The opportunity to have Dale...
The opportunity to have Dale Jarrett as a teammate factored heavily into Sadler's move to Robert Yates Racing.
SCR: What appealed to you most about Robert Yates Racing?
Sadler: The biggest deal was how sincere he was when he was talking to me, Robert himself. When a car owner will sit there and tell you, "Hey, we're just going to try to out-work everybody else to stay ahead of the game," that really makes me feel good. And their engine program is second to none. That's something they take pride in, something they work hard at. Also, Fatback's (Michael McSwain's) attitude was a big part in it, how much he loves racing. Probably the biggest deal I really liked was Dale Jarrett as a teammate. He's a great guy, somebody I've always looked up to, and I think we're going to be great teammates together.
SCR: Given everything you experienced this year, do you ever look back and wish the sport were simpler, like back in the '90s when you were running at South Boston Speedway in Virginia?
Sadler: Yeah, this sport is definitely different. In the last five years it has grown so fast and times are changing so quick, it seems like every week there's something new that you need to be running on your car just to make it run fast. It's just a steady change in pace. It's very fast paced off the track as well as on the track. Yes, it was a lot easier running South Boston in the '90s, but you just have to keep up with the times.
SCR: What will you have to accomplish in 2003 before you consider it a success with Yates?
Sadler: We need to finish in the Top 10 in points, and I need to win some races. That's for my first year there. That's a championship contending team. Ricky (Rudd) has won a race in that car every year he's been over there and has led a ton of laps. Coming in there, I need to lead some races and run up front. I think we can do that. It's going to happen, but that's what we need to do to feel like we've done our job our first year together.
SCR: Given all that's gone on, with you and Ricky Rudd essentially trading rides, what's your relationship with Ricky like?
Sadler: It's been fine. Business as usual. Ricky and I have always been friends and never had a cross word to say to each other about anything. I feel like I hit a home run with my deal, and I definitely feel like the Wood brothers hit a home run with Ricky. Eddie was the first person I called when I was going to sign my deal with Robert, and I think I was one of the first people he called when he got his deal done with Ricky. That's the kind of respect we have for each other. I think Ricky is going to help this program a lot with his experience. He's used to running his own team when he owned a single-car team, and I think the experience he's going to bring to this team is going to help these guys a lot.
SCR: Finish this statement: If I were Mike Helton, I would...
Sadler: Knock down the bankings at Talladega and Daytona so everybody will quit crying about restrictor plate racing.
SCR: So you think that's the best solution?
Sadler: I don't know. I wouldn't want to be Mike Helton for all the money in the world. He's got the toughest job in racing. He's got 43 different owners and 43 different drivers pulling him in so many directions it's hard to make everybody happy, but he does a great job pacifying us. I tell you, he is definitely the right man for the job.
SCR: You made a perfect helmet toss at Ryan Newman's car during The Winston this year, blaming him for a crash that took you out of the race. Have you and Ryan mended fences since then?
Sadler: Oh yeah. I was mad at him for what he did because we tore up a good race car and it shouldn't have been torn up. I was really upset about that because the guys work so hard in the shop to put these things together. We've talked since then and everything is fine and we haven't had a minute's trouble since then. It was just a heat-of-the-moment deal. I probably should not have done it but it was The Winston, with a lot of money on the line, and it's for the fans, so I thought the fans might get a kick out of it.