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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Sadler Enjoying Fatherhood
Elliott Sadler's wife Amanda gave birth Monday morning...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 20, 2010   Fontana, CA
New dad Elliott Sadler will roll off 38th at Auto Club Speedway Sunday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Jamie McMurray, Daytona 500 winner and Auto Club 500 pole-sitter, had a huge smile on his face Friday, but he wasn't the happiest guy in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage. Not by a long shot.

That honor belonged to the one driver who'd probably gotten less rest than McMurray this week: Emporia, Va., native Elliott Sadler, who on Monday morning became a father for the first time.

At 9:47 a.m. on Monday, Amanda Sadler gave birth to the couple's first child, Wyatt Herman Fritz Sadler. Mom and baby are doing well and the newly minted father is over the moon with glee.

“It was by far the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me,” Sadler said of seeing Wyatt being born. “I’ve been able to do some cool things in my life and be around a lot of cool stuff – a cool sport like NASCAR – but the first time I heard him cry after he was born was by far the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

As for the baby's name, Sadler said it came from a mix of influences, mostly family.

“Wyatt is a name that my wife and I just really like,” said Sadler. “We like those Western-style names and he has four names like his dad. My family likes naming kids after other people in your family, so his second name is Herman, after my dad, and his third name is Fritz, which is after her grandma, so we took care of both sides of the family and everybody is happy. Wyatt is just a name that we thought was cool and we thought was neat, so that’s why we went with that.”

Wyatt has minor surgery after birth, but his father said things are going as planned. “He has to stay in the hospital a couple weeks,” Sadler said. “He had to have surgery after he was born and all of that went well. We knew it was gonna happen, but there were just some things with his appendix and intestines, but all of that went great. It’s been good. He’s recovering very well and my wife is healing well.”

And becoming a first-time parent has left Sadler pondering some universal truths about fatherhood.

“I’ve heard from all my friends about how your life is gonna change and you’re gonna look at things a lot differently, and when I had to leave him, knowing I’m gonna be gone for a couple days before I get back home, was very, very tough,” said Sadler. “How can something so small create your heart to feel so much love and so much pain all at the same time?”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED, and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com! Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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