MBNA America 400 - Elliott Sadler Notes

ELLIOTT SADLER/M&M’S® RACING
MBNA 400
Dover International Speedway / September 26 , 2004

Elliott Sadler Aiming for Career Best Finish at Dover

One race down, nine to go for Elliott Sadler in the Chase to the NEXTEL Cup Championship. As the M&M’S® team heads to Dover for the 28th race of the season, Sadler has recorded just one top-10 finish in Dover in his eleven career starts. After the first weekend of the 'play-off' format, Sadler maintained his ground as he remained sixth int he points only 38 shy of the current leader.

QUOTING M&M’S® DRIVER ELLIOTT SADLER: “We are at the point in the season where we can go for it - and that is exactly what we are going to do. During the last race at Dover I really didn’t get a chance to show what we had because we got wrecked early on. We finished 18th. This time around is different. We have a great car and with only 38 points separating us and the leader I think we can close the gap. It’s crazy how these points are shaking out. I have never led the points in my NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career and it would be really cool to come away from Dover with the lead. We’re close enough to have a shot at it and these next few weeks are crucial for us to succeed.”

QUOTING M&M’S® CREW CHIEF TODD PARROTT: “We are taking the same car we ran at Texas this weekend to Dover. This team is really focused and we are on a mission. I keep telling the guys to go out there, do their best and have fun and the performances will be there. We are prepared and I am just ready to get to each of these tracks and show our cards.”

QUOTING M&M’S® SPOTTER BRETT GRIFFIN: “Dover is a very fast race track and things tend to happen quickly. It has one of the toughest turns in racing for spotters to clear drivers. We are perched above turn four and after they exit the corner they drive away from us so depth perception plays a big game on being able to tell if a driver is really clear, or not. Elliott runs a side mirror so we have a system when guys look to the inside of him at a place like Dover. Hopefully we will be able to stay out of trouble and get a top-5 finish. We're taking one of Elliott's favorite cars and I know he and Todd marked Dover as a place for us to make up some ground in the chase this weekend.”

NOTES OF INTEREST:

BREAKOUT SEASON…In the previous six seasons of Elliott Sadler’s career, he scored one win, six top 5’s and 20 top 10 finishes. In just the 2004 season alone Sadler has surpassed his career amount of top-5’s with seven and has finished 12 times in the top 10. To date Sadler has three

CREW CONTINUES STRONG SHOWING ON PIT ROAD…The M&M’S® “Chocolate Thunder” crew has once again risen to the top of the point standings of the McDonalds Pit Crew Championship and extended their lead over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s #8 team by POWERade.

PINK & WHITE M&M’S® FOR SALE…Pink and White M&M’S® will be available on the #38 trackside souvenir trailer at each track for a cost of $3.00 per eight ounce bag. Of the cost, 50 cents will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation on behalf of M&M/Mars.

MASTERFOODS USA, the United States food, snack and petcare operations of Mars, Incorporated, is one of the world’s leading food manufacturers. With more than $5 billion in annual sales, the combined food, petcare and snack segments are a symbol of excellence for quality brands. Headquartered in Hackettstown, NJ, Masterfoods USA employs more than 7,000 associates in the United States, with 15 manufacturing facilities nationwide. The company owns some of the world’s favourite brands including M&M'S® Brand, SNICKERS® Brand, UNCLE BEN'S® Brand, PEDIGREE® Brand Food for Dogs, WHISKAS® Brand Food for Cats.

TRACK FACTS: Race: 28 Of 36, Track Size: 1 mile, Broadcast: NBC 1:00pm ET and MRN Radio