Sadler wins at Bristol

[MountaineerTom]

From Thatsracin.com:

Sadler scores first win; Gordon, Stewart tangle

By DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Elliott Sadler scored one of the biggest upset victories in Winston Cup memory Sunday, parlaying pit strategy into his first career victory in the No. 21 Ford owned by the Wood Brothers.

It was the first points race victory for the storied Wood Brothers racing operation since 1993 and their first ever at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"It means more than anything in the world," Sadler said in victory lane. "We're so happy about this we don't know what to do."

John Andretti chased Sadler hard over the final laps, but Sadler held on after crew chief Pat Tryson had him stay out on a yellow flag on Lap 371 and for the rest of the way in the 500-lap event.

Andretti finished second with Jeremy Mayfield third and Jeff Gordon fourth.

Gordon was involved in a last-lap incident with Tony Stewart as they battled for that fourth spot.

Gordon was on the low side and Stewart on the high side as they came through turns 3 and 4 on the last lap. There was contact and Stewart spun out. After the checkered flag, Stewart ran all the way around the track and rammed Gordon from behind on pit road. The parties were immediately summoned to the NASCAR hauler.

Sadler, meanwhile, went to victory lane for the first time in 75 career Winston Cup starts. The Wood Brothers now have 97 victories - their last came at Atlanta in March of 1993 with Morgan Shepherd driving.

It didn't take long for the race's first lead change - or its first caution.

Kevin Harvick, who started third, nudged his way past pole-winner Mark Martin in Turn 1 on the third lap and grabbed the lead, with Sterling Marlin coming with him into second.

On Lap 5, Jerry Nadeau spun in Turn 4 and caused a traffic pileup behind him to bring out the yellow. Several other cars crinkled up some sheet metal in the incident, but only Nadeau had to go behind the wall for repairs.

The second yellow came out when Robert Pressley got turned as he entered Turn 3 on Lap 24, causing Jeff Burton to spin out in his Ford as well. The third came on the first lap after the green flag when Mike Skinner made contact with Andy Houston's Ford in Turn 3 and sent Houston spinning.

The leaders got a chance to pit under yellow after, on Lap 79, Kurt Busch spun down the backstretch, bounced off the end of the pit wall and grazed Rusty Wallace's car as Wallace went by.

Harvick came off pit road first, but fell to the back of the lead lap when he had to come back on pit road after he and Marlin made contact as they came out following their stops. Harvick's car had a fender rubbing against a tire and he came back in to get that fixed.

Marlin had the lead over Kyle Petty and Martin on the restart, but the green flag racing didn't last long. On Lap 80, Ken Schrader went into the Turn 2 wall after a nudge from Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose car slipped up the track as he went through the turn.

Marlin held the lead until the next yellow, for Brett Bodine's spin in Turn 4 on Lap 149, brought the top cars to pit road. Marlin got back off pit road first with John Andretti second, Gordon third and Todd Bodine fourth.

Andretti put his No. 43 Dodge into the lead - for the first time ever in his career at Bristol - by passing Marlin in turns 3 and 4 on Lap 161, and Gordon then moved into the second a few laps later. Gordon then passed Andretti on the outside in Turn 3 on Lap 182.

Roush Racing's woes continued just before the halfway point when Jeff Burton's Ford had a tire go down and went hard into the outside wall on the frontstretch off Turn 4. Burton's Ford bounced off right in front of teammate Mark Martin. Burton's car had to be towed to the garage and Martin's Ford also went behind the wall for repairs of its crumpled-up hood.

Gordon, Andretti and Steve Park came off pit road in the top three positions as the halfway point of the race came under the yellow flag. Park worked his way to the lead by Lap 292 and stayed there until debris on the track brought out a caution on Lap 336.

Andretti and Marlin beat Park off pit road on that round of pit stops. Marlin worked his way past Andretti on the first lap following the restart but Andretti fought right back and was ahead again on Lap 349 when Mike Wallace slammed the inside wall on the backstretch.

Another yellow flew on Lap 371 when Nadeau spun in Turn 4. Most of the lead-lap cars pitted, but Harvick, Elliott Sadler and Tony Stewart didn't and they took over the top three spots. Stewart had been lapped earlier, but got that lap back on the previous yellow.

Five cars crashed on the backstretch on Lap 381, bringing out another quick yellow flag. Among those involved was Busch - more trouble for a Roush-owned car.

Harvick and Sadler were still running 1-2 on Lap 423 when Buckshot Jones slapped the inside wall on the backstretch after contact from Spencer. Most of the front-runners elected not to pit under that yellow, leaving Harvick and Sadler ahead of Andretti, who was first among those who did come in on the previous yellow.

Harvick's luck turned bad again on Lap 431 when he had a left-front tire go flat. That put Sadler, driving a backup Wood Brothers-owned Ford after crashing his primary car in practice on Friday, with the top spot with less than 70 laps to go.

Todd Bodine slapped the Turn 2 wall and debris from his car brought out another caution. That moved Andretti right up on Sadler's rear bumper for the restart on Lap 447. As Sadler clung tenaciously to the top spot, Jeremy Mayfield closed in from third and by Lap 475 it was a three-car race for the top spot. But Sadler held on for the remarkable win.

________________

Just my opinion: Tony Stewart is a Punk!  And I'm not even a Gordon fan.

[General Lee 01]

I agree  with you on that one tom, Stewart's not on my fav list either.

Though, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing.

[General Lee 01]

But I am VERY glad of the Race outcome. I wanted Elliott Sadler to win because I like him and he's from Va.

I'm also stoked at how the 21 Wood Brothers' car won with the 43 Petty Car coming in second. I know it brings back memories to yall who were around during the clashes between Pearson, and Petty.

[Shaners]

In my opinion Stewart showed his immaturity "AGAIN"!  I think he should have a one race penalty to give him time to think about his actions.  That was a very dangerous situation on pit road.  If it would have been out on the track then I feel a fine would have been in order, but the cars were lining up for post race inspection and someone could've gotten hurt...

BTW, I don't care for Gordon very much, but he did nothing wrong...

(Edited by Shaners at 6:32 am on Mar. 26, 2001)