Sadler

FONTANA, Calif. -- Last season, Elliott Sadler admitted he had done all he could for the Wood Brothers -- and they had done all they could for him.

And so after a reasonably productive four-year partnership, which produced a win and four overall finishes between 20th and 29th in the points, Sadler and the Wood Brothers parted ways for the 2003 season. And the much ballyhooed Emporia, Va., native was given his best ride thus far in his Winston Cup career -- a seat with Robert Yates Racing.

Replacing Ricky Rudd in one of the stronger cars in the field, this is supposed to be Sadler's chance to shine. And so far, he has.

Sadler has notched five top-10s in the season's first nine races and sits 10th in points heading into Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. And had it not been for engine woes at Las Vegas and a wreck at Texas, Sadler might be even higher in the points, as he trails sixth-place Kevin Harvick by just 45 points.

Sadler is coming off two consecutive top-five finishes (Talladega, Ala., and Martinsville, Va.) -- the first ever top-fives for his sponsor, M&M's. And his performances this year -- plus the fact he is out-performing both veteran teammate and 1999 Winston Cup champ Dale Jarrett (13th in points) and former Yates driver Rudd (19th in points) -- have thrust Sadler deeper into the spotlight.

"I've been reading the (media coverage) and predictions and am happy to see they are more positive than before the season started," said Sadler, who turns 28 next Wednesday.

Sadler enjoyed moments of glory -- highlighted by his win at Bristol in 2001 -- while driving for the Wood Brothers, but never the type of sustained success he appears capable of achieving with Yates. And while Rudd's much-publicized split with Yates wasn't exactly smooth, Sadler's parting from his former team was amicable.

"I talk to those guys (with the No. 21 team) every week. ... I'll always be good friends with them," he said. "They gave me my first break in racing. I talk to Eddie Wood a lot each and every week. I wish them best."

As for Sadler's current team, the early success achieved in 2003 has come as a pleasant surprise.

"You can always tell each other that you're going to run good and you think you can do it, but it's a different story out there," Sadler said. "I had no idea it was going to be this great working with (crew chief) Raymond Fox and Shawn Parker and everybody involved (this year). They get so many people involved on this race team that we don't pain ourselves in any corners and we don't become one dimensional.

	Sadler has qualified in the top-five five times this season.

"It's by far an awesome race team and they're doing a great job. As young as this team is, we've got a bright, bright future."

Even Fox is a little surprised at how strong his driver has been this season.

"I am still amazed at how good he is after his performance at Martinsville," Fox said. "We certainly have a good driver behind the wheel of our race cars."

Heading from the tight confines and rough racing of the .526-mile Martinsville oval to the wide open two-mile California oval, Sadler is hoping his recent runs serve as a better indicator of his prospects for success this weekend than his past record at the track. Though he has two top-10s in Busch competition here, Sadler's career-best Cup finish at Fontana is a 21st-place effort in 1999.

But Sunday's event marks Sadler's first California race with Yates -- and that alone could make a difference.

"California Speedway is a huge two-mile race track that calls for a good motor," Sadler said. "Robert Yates horsepower has never let us down so our expectations are to qualify and finish in the top-10 this weekend, maybe move up in the points and keep the momentum for this team going into May."

After finishing 23rd in the season-opening Daytona 500, Sadler finished sixth at the 1.54-mile Atlanta track and scored a third at Talladega, NASCAR's biggest speedway at 2.66 miles. And Sadler qualified second for the Texas race before finishing 41st.

"Our speedway program so far this year has been incredible. We have qualified and ran inside the top-20."

And Sadler expects more speedway fun this weekend -- for both the drivers and the fans.

"The track itself is very fast with long sweeping turns. The fans will get to see three- or four-wide racing all day," Sadler said. "It is really cool to get out to the west coast a couple times a year -- fans seem like they are just different than what NASCAR is used to. It's also good for the sport to get out into the other markets like Los Angeles."

Sadler hit the Southern California track running Friday, notching the fifth-fastest practice time with a lap at 185.385 mph. He followed that performance by securing the fifth spot after turning a qualifying lap of 186.393 mph. Sadler will start behind Steve Park, Bill Elliott, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.

"The car felt great. Brand new race car they brought," Sadler said. "They did a great job getting it put together and fast for me. Just had a good lap. I think I hit all my marks pretty good and just want to give us a good starting position for Sunday. That's the most important thing. We think we're going to have that."

	“	It's by far an awesome race team and they're doing a great job. As young as this team is, we've got a bright, bright future. ”
		— Sadler

While some teams will be scrambling Saturday to find a good setup after a poor qualifying effort, Sadler is happy with the way his No. 38 car is running.

"We've got a good car to work with," he said. "We're just going to get it in race trim (Saturday) and hope we get all we can out of it."

Sadler is confident he can turn some heads on race day.

"The car is running good," he said. "We are very happy with it. We really want to do well out here. We want to put on a good show for the fans. This is a beautiful and very smooth track. I really enjoy running out here.

"I'm just sitting in a lucky position right now. Everybody at Yates gave me awesome horsepower. This is the sister car we had at Texas, so if we get it to run as good as we ran in Texas that Sunday, we're going to be in good shape and cause problems for everybody come Sunday."

The 2003 season is only nine races old, but Sadler and Co. have been getting all they can out of their car. And as the year's second quarter begins, Sadler and his team are right where they want to be.

"I think we're working together pretty well," he said. "The more we work together the better we are going to be. I'm pretty happy with the results so far. We'll just keep digging."

If things fall into place, 2003 could easily turn into a dream season for Sadler. And he's not at all worried about waking up from that dream.

"No (I'm not worried). This is the race car driver I think I've always been," he said. "I just needed to be in some good equipment to make it work. They give me great stuff and we're putting it together."

Jonathan Baum is an RPM editor at ESPN.com.