Elliott Sadler tackles Indianapolis

STUART, Va. (July 31, 2000) -- Elliott Sadler quickly admits it would be easy to get tangled up in all the hype of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The track's history speaks for itself but Sadler ranks the track high on his favorite track list because he enjoys the fast, challenging turns at the Brickyard.

Sadler's debut at Indy last season resulted in a 13th place start and a 21st place finish for the No. 21 CITGO Ford. The team recently tested at the Brickyard and posted the 10th fastest overall time. Sadler has battled his share of bad luck this season but is confident this weekend will yield success.

According to Sadler, "The track is very unique and demanding because we reach such high speeds and the corners have little banking considering it is a 2.5 mile track. I think all of the drivers enjoy racing at Indy because it has so much history. Last year was my first time racing at the Brickyard and it was such a great feeling standing on the track before the race started. The fans are great and I'm looking forward to a good finish this weekend."

Veteran Winston Cup Series spotter Chuck Joyce grades the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a challenge even from his point of view, which is high atop the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Joyce's responsibility is simple in description but tough in execution. Joyce's job is to make sure Sadler is fully aware of his surroundings and is not involved in any accidents on the track during his 400-mile chess match.

"It's tough to clear Elliott because the cars come directly at the spotters stand when they come down the front stretch and they go away from us down the back stretch," stated Joyce. "I can clear Elliott in traffic in between the turns but the rest of the time I'm mostly scanning the track for accidents and cars coming off of pit road. That's the two most important things at Indy -- let the drivers know where the wrecks are and to make sure traffic merging back onto the track from pit road doesn't create any problems for the cars that are up to speed. The track is big and it is fast and things can happen in the blink of an eye."

Although the Wood Brothers have yet to win a NASCAR event at the prestigious 2.5 oval, the team visited Victory Lane in 1965 after winning the INDY 500 with driver Jimmy Clark.

"We've won all of the big ones except for the Brickyard 400," stated Len Wood, co-owner of the CITGO Ford. "This team knows where Victory Lane is at Indy after winning the INDY 500 and our results from the test last month are very promising. We used test motors for the test session and the motor we'll bring for qualifying and the race should be even better."

<pre> Elliott Sadler's NASCAR Winston Cup Stats at Indy: Starts Wins Poles Top 5's Top 10's Earnings 1 0 0 0 0 $107,710

Wood Brothers NASCAR Winston Cup Stats at Indy: Starts Wins Poles Top 5's Top 10's Earnings 6 0 0 0 2 $487,660