Q&A: Elliott Sadler.

Robert Yates Racing's Elliott Sadler took his second career Cup Series win by edging out Kasey Kahne in another photo-finish at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Sadler's previous series victory came at Bristol three years ago, when he was driving for the Wood Brothers, and the Texas success his first for new car owner Robert Yates. It was also the first for the Yates team since Dale Jarrett won the Subway 400 at Rockingham in February of last year.

Q:
Congratulations Elliot - it's been a while coming. Tell us about your race...

Elliott Sadler:
We had a great race car all day today. We started 19th and easily moved up through the field. I think the tale of the tape was when the late caution happened and the #24 and I had stayed out and got great track position. It was a great call on Todd's part to stretch the fuel as much as we could. Clean air is such a very important part of running good here at Texas because it's such a fast track and it just worked out good for us. They got us a good pit stop.

The #24's misfortune got us out in clean air and I was coaching Dale Earnhardt Jr as much as I could to hold the #9 off as long as he could, because I knew he would be coming and once he got around, boy, he started making up a lot of time. I was trying to hit my marks and go as fast as I can and I was just lucky enough to hold him off. I probably messed up in turns three and four more than I should. He shouldn't even have gotten beside me, but I was so focused on the #30 car because I didn't
know what in the world he was doing racing the leaders like he was and I was so focused on him that I really forgot about the #9 car. I almost lost the race doing that, so that's something I'll always keep in the back of my head.

I was lucky enough that Eddie Gossage and the guys had the start-finish line closer to turn four than to turn one and I was able to win.

Q:
Has [crew chief] Todd Parrot added stability to the team?

ES:
Yeah, I think Todd is the cornerstone of what's making this whole operation go good. I learned so much about him last year. I'm glad we had the last 12 or 13 races to race with each other last year. I made these comments earlier in the season that he's a very demanding crew chief. He expects a lot of his driver and I didn't know how
to take that last year, but over the winter we became better friends and are finishing each other's sentences more. Now I think we're communicating as well right now as we ever have, so I think we're just gonna get better and better.

I believe him 100 per cent. His record speaks for itself. He knows what's going on with the race car. His aerodynamic knowledge is second to none and, when he tells me it's gonna do something, it's gonna do it. So when you have that kind of confidence on the other end of the radio, it makes me help me do my job that much better.

Q:
How did the cautions help you in the last 50 laps?

ES:
It 100 per cent benefited me because I wasn't thinking about the #24 as much as the #9. I thought the more caution laps we could run, the less time the #9 had to get up through the field. We knew nobody could run with him, but keep running cautions, keep running cautions. I kept looking at him and he went from eighth to seventh and stayed there through that long stretch of caution laps. I couldn't believe he got up there that quick. I looked and I was pulling away from Junior and I was trying to run the #24 and, by the time I got by the #24, I looked and the #9 was already on the #8's back bumper. I went 'man, he's already made it this far.' But the extra caution laps definitely helped our chances of winning here today.

Q:
Did you think you could hold him off with 20 to go?

ES:
I tell you exactly what was going through my mind at that time. With 20 laps to go, I knew he was gonna catch me, but I was trying to run replays in my head of watching him and the #8 car battle and thinking he must be getting aero-tight behind the #8 car. So when he gets to me, one, hopefully he's burned his right-front off because he's running so fast and, two, I've got to do whatever I've got to do to make him aero-tight, so I was starting to go into turn one a little higher to try to take some wind off his nose and do things like that.

It wasn't working too good in three and four because he was so fast there, but I didn't know. It was a 50-50 shot. I'm thinking 'I can see him coming. I know he's coming.' I'm doing all I can do. I mean, I've got pedal to the metal - not saving anything. I didn't know at that time whether I could hold him off or not, but I was just trying to create as much of an aero-push as I could on the front of his race car. The chips fell in my direction and we were just able to pull it off there at the end.

Q:
How close did [Johnny] Sauter come to costing you the race - and what should he have done?

ES:
He should have done like every other smart person we've got to did and pull over. There wasn't anybody within a half-a-straightaway of him - behind him or in front of him. We come off turn two and he pulls down and then he pulls right back in the groove and runs right on the bottom of three and four, which is where I had been trying to run all day long. I hadn't even run up high in three and four. I didn't know what my car was gonna do. I just had to go up there and block the #9 car like crazy.

His awareness is hideous. Pardon my French, but I wish he would have left it down to me and Kasey to race and should have never been a factor here, but, hey, we all knew that going in. We race with him every week. We understand that he's gonna make a factor one way or the other in the outcome of a lot races - it started in Daytona - so we're just glad we were on the winning end.

It was my fault, though. I was so focused and didn't know what he was gonna do that I forgot all about the #9 car and it almost cost me the race. Like I said before, I'm just glad the start-finish line was a little bit closer to turn four. If I would have lost I would have got mad because, actually, 334 laps is 501 miles around here and that's too long. [laughter]

Q:
What does it mean to get that second win?

ES:
It means a lot. I've heard from some of the other guys who were picking on me, 'hey, you've only won one race'. They were teasing me week-in and week-out, so to come back and win at this track is very special. To win anywhere is very special, but Texas, to me, since the first time I ever drove a Busch car around here in 1997, it's just been one of my favourite tracks to race on.

The people are so polite down here. The people here that run this race track have done all the changes in the world to try to help us put on a great race for the fans and I think we've got a great race track to race at. To be able to win here is very special and the reason for that is it's one of my favourite tracks, it's a good purse, it's National Autism Awareness Month - and I think everybody that follow me know about my little niece, Hayley Drew, so I can't wait to get home and see her tomorrow night because of this.

It's a very special weekend for me and my family. A lot of things were lifted off my shoulders here this weekend, and we're in the all-star race. To win before we get to Charlotte, we don't have to run the heat race. So it's pretty cool to be in the all-star race, too. There are a lot of great things lifted off my shoulders here today.

Q:
Did you think it would take this long?

ES:
I wanted to step in and run this good right off the bat and we just had a very frustrating year last year with the teams getting changed around and things like that. I started looking myself in the mirror wondering if I'm doing the right things as a driver. Am I giving the right feedback? You start questioning yourself so much every night when you go to bed. It's tough. This is a tough, tough sport. It's not like stick-and-ball sports where there's one winner and one loser. I mean, you've got 42 losers every week. All 42 of us are wondering what we did wrong and what could we do better.

It's already been 108 races and then a whole season with Yates without a victory was very trying so, to give M&M's their first win in 13 years in this sport, is very special to me, and to see Robert Yates' smile on his face when I pulled into victory lane means more to me than anything I've ever done. It's just a great feeling to be able to give back to people that have taken a chance on you.

Q:
How many grooves are there now?

ES:
I think each year we race here it's only gonna get better and better because the asphalt is gonna sit and it's gonna get older. It's gonna lose some of the grip that we have and that way you have to slide up some. I think even the next time we come and the next time we come this track is gonna get better and better and better. This is a very smooth surface. It's one of the smoothest race tracks we race on. Eddie and his guys have done a great, great job. I think the more we let it sit, the better it's gonna be. We'll see what happens.

Q:
With three to go, Kahne put the slide job on you - how big was that?

ES:
A lot. I didn't know he was as far up as he was. I was trying to pay attention on my line so much that I didn't realise he was running high in three and four and getting such a big run coming off the corner. I knew he wasn't there at the time, but I tried to move up slow in front of him and I clipped him and he hit the wall. Then I got a little space. I was like 'alright, I've got a little bit of breathing room'. But he was so fast he got right back on my back bumper again.

That might be the reason why I'm sitting here today and he's not - not really the move on the last lap, but that particular move right there. Like I said before, he's a very clean racer. He could have done a lot of different things to me after I did that. Now I know how he's gonna race me, I know how to race him for the rest of our whole careers. He's definitely a great race car driver. He's gonna win a lot of races and they have set the bar right now. That car is the car to beat pretty much every week. We're just glad we had great pit strategy, great track position and it just really worked out in our way today. So it worked out good, but I think that move was more important than even the last lap.

Q:
Talk about the decision to stay out [under a late race caution]?

ES:
Before the caution came out? He was just telling me to conserve fuel, which I thought you told me pretty late actually, Todd.... But he started telling me to conserve fuel, conserve fuel, and I knew what he meant - we were gonna try to make it on one more stop. I think some of the guys were gonna be really close in making it to the end of the race and we've been getting great gas mileage.

Again, that goes back to Robert and Jack [Roush] working together. We had great, great gas mileage again today and we were just trying to make it to the end. We were staying with the #24. He was gonna do the same exact thing. The #8 car, the #2 car - all of us were trying to do the same thing. When the caution came out, now with NASCAR's new rule, you can't pit the first time by. We were like 'oh, God.' And my fuel light was on. My fuel pressure was going back and forth. Robert was in my ear teaching me on how to save fuel with his motor, so it all in the end paid off.

That's why you saw us riding around on the apron trying to keep all the fuel we could near the right-rear of the car. It just paid off for us. It was a great, great call on Todd's part.

Q:
What about the party?

ES:
Every Tuesday night at my house at home, my dad and I feed about 60 or 70 of employees and closest friends. Usually, when we have a good weekend - or like after the Bristol race we won a couple of years ago - we have a good turnout - probably 150 or 160 people will show up. I just want everybody to know that was watching that we're gonna eat at the barn on Tuesday night.

It's just a cool place to hang out behind my house at home in Emporia, Virginia. It's a great time for me to spend with all my family and friends. I love going back home.
That's why I still live there and it's gonna be pretty neat. That's all I said, to remind everybody we are eating at the barn on Tuesday night.

Q:
Is the Roush-Yates engine collaboration paying off?

ES:
I would say so. We had two cars on the front row at the Daytona 500. We won the Twin 125. Matt Kenseth has won a couple of races. Ask them how much they like the new motor deal. We've run good with ours. They've run good. I think it's a win-win situation. You take Robert's horsepower knowledge with Jack's fuel mileage and some other stuff he know with intakes and stuff, it's just really worked out great for everybody. It's a win-win situation.

We feel like if we want to go to the #17 or the #97 or the #16 or whatever and ask them questions about gears or fuel mileage, everybody is shooting each other straight. It was a great decision on their part and Ford's part to put us all together because we needed to do that. That's the direction Dodge has been working in. That's the direction Toyota is gonna work in when they get here, so to give us a few years of practice and knowledge before that happens was a great, great decision on everybody's part.

Q:
What do you think about the area here?

ES:
Everytime I've ever been here, since the first year I came, whether we're doing a PRN show at Billy Bob's or appearance stuff downtown in Fort Worth or any stuff we've
done - the fans here have always welcomed you to the state of Texas. That's special to us. That means a lot to me anywhere you go. They're proud to have you here. They're glad to see this sport come here and it's just a great race track. Eddie and his guys do such a great job. Any problems or questions we've got, they're always right there on cue to help us with them. Everything we've ever asked this track to do to make it better racing for the fans they've done it. It's cool to work with people like that and tracks like that.

Of course, their purse is great also. It's not only good for me, it's good for Robert and everybody involved - pay your tyre bills and stuff like that. It's just a great place to race at. It's like an old pair of shoes that you like. Some tracks you go to, you might not like or you don't adapt well to. Some you do and I've just always felt very special about this track since the first time I ever laid eyes on it. It's a very fun race track and I'm looking forward to coming back here real soon.

Q:
How does it feel to win after the wreck last year?

ES:
It's very redeeming. I've told everybody before I ever drove a NASCAR Nextel Cup car that my first win will come at Bristol or Texas. Well, I got my first win at Bristol and my second one is at Texas, so it's cool how that works out. To lead the most laps here last year, where we had a dominant car and to have the problems we had with the flat right-rear and wreck it and total one of our best race cars was very heartbreaking to all of us, so to come back this year and kind of redeem ourselves as a whole team is very, very special.

The Goodyear tyres we had this weekend were unbelievable. They never cease to amaze me on how good they can make these tyres. No tyre problems today. We went so many fuel stops and stretching fuel runs and the tyres still stayed with us the whole entire time and enabled us to put ourselves in position where we were to win the race. I just commend everybody involved with Goodyear and this race track.

Q:
Will Tommy Maddox be with you every race now?

ES:
I just told him that in victory lane. If you all know, Tommy Maddox was my special guest here this weekend - the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers - and just a genuine nice guy. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met and a heckuva golfer if you ever want to play golf with him. I told him 'hey, it don't happen like this all the time'. That's what I told him in victory lane, but since I won - he has to go to work 12 April - that I want to come to Pittsburgh this year and watch him play their biggest rivals and they better win if I come up there.

It was great having him here. We've made a great friendship here the last few days and I definitely have a new friend and definitely pulling for new team in the NFL. Hopefully, he feels the same way. It's pretty neat to have him here today and, also, Dale Jarrett had Rick Barnes, the coach of the Texas Longhorns basketball here, too, so we had a lot of special guests with us this weekend.