Texas Motor Speedway is special to Elliott Sadler

Photo credit: Debbie Ross/Skirts and Scuffs

Texas Motor Speedway may be as far west as Elliott Sadler can go and not sound out of place. The native Virginian’s trademark drawl could almost pass for a resident of Texas, though perhaps with a bit less twang and an underlying smoothness that would make (Uvalde, Texas native) Matthew McConaughey proud.

But it’s not the drawls that makes the driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevy feel at home on the Great American Speedway. It’s his history at the track. Sadler told Skirts and Scuffs’ Amanda Ebersole, “Well, I like Texas a lot. I was actually the first person to ever drive a race car around there in 1996. I think it still had lime on the racetrack. It's always been special to me.”

In 18 Cup races on the mile-and-a-half oval , Sadler scored a win, a top five, three top tens, and a pole. Sadler explained, “We've always ran very, very well there in the past, a home of one of my Sprint Cup Series wins. I think the last-ever Cup race I ever ran at Texas, I sat on the pole and ran the fastest-ever lap time ever ran by a COT car, and that still stands today so that's pretty special.”

                                                              Elliott Sadler wins the 2004 Texas 500.

Though he’s only run eight Nationwide races at the Great American Speedway, Sadler’s collected a top five and three top tens, and a pole. “I think the last time I was there in a Nationwide car we sat on the pole there in the fall.”

"So to say that I like Texas is definitely understated. It's a place I look forward to. It's a place I feel like we're going to run good at and we have a chance to win even before we unload. We're taking a very good race car with us there this weekend, the same car I had at Vegas that we sat on the pole with, and hopefully we'll go there and be fast and have a good weekend."

Sadler echoed the sentiments of many drivers about racing at Texas Motor Speedway. “It's a fun racetrack.” He explained, “It's definitely aged a lot over the last couple years, which has created some really, really good racing. The grooves really open up. You can really challenge this track, especially at nighttime, and should put on a good show for the fans there. Hopefully they'll come out and support us.”