Former NASCAR Champ Reveals Sacrificing Coca Cola 600 Winnings to Join Robert Yates and Kyle Busch’s Ex-Sponsor

The NASCAR silly season is a thriller of sorts for the community to enjoy, with the shuffling of drivers and chiefs from one team to another. The recent SHR fiasco is one such good example recently. However, the actual process of jumping ship to a new team is much more complex in reality, one that could give drivers sleepless nights and anxiety. This was the case with Elliott Sadler when he wanted to move from Wood Brother Racing to Robert Yate’s team back in 2002.

It all came down to the nitty-gritty of the clauses in the contract that Sadler was under. What’s surprising was that Eddie Wood, the CEO and co-owner of the team, didn’t block his driver’s move to join the Yates Racing group. So what exactly was obstructing Elliott Sadler from making the desired switch? According to him, it was the fear of his team losing out on key sponsors.

M&M’s and a seat at Robert Yates Racing was a special opportunity for Sadler

Roush Racing handled all the paperwork for Wood Brothers Racing, from contract agreements to sponsorship deals. Although Sadler was assured that he would be let go by his team owner, the team at Roush found one big concern with the driver’s sponsorship deal. At the time, sponsorship money was big, and none of the teams wanted to see their premier partner move to a rival camp.

To put it in perspective, Sadler driving the No. 21 Ford helped the team win the Bristol race in 2001 and contributed to $9 million in winnings. At that time DeWalt, a manufacturer of industrial power tools was sponsoring Sadler. So a move to Robert Yates’ team could have meant the sponsor followed him. So, the team wasn’t only losing out on their star driver but potential revenue streams.  Thus, Sadler, who had been with WBR since 1999, was stranded. He had yet to receive the green flag from WBR and ultimately, he had to make a personal sacrifice to ensure his move to a new team.

Sadler, while speaking on the Dale Jr Download podcast, shared his tale of how he managed to secure his move to now-closed Robert Yates Racing. “Roberts calling me going ‘look are you getting out or not. I got to let M&M’s know something I’m going to lose this deal.’ So the window is closing and I am in panic mode,” he recalled.

So Sadler decided to up the matter with Jeff Smith, who handled all the driver and sponsor contracts at WBR. “I went to meet with Jeff and those guys, and I said I’ll sign whatever piece of paper you got that says I’m not taking the DeWalt with me.” Even this wasn’t convincing for the guys at Rousch until Sadler stated, “I’ll forfeit my winnings for the rest of the year; this is the week of the Coca-Cola 600.”

So right from May 2002 to the end of the season, Sadler gave up winnings from 20 races he ran that year. And this was just to convince the guys at Roush that he wasn’t taking his sponsors with him to Yates Racing.

Sadler ended up making the move to Yates Racing with M&M’s backing him. Having previously led Wood Brother Racing’s No. 21 Motorcraft. Ford to a 23rd-place finish in the 2002 series standings, Sadler was eager to make an impact at Yates.

He joined Dale Jarret in the team, replacing veteran driver Ricky Rudd who went in the opposite direction to Wood Brothers Racing. Sadler cut short his off-season and joined Yates’ Winston Cup team for a two-day test at Kentucky Speedway in November 2002. This yet again highlighted how eager he was to get started under Robert Yates.

In his first season, Sadler got off to an impressive start and won the pole at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. Sadler had his best year at Yates in 2004 when he secured a win at Texas, the first win for M&M’s. Also, he made the playoffs (the format was called the Chase at the time) with a second win at California.

But his performances dipped the next year and he had to eventually move out and experienced a sense of deja vu.

The honeymoon period came to an end in 2006

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In 2005, Sadler clinched four poles and finished 13th in the standings, but a win deserted him. The next year became even more challenging as results dried up.

Robert informed his driver about the team being reduced to a single-car operation after Dale Jarrett had signed a deal with Michael Waltrip Racing. Sadler was allowed to speak to other teams mid-season only if he agreed not to take M&M’s with him, the same situation he went through while negotiating his exit from WBR four years ago. Sadler gave his word to Robert and joined Evernham Motorsports, after leaving RYR midway in 2006.

Although M&M’s felt betrayed by Elliott Sadler, who had asked them to stay at Yates, it eventually led to them securing a deal with Kyle Busch. And the rest is history, as they reached the pinnacle of NASCAR racing twice with Rowdy.