Elliott Sadler

Biography

Since his days of playing with miniature racecars in the sandbox at South Boston Speedway, Virginia native Elliott Sadler has wanted to be a racecar driver. Sadler cut his teeth in racing on the short tracks of Virginia and the Carolinas. He started out racing go-karts at the young age of seven then moved up to the Late Model Stock car division. His racing resume includes more than 200 wins, including the 1983-84 Virginia State Karting Championship and the 1991-92 North Carolina Gold Cup. Elliott was also the runner-up for the World Karting Association national title in 1989.

Sadler moved to the Winston Racing Series at the age of 18 and ran his first full season in 1993. Victory came quickly as he notched his first win that same year. Winning became almost second nature to Sadler as only two years later he was crowned the 1995 South Boston (Va.) Speedway track champion. That season, Sadler posted 13 wins at the .4-mile short track with an impressive six consecutive wins.

Sadler’s success on the short track proved to be a stepping-stone as he ran a limited Busch Series schedule in 1995 and 1996. His talent was evident as Sadler caught the eye of owner Gary Bechtel and landed a full time ride with his Busch Series team for the 1997 season.

Elliott wasted no time in demonstrating his ability rise to the challenge as the rookie driver captured the pole for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in 1997. Just 13 starts later Sadler wheeled his team into victory lane at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway. Sadler rounded out his rookie year with three more poles, four outside poles and two more victories (Myrtle Beach Speedway, Gateway International Raceway). He finished the year an impressive fifth in the Busch Championship standings, and he was also awarded the Busch Pole Award for the most poles in one season.

His sophomore year in the Busch Series began in the same fashion as Sadler notched the pole for the 1998 season-opener in Daytona. The young driver recorded two more wins in 1998 (Bristol Motor Speedway, North Carolina Speedway) before moving up to the Winston Cup Series. Sadler made his Cup debut in 1998 at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, NC.

Sadler’s quick learning curve in the Busch Series provided him with another incredible opportunity. In 1999, Elliott was tapped to pilot the renowned No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car. Sadler was honored to be part of the team, and he finished second in the Rookie of the Year battle to Tony Stewart.

Sadler scored his first Winston Cup Victory in 2001 when he took the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway in his 75th start. A gutsy pit call and some handy driving behind the wheel put Elliott and the Wood Brothers in the winner’s circle. A record also fell when Sadler crossed the stripe – his 38th place starting position was the deepest in the field any driver ever won from at the .5-mile short track in Tennessee. Sadler scored two more top-fives in 2001 and finished the season 20th in points.

Sadler made the decision to leave the Wood Brothers following the 2002 season to explore other opportunities in the Winston Cup garage. Following his 139-race stint in the No. 21 car, Sadler was recruited to drive for Robert Yates Racing and in the No. 38 “M&M’s”® Ford.

“Ever since I’ve started racing, I’ve known that if there was one place that I wanted to be, one place that I dreamed of having the opportunity to work at, it was at Robert Yates Racing,” Sadler said. “So when Robert approached me, I felt like my dreams had come true. The opportunity to team up with a sponsor like “M&M’s”® makes it that much more exciting. “M&M’s”® are all about fun and making people happy, and I would say that is exactly the way I live my life. I just want to have fun on and off the race track, and I hope to make everyone happy by putting the No. 38 “M&M’s”® Ford in victory lane as soon as possible.”

The 2003 season got off to a hot start with two Top Five finishes and Five Top ten finishes in the first nine races. Sadler also captured his first pole of the season at Darlington, just five races into the schedule. 2003 also brought a first for Sadler in Dale Jarrett, Elliott’s first Cup teammate. "I ask him so many questions about racing and not about racing, it's not even funny," Sadler said of Jarrett. "Stuff that I haven't asked people in part of my family, because I know I can really get a straight answer out of him."

Sadler is one of NASCAR’s “Young Guns” and has become a leader in the sport’s new generation of drivers. He has shown championship potential on the track and has made an equally big impression off the track by his accommodating manner with the media. With his refreshing attitude and good looks, Sadler will shine brightly as a star in the future of NASCAR.

Energized by organizational changes at RYR, Elliott heads into 2004 with a re-vamped crew, lead by Todd Parrott as Crew Chief. His charismatic personality and winning style is a natural match with second year sponsor M&M'S Brand Chocolate Candies. Sadler will once again have a little help from his faithful friends, the famous "M&M" Spokescandies, Red, Yellow and Green, to help navigate the #38 Ford Taurus.

While not driving the No. 38 M&M’s ® Ford, Sadler enjoys hunting, golf, video games, hanging out with friends and sports. He recently appeared in national TV commercials for Ford and Coca-Cola and made his Country Music Television debut in the video for hit “Ol’ Red” released by singer Blake Shelton.