Elliott Sadler Unmasks the “Idiot” Storyline Behind Accidental Bristol Win, Leaving Entire Team Mad

NASCAR veteran Elliott Sadler was on the recent episode of the Dale Earnhardt Jr. podcast. A lot of stories were shared. Including the clarification on the controversy of his Pocono crash. In the crash, all we could see was the car’s engine and tire lying on the infield grass, and Sadler’s No. 19 Ford was destroyed. What is surprising is that there is no clear video footage of this crash to date. The reason explained for that was simpler than earlier anticipated. Just no camera was there on that stretch.

Opposed to his misfortune that day on track, he also has a lucky accidental win in his 2001 Bristol race. You must remember the unexpected win of Sadler from the 2001 Food City 500 race. However, did you know that it was not just unexpected but also accidental? Sadler revealed what unfolded in the race on the recent episode of Dale Jr.’s podcast.

All about Elliott Sadler’s accidental victory

Elliott Sadler raced in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series and has received more success in Xfinity, wherein in the 397 race starts he has 13 wins. Sadler never won the Xfinity championship but came close on four occasions where we finished second in all four (2011, 2012, 2016, and 2017). As opposed to this in the Cup Series, he has only 3 wins in 438 race starts. One of those 3 wins came to Bristol in the 2001 race. The victory, according to Sadler, came by accident!

Let’s go back two decades to the Food City 500 race. In the race, Kevin Harvick had the lead. With just 69 laps remaining, Harvick got flat and had to pit to replace the puncture. Sadler, who was in the 2nd position, got the lead and finally took the checkered flag. Going into the race, which had Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, Sadler wasn’t the favorite. However, that day, everything just played out perfectly for him. Dale Jr. had a conversation with him on the recent episode of Dale Jr. Download, where Elliott shared this story.

A miscommunication with his crew chief led to a victory; imagine!

According to him, at Bristol, decisions had to be made quickly, which they didn’t! Describing the events on the track, he said, “I’m getting to the commitment line and the crew chief, he and I hit the button at the same time and I’m going hey man you want me to pit and he’s telling me to pit pit pit well I didn’t hear anything so I stayed on the racetrack and they are screaming at me you idiot you stay we told you to pit and I’m like I’m sorry.” Followed by this his crew chief was extremely upset. Upon further using if he needed to pit or not. Angrily he got a response saying, “no no stay out there stay out in them tires and you want to stay out there you go ahead stay out there!”

Because of the miscommunication, Sadler, who was in the lead, did not pit and took the victory. It was his first in the Cup Series, and having such a great story behind it must have made it even more special. The win came with his first Cup series team, Wood Brothers’s Racing.

How did Elliott get into the Wood Brothers Racing team?

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Elliott started his Cup Series career with WBR in 1998. However, Sadler had already started his Xfinity career in 1995 with Diamond Ridge Motorsports. In his 1997 season, he got 3 wins and got on the radar of Cup Series teams. In the conversation with Dale Jr., Elliott takes a trip down memory lane to remember how he got into the Cup Series.

He said, “When the Wood Brothers called me, I was at home and but we met in Michigan for the Michigan race. So the fall Michigan race in 1998 I met Eddie and Lyn wood and they talked to me about driving the 21 car and once they made that clear that it’s mine if I wanted it.”

According to Elliott, he was driving in the Xfinity series, and it was his dream to race in the Cup. When the opportunity presented itself, Elliott Sadler knew he had to take it. Reiterating this, he said, “I went back to Sandy Jones and told him, dude, I’ve got to take this chance, and I understand that it’s in Virginia and it’s different, and I get that, but from a security standpoint. I’ve got to go take this chance. I mean that’s my lifelong dream and they’re from Virginia and I’m from Virginia so that’s kind of how that worked in the fall of 1998 to set up for my rookie season.” 

According to Elliott, before signing for WBR, he had an option to stay back in Xfinity. But he was just set on being a Cup driver and took the chance with Wood Brothers. His Cup Series career encompassed 12 full-time Cup seasons for Wood Brothers Racing, Robert Yates Racing, Evernham Motorsports, and Richard Petty Motorsports. Finally retiring in 2017 from the Cup.