Motorcraft Racing - Elliott Sadler

Sadler wants pole before leaving Motorcraft Racing.

Wood Brothers Racing has not had a pole since 1984 when Buddy Baker qualified in the top spot for the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  Current driver Elliott Sadler would like to put his #21 Motorcraft Racing Ford Taurus on the pole just once before he leaves the team at the end of the season.  And the track at Rockingham, North Carolina, might be just the place to do it.

        Sadler said after the race at Atlanta: "I want to run this car every race if I can for the rest of the season.  As long as I can keep it in one piece I think Pat will let us keep racing it.  I'm very happy with it."

During practice on Friday at Atlanta with his Taurus in qualifying trim, Elliott told the crew: "This is the best race car I've ever been in.  You don't have to change anything." 

He had expressed similar sentiments during practice at Charlotte, and then qualifying sessions for both races were rained out.

"We want this season to end on a good note.  I really want to get a pole for the Wood Brothers.  They haven't had a pole since 1984 and that is something we have talked about.  It is something I would really like to make happen.  Getting a pole is a lot harder than I thought it would be at this level.  The margin for error is so slim.  You can be off by just a few inches on the track and that can make all the difference.

"The car we are taking to Rockingham is the same car we had at Charlotte and Atlanta.  We had one set of tires at Atlanta that put us back in the field and we could never catch up, but I like this car.  We should have had a top-10 finish there.  And it is a great car when it is taped up for qualifying so we'll see what we can do with it at the race this weekend."

-motorcraft/ford-