WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: In 1998, Elliott Sadler made his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (CMS) with crew chief Butch Hylton atop the pit box. Twelve years later, Sadler returns to the 1.5-mile oval with 23 Cup Series starts and eight NASCAR Nationwide Series starts under his belt at the track, making his first start at CMS in the Truck Series with crew chief Butch Hylton calling the race once again.
RECORD BREAKER: Sadler has proven that he has what it takes to go fast at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In the fall of 2005 he broke the track’s speed record when he laid down a lap of 193.216 m.p.h. in Cup Series qualifying, nearly five miles per hour faster than the previous year’s speeds. In addition to clocking the fastest lap ever on the track, he vaulted Charlotte Motor Speedway to the title of fourth fastest non-restrictor plate track on the NASCAR circuit.
THE BEAST OF THE SOUTHEAST: Although Sadler has had success at the 1.5-mile oval, earning one record-breaking pole, one top-five and three top-10 finishes in the Cup Series, the Beast of the Southeast has taken its toll on him at times. Sadler has experienced four DNF’s (Did Not Finish) in his 23 Cup Series starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, three due to crashes and one due to engine failure. Sadler has led 192 laps at the track, yet has only completed 88.4 percent of scheduled laps at the oval (7,231 of 8,182 laps).
Thoughts from the Driver: Elliott Sadler
Butch Hylton was your crew chief when you made your first career Cup Series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway, so how do you feel about having him on the pit box at Charlotte in the Truck Series?
“I think it’s great being able to have him on the box at the place of our first start together, Charlotte Motor Speedway. We’ve been friends for such a long, long time, over 15 or 16 years, so there’s a high comfort level with that. Butch has had a lot of success crew chiefing at KHI and I’m very happy to get in and work with him again. We have a history together so it should be fun. Sometimes it’s tough when you’re trying to learn how to work with someone for the first time, but with us, we’ve been down this road before, so I think it’s going to be good.”
Charlotte Motor Speedway seems to be a track that drivers either love or hate. How do you feel about Charlotte?
“I love it; it’s one of my favorite tracks that we race. It’s one of the tracks that I feel fits my driving style very well and it has always been good to me. We have the track record at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a Cup car, so it’s pretty cool to be known as the fastest guy to ever go around that racetrack. It’s a fun track, and it offers a lot of opportunity as far as multiple grooves. I feel like the truck is going to be very, very fast there. It’s a great weekend with the All-Star race and everything that’s going on, and I’m looking forward to that Friday night.”
Although you’ve never been in a truck at Charlotte, you’ve got a lot of experience there. What do you feel is the key to doing well?
“That’s a really good question. I know what it takes to have a Cup car run really well there, so hopefully I can use a little bit of that knowledge and translate it over to the trucks. I’m going to have to lean on Butch and his experience, and lean on all the guys here at KHI, Kevin, DeLana and my teammate Ron Hornaday to see what the truck needs to feel like in practice to be competitive in the race. If I can take all those things and put them together, hopefully we can come out with a really good, successful weekend. I really like the way the truck looks, it’s a beautiful truck. I’m so glad Insignia has come on board for the races at Dover and Charlotte and I hope that it’s as fast on track as it looks sitting still.”
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: In his second race for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) and his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Elliott Sadler qualified on the outside pole and had a solid top-five truck throughout the race, but a tire failure on lap 173 led to a hard hit into the turn two wall, relegating the team to a 24th-place finish. The No. 2 team dropped two positions in the Owner’s Point standings, now sitting third, 25 points out of first place.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 team will utilize chassis No. 042 this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Chassis No. 042 made its debut in March at Atlanta Motor Speedway where KHI team co-owner Kevin Harvick drove the No. 2 to Victory Lane. The chassis also served as the primary truck for this season’s races at Nashville Superspeedway and Kansas Speedway where it was driven to second and ninth-place finishes, respectively.
ARE YOU A FOLLOWER? Twitter users can now keep up-to-date with Kevin Harvick Inc.’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Teams by following at http://twitter.com/KHI_TruckSeries. In addition, you can follow KHI’s Nationwide Series team at http://twitter.com /KHI_NNS. Want more from KHI? Follow KHI’s co-owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick at http://twitter.com/kevinharvick and http://twitter.com/delanaharvick.
MEDIA ACCESS: Members of the media can now log on to www.kevinharvickinc.com to gain access to press kit information online. For more information, please email Jessica Trippy at KHI: jtrippy@kevinharvickinc.com.
About Best Buy Co., Inc.
With operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Mexico, Best Buy is a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services with a commitment to growth and innovation. The Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $45 billion in annual revenue and includes brands such as Best Buy; Audiovisions; The Carphone Warehouse; Future Shop; Geek Squad, Jiangsu Five Star; Magnolia Audio Video; Napster; Pacific Sales; The Phone House; and Speakeasy. Approximately 155,000 employees apply their talents to help bring the benefits of these brands to life for customers through retail locations, multiple call centers and Web sites, in-home solutions, product delivery and activities in our communities. Community partnership is central to the way we do business at Best Buy. In fiscal 2009, Best Buy donated a combined $33.4 million to improve the vitality of the communities where its employees and customers live and work. For more information about Best Buy, visit www.bestbuy.com.
About Kevin Harvick Inc.
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001 by Kevin and DeLana Harvick, is an 80,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. Home of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship team, KHI enters 2010 in its seventh full year of competition with two full-time Truck Series teams and one full-time Nationwide Series team. Four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday returns to the helm of the No. 33 Truck team looking for his fifth title and third championship for KHI (2009 and 2007), while Sprint Cup series stars Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler guide the No. 2 Truck team. Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Harvick will again shine as the lead driver of the No. 33 Nationwide Series team as he continues to make his mark in motorsports and establish KHI as one of the top teams in NASCAR competition. For more information about KHI and its teams, please visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.
QUICK NOTES
Race Info
May 21, 2010
Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway
North Carolina Education Lottery 200
Race length: 143 Laps/201 Miles
Banking/Turns: 24-degree turns;
5-degree straight-a-ways
Track layout: 1.5-mile
Shape: Quad-Oval
Pre-Race Schedule
Friday:
Practice: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. EST
Final Practice: 10:20 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. EST
Qualifying: 3:30 p.m. EST
Race: 8:00 p.m. EST
TV: The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 can be seen on SPEED on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. EST
Radio: The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. EST
Truck Specs:
Chassis: 042
Engine: Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR)
Elliott Sadler
Truck Series Statistics at
Charlotte Motor Speedway
-No Previous Starts-
Elliott Sadler
Sprint Cup Series Statistics at
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Starts: 23
Wins: 0
Poles: 1 (Fall 2005)
Top 5: 1
Top 10: 3
Laps Led: 192
Average Start: 17.8
Average Finish: 25.6
Elliott Sadler
Nationwide Series Statistics at
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Starts: 8
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top 5: 1
Top 10: 1
Laps Led: 0
Average Start: 15.6
Average Finish: 23.0