Elliott Sadler
Born	(1975-04-30) April 30, 1975 (age 37) Emporia, Virginia, United States
Achievements	1983–1984 Virginia State Karting Championship North Carolina Gold Cup 1991–1992 1995 South Boston Speedway Track Champion
Awards	2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
430 race(s) run over 14 year(s)
Best finish	9th - 2004
First race	1998 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last race	2012 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
First win	2001 Food City 500 (Bristol)
Last win	2004 Pop Secret 500 (California)
Wins Top tens Poles 3 69 8
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
175 race(s) run over 15 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 2 (Richard Childress Racing)
2011 position	2nd
Best finish	2nd – 2011
First race	1995 Ford Credit 300 (South Boston)
Last race	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
First win	1997 Core States Advantage 200 (Nazareth)
Last win	2012 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 7 71 13
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
20 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
2011 position	87th
Best finish	24th – 2010
First race	2000 Kroger 200 (Richmond)
Last race	2011 Ford 200 (Homestead)
First win	2010 Pocono Mountains 125 (Pocono)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 10 2
Statistics current as of May 26, 2012.

Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American stock car racing driver. He currently drives the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series. Sadler was born in Emporia, Virginia, along with his older brother, Hermie Sadler, who is an announcer for Speed Channel.^[1]

1983–1995[link]

Sadler began racing in go-karts at the age of seven, and moved up to the Late Model stock car division at the local race track. His accomplishments include over 200 total wins, the 1983–84 Virginia State Karting Championship, and the North Carolina Gold Cup in 1991–92. He was runner-up in 1989 for the World Karting Association national title.^{[citation needed]}

When he turned 18, he moved to the Winston Racing Series and ran full-time beginning in 1993. That same year, he achieved his first victory. In 1995, he was crowned track champion at South Boston Speedway, winning 13 races including a 6-race winning streak.

Sadler attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia where he had a scholarship to play on the basketball team until he injured his knee, effectively ending his basketball career.

1999–2003[link]

Sadler moved up to the Cup Series full-time in 1999, driving the #21 Citgo Ford Taurus for Wood Brothers Racing. His best finish that year was tenth at Texas Motor Speedway, and he finished 24th in points, runner-up to Tony Stewart for Rookie of the Year honors. He also returned to the Nationwide Series on a part-time basis, filling in for the injured Andy Santerre for Innovative Motorsports, his best finish fifth at California Speedway. He also drove a handful of races for Lyndon Amick. Sadler's only top-ten finish in 2000 was tenth at Bristol, after failing to qualify at Talladega Superspeedway, and he dropped to twenty-ninth in points. He also had a wild flip at Michigan Speedway after cutting a tire in practice.

In 2001, Motorcraft became Sadler's new sponsor and he won his first career Cup race at Bristol. He had another top-ten run and finished 20th in points. After seven top-tens and a drop to 23rd in points in 2002, Sadler left for Robert Yates Racing to drive the #38 M&M's Ford. In his first season of competition with Yates, Sadler won the pole at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway, and finished 22nd in points. In 2003, Sadler had a vicious crash at Talladega after near-contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and touched the right-front fender of Kurt Busch. Sadler's car flew into the air, flipped twice, landed on his roof, spun towards the banking, and flipped six times. Sadler emerged uninjured.

2004–2007[link]

Sadler started 2004 with a top-10 finish in the Daytona 500,and six races later won at Texas Motor Speedway for his 2nd career win. He stayed in the top-10 in points all season, and won at California Speedway, beating Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin. He made the Chase, and finished a career high ninth in the championship standings. He had another flip at Talladega after he spun out and blew over onto his roof. Sadler was uninjured, and he was even able to drive his car back to the garage.

Sadler failed to win again in 2005, but clinched four poles. He finished 13th in points. He also drove sixteen races for RYR's Busch car, the #90 Citifinancial Taurus, and had three top-five finishes. In 2006, Sadler won the pole at Talladega and finished 22nd in points. He made seven Busch starts, his best finish was second at Richmond. After a lack of results, Sadler left RYR midway through 2006 for Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

Before the start of the 2007 Daytona 500, Sadler was among many other drivers caught in a cheating scandal. Despite being docked 25 points, he still went on to score a season best 6th place finish. Sadler had many ups and downs throughout the season. In 2007, Sadler led 62 laps, posted two top-10 finishes and finished 25th in points. Sadler had the longest streak without a DNF than any other driver before failing to finish a race in 2007.

2008–2010[link]

2008 car

For the 2008 season, Sadler received new sponsorship; Best Buy for 15 races, Stanley Works for 13 races, McDonald's for 6 races, and Siemens for 2 races. He struggled in 2008, garnering only 2 top fives, 8 top tens, and 16 top twenties. He had 4 DNFs and 12 finishes of 30th or worse. Sadler led 21 laps in 2008, his fewest since the 2000 season. He ended the year 24th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

On December 27, 2008, it was reported that A.J. Allmendinger would replace Sadler in the #19 Best Buy Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2009. Elliott threatened a lawsuit for breach of contract; however, the lawsuit was dropped after the GEM – Petty Enterprises merger and he returned to the ride for 2009.

After all of the offseason issues Sadler found himself in the #19 Stanley Tools Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports in the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season. In the 2009 Daytona 500 Sadler took the lead on Lap 123 and stayed in the lead for the final stages in the race. On the last green flag lap Sadler got passed by Matt Kenseth and seconds later the caution came out. Kenseth wound up finishing first while Sadler came up in fifth. He ended the year 26th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

In 2010 Sadler returned to RPM and run the #19 Ford with Stanley Tools sponsorship. During the year however, Sadler announced that he will be leaving the #19 Ford after the 2010 season. He ran a part-time schedule in the Camping World Truck Series in the #2 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Incorporated.^[2] In this ride, Sadler won his first NASCAR race in 6 years at Pocono in the Pocono Mountains 125 in July.

The next day Sadler was involved in a wreck where he hit the inside fence (a blind spot on the track, not well-recorded by video cameras) after being hit from behind by A.J. Allmendinger. Kurt Busch was hit from behind by Jimmie Johnson causing him to spin into Clint Bowyer who received little damage but still finished 12th. The wreck was so horrific it threw the engine away from the car and caused the race to be red flagged for 25 minutes to clean up the wreck. There were several reports by fans that his car flew through the air. With a grimace on his face, he climbed out of the car and laid down on the track. He was taken to the medical facility where he later emerged and gave an interview to on hand media personnel. He said he was fine & was a little sore, but had the breath knocked out of him and had taken "the hardest hit of his career" at Pocono. He was proud of his team back home that had built a safe car and of the pit crew and of all of the hard work they had put into the race thus far. On August 3, Elliott Sadler announced on NASCAR Now that NASCAR told him it was the hardest head-on crash ever recorded in NASCAR history. On November 5, 2010 Elliott Sadler won the pole for the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway qualifying at 195.397, the fastest qualifying speed since 1999.

2011–2012[link]

Sadler racing at Road America in 2011

On November 5, 2010. Sadler announced a 2-year deal to drive the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series and also will drive a selected amount of races in the Camping World Truck Series. Sadler took the championship points lead in the Nationwide Series after the eleventh race in the 2011 season. He ended up finishing second in points with 24 top-ten finishes in 34 events.^[3]

Kevin Harvick Inc. closed at the end of the 2011 season; its Nationwide Series teams were absorbed by Richard Childress Racing, and Sadler will drive the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet for RCR during the 2012 Nationwide Series season. In addition, Sadler raced in the 2012 Daytona 500 for RCR in the No. 33 Chevrolet,^[4].

On March 3, 2012, Sadler won the Nationwide Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix, his first win since October 31st, 1998 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, a span of 91 races.^[5][6]

Sadler had been announced on March 3 as the third driver of the Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 55 Toyota^[7], but the conflict in manufacturers - RCR running Chevrolet while MWR fields Toyotas - stopped the deal.^[8]

On March 17, Sadler won at Bristol, making this the first year since the mid-1990's that the first four NNS races have been won by non-Sprint Cup drivers. It also had Sadler winning two of the first four races of the season.

Personal life[link]

Sadler is heavily involved in the Autism Speaks charity because his niece Halie has the disorder. In 2008, Best Buy (his sponsor) sponsored the Best Buy 400 Benefiting Student Clubs of Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. His car had a custom paint scheme specifically for that race. His hood and helmet were signed and auctioned off following the race, with the proceeds going to Autism Speaks.

He was the cover athlete on EA Sports NASCAR 07 and was also on the special edition NASCAR 09.

Elliott Sadler's wife, Amanda, gave birth to their first child, Wyatt Herman Frittz Sadler on February 15, 2010. They welcomed their second child, daughter Austyn Rose Sadler on November 7, 2011.

References[link]

• Elliott Sadler Bio
• Elliot Sadler going to Evernham Motorsports
• Evernham Motorsports confirms Elliot Sadler as driver at Michigan
• Doug Yates confirms Elliott Sadler is leaving
• Silly Saga: Elliot Sadler going to Evernham
• Allmendinger to replace Sadler in GEM's NO. 19

External links[link]

• Official website
• Elliott Sadler at Racing Reference
• Elliott Sadler at The Coca-Cola Racing Family
• Hermie & Elliott Sadler Foundation for Autism

Richard Childress
Born	(1945-09-21) September 21, 1945 (age 66) Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Awards	1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship car owner 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 NASCAR Busch Series championship car owner 1995 (series' inagural season),2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship truck owner 2011 ARCA Racing Series championship car owner
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
285 race(s) run over 12 year(s)
Best finish	5th - 1975 Winston Cup Series season
First race	1969 Talladega 500 (Talladega)
Last race	1981 Winston Western 500 (Riverside)
Wins Top tens Poles 76

Richard Childress (born September 21, 1945) is a former NASCAR driver and the current team owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR). As a business entrepreneur, Childress became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. A 2003/2004 business venture was the opening of a vineyard in the Yadkin Valley AVA, an American Viticultural Area located in North Carolina.^[1] Childress was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Driving career[link]

Childress' career in NASCAR's top levels started auspiciously as a drivers' strike at Talladega Superspeedway left NASCAR President William France Sr. looking for replacement drivers. Childress was such a driver, and started his first race as a replacement.

By 1971, Childress began racing on the top level as an independent driver, using the number 96. He changed to number 3 in 1976 as a tribute to Junior Johnson's past as a driver. Although he never won as a driver, he proved to be average behind the wheel registering six top-5, seventy-six top-10 finishes, with a career-best of third in 1978.

Ownership of Richard Childress Racing[link]

Childress working the pits in 1986

He retired from driving in 1981 after Rod Osterlund sold his NASCAR team to J.D. Stacy, and Osterlund's driver, Dale Earnhardt, did not want to drive for Stacy. Childress, with recommendations from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, chose to retire and put Earnhardt behind the wheel of his #3 car, complete with Wrangler Jeans sponsorship.

That first alliance lasted for the season. Ricky Rudd was hired in 1982 and drove for two years, giving Childress his first career victory in June 1983 at Riverside. Earnhardt returned for the 1984 season, and together with Childress formed one of the most potent combinations in NASCAR history. They won championships in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994.

In the mid-1990s, Childress began expanding his racing empire, fielding entries in the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series. The team won the 1995 Craftsman Truck Series championship with driver Mike Skinner in the series' first season. He also expanded to a two-car operation in what is now known as the Sprint Cup, with driver Skinner driving the #31. In the first part of the 2000s, he expanded to three cars, with the #30 car driven by Jeff Green.

Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Childress promoted Busch driver Kevin Harvick to drive the renumbered #29. Harvick would win in only his third start, at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With Harvick having won the Busch Series championship in 2001 and 2006, RCR became the first team in NASCAR history to win all three of NASCAR's national championship series. RCR also won the Busch Series owners championships in 2003 with Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter and in 2007 with Scott Wimmer and Jeff Burton.

Most recently, RCR won the 2008 Nationwide Series Championship with Clint Bowyer piloting the #2.

Personal life[link]

Richard Childress currently resides in one of the largest mansions in northwestern Davidson County, North Carolina. The Richard Childress Racing Museum is located in nearby Welcome, along with numerous racing maintenance shops. The Childress Vineyards winery is located a few miles south of the museum in Lexington at the US 52/US 64 interchange. Childress remains active in his current county of residence, attending fundrasiers and supporting local candidates for office.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy[link]

Childress was involved in a physical altercation with fellow Camping World Truck Series owner and current driver Kyle Busch following the Truck race on June 4, 2011.

Joey Coulter, driver of Childress's #22 Chevrolet Silverado, battled tightly for position with the #18 Toyota Tundra of Kyle Busch. Coulter would eventually hold off Busch, taking the 5th spot in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250. Once the race had concluded, Busch purposely bumped into one of Childress's trucks on the cool-down lap.^[2] Childress reportedly approached Busch in the garage area, took off his jewellery (a gold watch) and proceeded to punch Busch in the face. The fight was broken up and insults were exchanged before Childress put Busch in a headlock and hit him again.^[3]

Two days later, NASCAR fined Childress $150,000 and placed him on probation through the end of the year.^[4] Kyle Busch was not fined or disciplined. NASCAR President Mike Helton stated that "[Busch] did nothing that would have warranted the actions of Richard Childress." ^[5]

See also[link]

• Childress Vineyards
• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/7189656/richard-childress-takes-no-3-back-full-time-nationwide

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Richard Childress

• Richard Childress owner statistics at Racing Reference (owner)
• Richard Childress at Racing Reference (driver)

Austin Dillon
Born	(1990-04-27) April 27, 1990 (age 22) Lewisville, North Carolina, United States
Achievements	2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion
Awards	2008 K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year 2010 Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year 2011 Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
1 race(s) run over 1 year(s)
2011 position	62nd
Best finish	62nd - 2011
First race	2011 Hollywood Casino 400 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
22 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 3 (Richard Childress Racing)
2011 position	107th
Best finish	80th – 2009
First race	2008 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond)
Last race	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 12 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
52 race(s) run over 3 year(s)
2011 position	1st
Best finish	1st – 2011
First race	2009 Lucas Oil 200 (Iowa)
Last race	2011 Ford 200 (Homestead)
First win	2010 Lucas Oil 200 (Iowa)
Last win	2011 Fast Five 225 (Chicagoland)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 32 12
Statistics current as of May 26, 2012.

Austin Dillon (born April 27, 1990)^[1] is an American stock car racing driver. He is the son of former driver and RCR general manager Mike Dillon and grandson of Richard Childress.^[2]

He currently drives the #3 AdvoCare/Bass Pro Shops/American Ethanol Chevrolet Impala full-time for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After winning Rookie of the Year in the Truck Series in 2010, Dillon won the Truck Series championship in 2011. Dillon is also the co-chair of the Reagan Foundation's National Youth Leadership Committee. Dillon's younger brother Ty Dillon races for Richard Childress in the Camping World Truck Series.

Racing career[link]

2008: K&N Pro Series East[link]

Dillon was the 2008 Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East after one win at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, one Pole and ten top-10s in 13 races.^[3] In 2008 and 2009, he drove the #2 Chevrolet Impala part time for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with sponsorship from Chevrolet. His career best finish was 4th at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2008.

2009–2011: Camping World Truck Series[link]

He made his first Camping World Truck Series start at Iowa Speedway, driving the #3 truck. This was the first time that the #3 has appeared in any of the three major series since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. used it in the Nationwide Series back in 2002. Dillon was supposed to start the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway during the 2009 Camping World Truck Series season, but the truck failed track inspections, thus his time was removed and was not allowed to race. Dillon would drive the #3 truck full time in 2010 for Rookie of the Year, with sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops. Despite crashing out early at Daytona, Dillon got his first career pole at Texas Motor Speedway in June and finished 3rd and led 20 laps. On July 11, 2010, Dillon scored his first career NASCAR victory in the Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series and brought the #3 truck back to victory lane since Bryan Reffner in 2000 at Texas Motor Speedway. Although, when Reffner won, he was not driving for RCR (Jay Sauter was the last driver to win for the team in 1999), he was driving for Team Menard. Austin Dillion would win his record setting 5th pole the most for a rookie in series history. Along with the pole he would lead over 92 laps of 146 to claim his 2nd win of the season at Las Vegas and the second of his career. Austin Dillon was also rookie of the year ending the season with 2 wins 7 top 5s and 16 top 10s.

In 2011, Dillon scored his first win of the year at Nashville Superspeedway. Austin scored his second win of 2011 at Chicagoland Speedway, beating Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. After rain shortened the Season Finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Austin was crowned 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion. He also won the 2011 CWTS Most Popular Driver Award. In 2012 he will move up to the Nationwide Series full time, driving the #3 for RCR.

2011-present: Sprint Cup Series[link]

Austin Dillon made his first career start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on October 9, 2011. He finished 26th in his No. 98 Camping World Curb/Agajanian Racing Chevrolet Impala.

2012-present: Nationwide series[link]

On November 4, 2011, Richard Childress Racing announced that Dillon would be moving up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2012, driving the No. 3 that Dale Earnhardt made famous, with sponsorship from AdvoCare and American Ethanol.^[4][5]

Dillon scored top-five finishes in each of the first two races of the 2012 Nationwide Series season.

Notes[link]

• Dillon is currently attending High Point University.
• Dillon also played in the 2002 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Austin Dillon at Racing Reference