A Little Nascar Ticket News

After nearly fulfilling all the promise of his first season with Robert Yates Racing, Elliott Sadler became a potent contender for race victories and the NASCAR Nextel Chase for the Championship. The highlight of the Sadler season was his victory over Kasey Kahne at Texas. That narrow victory --. 028 seconds -- gave Sadler his first victory at RYR, and it also was the first triumph for sponsor M&Ms, which had been a primary sponsor for several seasons with nary a top-five finish to it credit. Not only has Sadler come into his own as a driver, he has come into the purview of Todd Parrott, who took over as crew chief midway through the season.

Parrott, who guided Dale Jarrett to the series title in 1999, has been a calming influence on the excitable Sadler, and has coaxed more performance out of him as well. His Race to the Chase has been punctuated not so much by consistency as by tenacity. In the first seven races of the season Sadler had four top-10 finishes and two top-fives, including his victory. Over the next 17 races, that total slipped to six top-10s and four top-fives, including a third-place run at Indianapolis. He had troubles, such as the crash at the second Michigan race which sent him to 32nd at the finish, but others around him did as well. He never went into a prolonged losing streak, getting a top-10 or top-five when he needed it. In fact, he was in the top-10 in points all season. After 24 races, he was seventh in the points and 127 ahead of 11th place. With the victory at California and a 17th-place effort at Richmond, Sadler clinched sixth spot in the points. He had two victories, seven top-fives and 11 top-10s on the season.