cars running the #38:

  • Number of Races: 481
  • Number of Wins: 7
  • Number of Top 5s: 30
  • Number of Top 10s: 86
  • Number of Poles: 11

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver Elliott Sadler

Elliott Sadler could just as easily have been a professional basketball player instead of a famous stock car driver. At one time he was being recruited by at least eighteen colleges to play sports. However, the possibility of a basketball career was removed after sustaining a knee injury while playing on a basketball scholarship at James Madison University. But this was`probably just as good considering his family’s involvement in local short tracking racing in Virginia. His father, uncle and brother were racing while a young Elliott watched from the sides with his toy diecast cars in hand. By the age of 7 Elliott was strapping into go-karts where he would go on to win over 200 races. By the time he was 18 years of age, he took home a track championship which put him in the spotlight enough to secure a Busch Series ride in 1997. By the end of the 1998 Busch Series he would have 5 wins and would start 1999 with a full time ride in Sprint Cup driving the #21 Citgo Ford for the famous Wood Brother team. But Sadler’s best runs in Cup competition would come during his tenure at Robert Yates Racing in the #38 M&M’s Ford. With 130 starts in the #38 car he would average a 19th place finish via 7 poles, 2 wins, 12 top fives, and 40 top tens.

Late in the 2006 season Sadler moved over to Evernham Motorsports where his overall stats have been rather disappointing. That said, the entire Evernham Motorsports organization had been a struggling the last few seasons. Sadler remains in the ride despite multiple team owner mergers (he now drives for Richard Petty Motorsports), poor performance on track, and even lawsuits to keep his seat. With over three years in his current ride, Sadler has 0 poles, 0 wins, 3 top fives, and only 17 top tens.

Thinking of the upcoming Daytona 500, Elliott has a reason to have a bit of a bounce in his step. In the last five Daytona 500 starts he has finished 11th, 4th, 6th, 6th, and 5th! In 2006, Elliott won the first Daytona 500 qualifying race giving him a 3rd place starting position in the Daytona 500 (which resulted in the 4th place finish). In 2007 he was running around the top five in the Bud Shootout at Daytona before being taken out in an accident and leaving him with a 15th place finish. In 2009, Elliott spun out during the Bud Shootout, but was able to keep the car from being damaged and went on to finish 5th in the Daytona 500. So Daytona has been good to Sadler.

If you’re playing fantasy racing, Elliott is certainly a driver who can get it done in the “Great American Race.” Restrictor-plate races are often a roll of the dice with so much of what happens out of the driver’s control. Daytona would be a perfect place to use Sadler in your lineup. Personally, I’d use him there not only because of his past record at Daytona, but also because I wonder if he will have a ride for the full 2010 season, so I’ll want to use him while I can.

Filed under: Daytona 500, Elliott Sadler, James Jones, NASCAR, NASCAR History 

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Richard Petty Motorsports Further Solidifies 2010 Plans

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

October 28, 2009 7:50 pm CDT No Comments

An Associated Press report published today suggests that Best Buy, Elliott Sadler’s sponsor on the No. 19 Richard Petty Motorsports car for the past couple of years, will move to its teammate, the No. 43 car, which A.J. Allmendinger will drive for the 2010 season.

Best Buy began its relationship with Allmendinger this season at Darlington, when they sponsored his No. 44 car as he finished 17th. Allmendinger also finished 7th at Sonoma and 23rd two weeks ago at Charlotte with Best Buy on the hood.

Best Buy sponsored Sadler in 19 races this season, including the Sprint All-Star Challenge, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Sadler’s best finish this season was a 5th place in the Daytona 500.

The move is one of marginal elevation for the Richfield, MN-based company: Allmendinger sits one spot ahead of Sadler in points, although their records this season are virtually identical: 32 starts, no wins, a top-5 and four top-10s apiece.

The move leaves the No. 19 with one primary sponsor, Stanley Tools, which has covered 22 races over the course of this season (19 with Sadler and 3 with Allmendinger).

However, the move also strengthens Richard Petty Motorsports as a whole; instead of putting together a multi-million dollar sponsorship package for Allmendinger, they only need to patch holes for both Sadler and Allmendinger, a much easier task. RPM also has experience with this method, having utilized it all year with Allmendinger’s car and the No. 43 of Reed Sorenson.

Thus far, the biggest supporters of those two teams have been McDonald’s and Valvoline, with 10 races apiece. Hunt Brothers Pizza sponsored eight races for Allmendinger this season, with the last one this weekend at Talladega. Charter Communications covered seven races, but none since Phoenix in April. Super 8 Motels, the Air Force, and PVA.org have also sponsored RPM cars this year.

Ideally, RPM will fill its sponsorship gaps with the companies that have already appeared on its cars this year, giving them three fully sponsored and factory supported teams for next year. Pending the potential addition of Paul Menard and his family sponsorship, RPM could finally have a financially stable four-car team for the 2010 season.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler, Richard Petty Motorsports 

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Darlington Tire Test: Eight Thumbs Up

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by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

March 13, 2009 10:20 pm CDT 1 Comment

NASCAR invited a foursome to Darlington Raceway this week for Goodyear Tire testing. Drivers of each of the four manufacturers that compete in the Sprint Cup Series participated. We have video here.

The comments about the tires have been mostly positive. Even after Atlanta, where the cars looked squirrely as hell to me, there wasn’t much complaint. Nothing like Tony Stewart’s quote - compliments of FoxSports.com - after last years springtime in Atlanta…

“most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career.”

Bobby Labonte, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Eliott Sadler seemed pretty satisfied with the tire Goodyear brought.

Testing rubber at the Lady in Black makes sense. It could be tough to get it right there. And nobody wants to poke the Stewart-Haas hornets nest again.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Filed under: Bobby Labonte, Darlington Speedway, Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick, NASCAR, NASCAR video, Sprint Cup Series, Testing news, Tony Stewart 

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Gillett, Evernham and Petty–Is Anyone in Charge?

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Charlie likes to call me an "idiot". I'm not an "idiot"; I just prefer not to let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

January 11, 2009 11:16 pm CST 4 Comments

What in the world is going on at Gillett Evernham/Petty Enterprises?

Sadler’s out–Sadler’s in.  Allmendinger will replace Sadler in the #19–or he’ll run a partial in the #10.  Luckily Dinger hasn’t signed a contract with GEM/P and he is still free to sign to drive someplace that may have a clue.  It certainly doesn’t look like the boys at GEM/P do.  Rumors abound that Sadler kept his job because the sponsors that have signed on to finance the #19 wanted him in the seat.

If that is what happened, why the hat dance in the first place?  Shouldn’t any discussion of who was going to drive that car be so far under wraps that no one outside of George Gillett and Ray Evernham had a clue?

It would see that that is the problem–no one at that organization has a clue.  Evernham seems to be the smartest of the bunch.  He has been setting himself up for an exit for some time.  However it doesn’t seem that Ray has left the company in very good hands.  The decisions coming from the once front liner for Dodge are circumspect at best.

When Evernham was given the reigns to bring Dodge back to NASCAR, I was excited at the prospect.  When Bill Elliott was named as the lead driver; as a Ford fan, I was devastated, but I still rooted for him and the Dodge team.  When Elliott “retired” and Kasey Kahne took over the #9 ride; I still followed with interest the success of that car and the team.    But with the bad decisions over the past three seasons you have to wonder if the decision to bring in a struggling Petty Enterprises is just another bad decision; much like the indecision to let Sadler go and then not.

Which leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

If you were a sponsor of one of the GEM/Petty cars; would you be worried about the companies ability to make proper decisions, given the Elliott Sadler mess?

Let us know what you think and we may use your thoughts on this weeks ON PIT ROW radio show.  Listen live Tuesdays from 5-7pm ET.

Photo Credit:  Icon Sports Media

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler, Evernham Motorsports, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Kasey Kahne, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio 

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Leavin’ Faster than Pilgrims at a Porn Theatre

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by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

November 28, 2008 3:42 pm CST No Comments

It’s Black Friday and I’m already sick of the traffic I’ve had to fight just getting to work. If only I had my own helicopter like Greg Biffle….oh wait. The Biff sold his in a fit of budget slashing the likes of which hasn’t been seen since, well, last week.

No matter. Mindy has some stuff on the musical crew chief situation, Joe Nemechek’s financial planning and touching goodbyes, Home Depot style.

It’s all there in the latest Monday Morning Crew Chief and you can watch it here.

Filed under: Bench Racing TV, Elliott Sadler, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Greg Biffle, Joe Nemechek, Michael Waltrip Racing, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, Red Bull Racing, Tony Stewart 

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Quick Hits: Texas Motor Speedway

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

October 29, 2008 8:04 pm CDT 1 Comment

This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the third to last race in this year’s Chase for the Cup. By this point, all but the 12 Chase teams are in preparation mode for 2009, experimenting with new setups and personnel. Many drivers with limited Sprint Cup experience are attempting to make starts this weekend in preparation for next year, including Joey Logano, Bryan Clauson, and Brad Keselowski.

However, one of the most intriguing driver-team combinations attempting to make the race this weekend is Max Papis and Germain Racing. Papis, a former CART competitor who made two starts for Haas CNC Racing earlier this year, will drive a No. 13 GEICO Toyota for Germain in 18 Sprint Cup races next year, and possibly attempt up to 25 depending upon sponsorship. Papis will also attempt to qualify at Homestead, regardless of whether he makes the race this weekend or not.

This is the next natural step in Germain’s progression from a Truck Series-only team up to NASCAR’s top level. Formed in late 2004, the No. 30 truck has consistently been one of the series’ best, winning the championship in 2006 with Todd Bodine. The team added a second truck in 2005 and a Nationwide Series team in 2007, experiencing success with both.

Currently, Mike Wallace has that No. 7 Nationwide team 8th in series’ points. Bodine has the No. 30 in 3rd in the Truck Series, and Justin Marks has impressed in the No. 9 truck, winning a pole at Texas and finishing 8th at Daytona. Bodine also made one Nationwide start for the team in a second car this year, finishing 4th at Darlington. In other words, the brothers Germain - Bob, Stephen, and Richard - have managed to make all of their cars competitive, regardless of who’s in them or how often they compete.

With its expansion into Cup racing with Papis, Germain has picked the optimum time to move up the ladder. With many teams pressed for sponsorship in a difficult economic climate, the Sprint Cup field should be shrinking next year, making it much easier for a team that doesn’t plan on attempting all 36 races to make the most of its limited schedule.

Germain also has never expanded beyond its means to be competitive. While the 2005 season was a trying one for the second truck, much of that was based on Shige Hattori’s lack of stock-car experience. While Ted Musgrave only won one race in the No. 9 truck in 2006 and 2007, he also had 28 top-10s in 49 starts for the team and two top-10 finishes in points.

The team only moved up to the Nationwide Series after establishing a strong foundation with Bodine last year. In five races, the team had an average finish of 17.8 (negatively affected by a crash at Homestead that led to a 37th place finish) and led 15 laps at Gateway. They also waited to move up until finding the right driver (Wallace) and sponsor (GEICO), and the team has carved its niche in the series despite most of the wins and top finishes going to Cup “claim jumpers” running in both series.

Even with the recent trend of open-wheel flameouts, don’t expect Papis to disappear in the first year of his four-year contract with the team. Papis, unlike some of the other open-wheel drivers to give NASCAR a try recently, has been successful in many different forms of motorsport. He won a handful of CART races in the late 1990s with Team Rahal and has driven for Corvette Racing at Le Mans. He also won the 2002 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Papis has also had his share of remarkable and memorable drives in other series. He nearly won the 1996 24 Hours of Daytona in a car that had been damaged by collisions. After unlapping himself in the final stint of the race, Papis pushed his car to the max, only losing by 64 seconds at a track in which fast laps can take nearly 2 minutes.

In other words, though we’ve all heard this before, Papis has the talent to succeed in a limited schedule with Germain. And unlike drivers like Villeneuve, Carpentier, Hornish, and Allmendinger, he has the team behind him to do it.

Before the green flag drops on this weekend’s festivites, here are this week’s Quick Hits:

5. A few interesting notes from Motorsports Authentics’ sell sheets for 2009 die-cast:

At Stewart-Haas Racing, Burger King is featured on the B-pillar of Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet. Also, DirecTV is featured on the B-pillar of Ryan Newman’s No. 39 Chevrolet. It is no longer on the No. 07 Chevrolet of Casey Mears.

At Gillett Evernham Motorsports, McDonald’s has vacated its post on the lower quarter panel of Elliott Sadler’s No. 19 Dodge. Allstate is also gone from the lower quarter panel of Kasey Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge.

Finally, Scott Speed will run a No. 82 Red Bull Toyota next year, as opposed to a No. 84. No word on why the change occurred.

4. A recent rumor suggests that Wood Brothers Racing is looking around the garage for a new partner after JTG Daugherty Racing’s defection to Toyota for 2009. That partnership could come in the form of a deal with Hall of Fame Racing, which currently fields Toyotas for former Wood driver Ken Schrader. Hall of Fame would also bring a top-flight sponsorship, in the form of Texas Instruments, and a bona-fide driving talent in Brad Coleman to the partnership. Hall of Fame’s current deal with Joe Gibbs Racing expires after Homestead.

3. An interesting note: No Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender has finished in the top 10 all season. Sam Hornish Jr.’s 13th at the Coca-Cola 600 is the best finish for any contender. Aric Almirola’s 8th at Bristol does not apply, as he is not registered for the award. Regan Smith’s win at Talladega, had it been upheld, would have been the only top-10.

2. While Kyle Petty has been unable to lay down any serious Sprint Cup plans for next year, he may have a full time Rolex Sports Car Series deal in place for 2009. Petty will run the No. 45 Orbit Racing BMW Prototype at next year’s 24 Hours of Daytona, and potentially beyond. No word yet on if the Wells Fargo sponsorship currently tied to Petty in Sprint Cup would transfer with him, remain in NASCAR, or both.

1. Kodak is leaving the sport after a successful sponsorship campaign that spanned over two decades and produced three Daytona 500 wins. Drivers like Ernie Irvan, Sterling Marlin, Bobby Hamilton, and most recently Ryan Newman piloted the gold cars for Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Penske Racing from the late 1980s to this year. Kodak will also abandon its sponsorship programs in all other forms of motorsports, including those in the Rolex Sports Car Series and Indy Racing League.

Finally, congratulations to Newman for winning last weekend’s Truck Series race at Atlanta, and Carl Edwards for winning the Nationwide race in Memphis and Atlanta’s Sprint Cup event.

Filed under: A J Allmendinger, Brad Coleman, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears, Craftsman Truck Series, Elliott Sadler, Germain Racing, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Haas CNC Racing, Jacques Villeneuve, Kasey Kahne, Kenny Shrader, Max Papis, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Regan Smith, Ryan Newman, Sam Hornish Jr, Scott Speed, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, The Wood Brothers 

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