Elliott Sadler won’t be driving for Michael Waltrip after all
Hours after winning his first Nationwide race since 1998, Elliott Sadler's agreement with Michael Waltrip Racing to drive in five Sprint Cup Series races this season was a no-go.
Sadler and Nationwide car owner Richard Childress met after Sadler won at Phoenix on Saturday, and Sadler said that the two decided that Sadler would be better served focusing on the Nationwide Series title race. Sadler finished second last year to Ricky Stenhouse in NASCAR's No. 2 series.
"I was going to drive the 55 car for five races for MWR, but actually, after the race on Saturday, after Victory Lane, Richard and I went to his bus," Sadler told SPEED.com. "And I think Richard, along with some of the executives that he has, have just decided that it's probably not in our best interest to do that right now."
Sadler said that manufacturer conflict -- he drives a Chevrolet for RCR and MWR drives Toyotas -- wasn't an issue at all with the nixed agreement.
MWR still had the fall New Hampshire race, the second race of the Chase, slated without a driver, so now it's back to having six races to fill. Brian Vickers has been mentioned as a possibility to fill those six races. Vickers is currently without a ride in any of NASCAR's three series.
