[WVGrandma4Kasey]

Associated Press
Posted: 15 minutes ago
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Elliott Sadler will take over the No. 19 Dodge at Evernham Motorsports beginning with this weekend's race at Michigan International Speedway, a team official confirmed to The Associated Press.
Sadler secured an early release from Robert Yates Racing late Tuesday evening, clearing the way for him to replace Jeremy Mayfield beginning Sunday, according to an Evernham official who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not yet been made.
Sadler, who asked out of his contract at Yates in July, had been predicted to join Evernham's three-car team in 2007. But when Evernham fired Mayfield last week, Sadler and the car owner worked to get him into the No. 19 immediately. The paperwork was finalized Tuesday night, and Sadler was set to test the car at Kentucky Speedway on Wednesday.
He'll drive the final 14 races of the season for Evernham to get a jump on next season. Sadler was a 2004 Chase for the championship contender, but has fallen on hard times with the entire Yates organization.
David Gilliland, meanwhile, tested Sadler's old Yates car at Kentucky and was poised to fill the seat in that ride beginning with Sunday's race in Michigan. Gilliland exploded onto the NASCAR scene in June when he won the Busch Series race at Kentucky while driving for an underfunded team.
It's not clear if Gilliland will drive the rest of the Cup schedule for Yates. NASCAR has yet to clear him to race at Talladega Superspeedway, and running in more than seven events this season would make him ineligible to compete for rookie of the year in 2007.
That's where Mayfield could come in. Although he's expected to sign with Bill Davis Racing for the 2007 season, he could drive a handful of races for Yates while the team prepares for Gilliland to take over the ride permanently next year.
Mayfield was fired last week in the midst of a tumultuous season with Evernham. Although he was a two-time qualifier for the Chase for the championship, he had a miserable year and had been extremely critical of the car owner because of it. He dropped to 36th in the points before he was fired, and was replaced with Bill Elliott last week at the road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

[3829]

i dont like Sadler as a driver but i would much rather see him in a Dodge than a ford or toyota.

Good Luck

[stephanie]

i think he will do good, MAN he almost had the pole that would have been awesome!!

[Bob Tanner]

It'll be very interesting to see how Gilliland does in the #38 with Todd Parrott as head wrench.

My gut feeling is that when Todd announced his come-back to RYR, Elliott had a lot of "Oh, my Gawd! What did I do?" thoughts.

[Nevadastars]

Originally Posted by stephanie

i think he will do good, MAN he almost had the pole that would have been awesome!!

His front row starting spot is nothing short of amazing, considering Mayfield was never near the front in qualifying or racing this season. It will be interesting to see if Elliott can keep the car up towards the front. If so, ya gotta wonder what poor Mayfield would be thinking.

[WVGrandma4Kasey]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

His front row starting spot is nothing short of amazing, considering Mayfield was never near the front in qualifying or racing this season. It will be interesting to see if Elliott can keep the car up towards the front. If so, ya gotta wonder what poor Mayfield would be thinking.

No No, I would have to go look, but Mayfield set in 2nd, I think twice. Scott was on the pole.

[Team Yates]

Sadler wound up with a top ten!!!! All three Evenham cars were in the top 15!!

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by WVGrandma4Kasey

No No, I would have to go look, but Mayfield set in 2nd, I think twice. Scott was on the pole.

Mayfield sat on the outside front for the World 600. He had a top 15 finish, I believe.

[LSC9901]

Were there any changes to the crew members from Mayfield to Sadler ??? If not it sort of verifies my belief that Jeremy really isn't all that good as a driver.

[WVGrandma4Kasey]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Were there any changes to the crew members from Mayfield to Sadler ??? If not it sort of verifies my belief that Jeremy really isn't all that good as a driver.

I'd say the jury is still out as to Jeremy's abilities. Let you know in three weeks.

[WVGrandma4Kasey]

The 19 car 34th, in owners points.

roller coaster ride ends on high note
All three drivers finish in top 15 despite whirlwind of headlines

By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
August 21, 2006
01:20 PM EDT (17:20 GMT)
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Nextel Cup owner Ray Evernham was upset before Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway because a television commentator said his organization was a failure.
He felt much better afterwards.
And why not?
His organization that has endured several weeks of drama over the dismissal of driver Jeremy Mayfield had its best day of the season with Kasey Kahne finishing fourth, Elliott Sadler 10th and Scott Riggs 14th.
"I'm excited for this whole team," said Evernham, whose commitment to the team was brought in question by Mayfield during a recent legal battle. "This shows that our cars, our people and our processes are good. We had good cars [Sunday]."
Kahne made up five points on Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 10th and final spot for the Chase for the Nextel Cup that will be set after the next three races. It was by far his best finish in a month, including the last two races where last-lap crashes took him out of potential top-10 finishes.
Sadler, who was signed to replace Mayfield last week, qualified second and drove the No. 19 Dodge to its best finish of the season. He also moved the car back into the top 35 (34th) in owners' points for a guaranteed spot in the field each week.
Mayfield's best finish this season was 13th at Talladega. He had only two top-15 finishes, the other at Charlotte.
"I don't want to go through [having to qualify on speed] again," Sadler said. "I have a whole new respect for those guys."
Riggs also had his best finish in a month after three consecutive finishes of 21st or worse.
"All three ran close setups and they were competitive all day," Evernham said.
That wasn't always the case. Evernham said earlier in the week that Mayfield never was comfortable in the same setups as Kahne and Riggs. Sadler adjusted almost from the get-go.
"I knew that Sadler would help with the communication and attitude for this team," Evernham said. "He's the best guy to get this team on the right path."
Kahne said it was the first time all season that all three drivers had the same basic setup and were able to share information equally.
"That'll be good to keep on improving and working together," he said. "I looked at the setups before the race and it definitely was the closest we've been all season long."
Kahne appeared poised to pick up more ground on the top 10 when Earnhardt fell from second to 19th because of a lugnut problem on Lap 132.
But Earnhardt rallied to sixth over the final 20 laps, leaving Kahne 49 points out.
"I'm not really worried about Junior," Kahne said. "These are some good tracks coming up for him. I really think Junior's going to get in [the Chase]. I'm just as confident we're going to run well, and if we do that, we're going to pass somebody else."
More than anything, Kahne was happy to avoid another last-lap disaster.
"It was nice to finish the race," he said. "It'll be nice not to have to watch myself on TV screw up the last lap."
And for Evernham, it was nice to watch his organization prove it's not a failure.

[Team Yates]

Originally Posted by WVGrandma4Kasey

I'd say the jury is still out as to Jeremy's abilities. Let you know in three weeks.

Why, what's going to happen in 3 weeks???

[WVGrandma4Kasey]

Originally Posted by Team Yates

Why, what's going to happen in 3 weeks???

I promise y'll be the first to know.