“We Were Both Mad at Him”: Elliott Sadler Lets Slip Dale Earnhardt’s Racing Antics That Left Him Angry

Dale Earnhardt was one of his generation’s most feared race car drivers. While he was a serial winner and bagged multiple championships, he certainly had his way while competing on the race tracks. Even if it meant putting the bumper on the back of his rivals to find his way up the field. Unfortunately, Elliott Sadler and even his son Dale Jr fell prey to the Intimidator’s brand of hard racing during the 2000 Bristol Spring race.

Incidentally, this was Jr’s first race at the iconic short-track oval track in the Cup car. Meanwhile, Elliott Sadler, driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car, was one of the favorites to win the race. But the Intimidator certainly wasn’t going to let the young guns have their way and tried to pull off a big move to avoid the early crash.

Dale Earnhardt was banking on Sadler to win the Bristol spring race

The funny thing is that Dale Earnhardt chatted with Sadler during the team meeting. He knew that the No. 21 WBR Ford was good enough to compete for the win and advised the young driver to make the most of this opportunity. But his attitude changed as soon as he got behind his iconic No. 3 Chevy and forced the issue early in the race.

“Your dad comes to me at the driver’s meeting. It was probably the fastest Cup car I’d had at the Wood Brothers, and your dad comes to me, I started seventh, you started eighth, and your dad started ninth. Bobby Labonte started in front of me in the Interstate Batteries 18 car. Your dad comes to me at the driver’s meeting he says, Boy, if you use your head today, you got a chance to win this race.” Sadler said this via the Dale Jr Download.

Dale Earnhardt wasn’t to blame for the crash, but he certainly did let his foot off the gas while trying to avoid the crash. As a result, he caused both Jr and Sadler to spin off track. “So we take the green, and we go into turn one. You know kinda stack up on the inside. So I lift not to hit Bobby; I don’t want to wreck Bobby on Lap 1 and your dad hits me in the back, wrecks me, and I take him out. So after the race, he and I find each other, and I’m like, Man, your dad, man. We were both so mad at him, I swear,” the former WBR driver added.

This was the last Bristol spring event at which Dale Earnhardt raced, as the following year he lost his life crashing at Daytona International Speedway. Meanwhile, Sadler conquered the world’s fastest half-mile that year, and it was a monumental occasion for him and his team, Wood Brothers Racing.

Elliott Sadler caught a good break during the 2001 Bristol race

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Now, we all know race car drivers need luck on their side when on the racetrack. Fortunately, for Wood Brothers Racing and Sadler, it came with a muck-up via communicating through the team radio at Bristol. The driver of the No. 21 was supposed to pit with the late caution in the race, but he couldn’t hear his crew chief’s call on the radio. Although he received an earful from his crew for staying out, it worked out well for them.

“As I’m getting to the commitment line, Pat Tryson is the crew chief, he and I hit the button at the same time. And I go, hey do you want me to pit he’s telling me to pit. Well, I didn’t hear anything and I stayed on the racetrack, and they are screaming at me, they are yelling at me. So, alright, I’ll pit next time by. No, stay out there stay out them tires, you go ahead, stay out there, Eddy,” the driver described the incident.

But lucky for them, this worked out in their favor as Sadler made the most of the clean air and clinched his first Cup career win.