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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Sadler To Stay In No. 19
Just two weeks after being told he won’t be back in the No. 19 GEM Dodge for 2009, Elliott Sadler was expected to be confirmed Friday as driver of that car...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted January 09, 2009   Harrisburg, NC
Elliott Sadler is expected to be confirmed as the driver of the No. 19 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge for 2009. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Just two weeks after being told he won’t be back in the No. 19 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge for 2009, Elliott Sadler was expected to be confirmed Friday as driver of that car.

GEM and Richard Petty announced late Thursday that they have agreed in principle to a merger that will see GEM run three full-time cars this season — Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, Sadler in the No. 19 and Reed Sorenson in the No. 43 — with AJ Allmendinger the front-runner for the part-team seat in the No. 10 part-time car, which will run a minimum of nine races and more if additional sponsorship can be secured.

Sadler, who signed a two-year contract extension with the team last year, had filed notice in Iredell (N.C.) County Court that he might sue GEM for breach of contract. But the driver and the team have apparently resolved whatever issues they had, and Sadler will be back to drive for the squad for a third full season. He joined what was then Evernham Motorsports prior to the 23rd race of the season in 2006.

Over his entire Sprint Cup career, which dates back to 1998, Sadler has made 357 starts, with seven poles, three race victories, 18 top-five and 63 top-10 finishes. Sadler so far has earned $38.6 million in his Cup career. His best finish last year was a fourth-place run in the Brickyard 400 and his last race victory came in Sept. 2004 at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor 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 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

NASCAR 39/10: Reviewing the 60th SeasonNASCAR 39/10: Reviewing the 60th Season A unique and comprehensive look at a historic season in the annals of stock car racing. For the first time ever, NASCAR fans will be able to relive the entire 2008 Sprint Cup Season, over the course of a 30-hour anthology. From Preseason Testing in Daytona, to the Postseason Banquet in New York, viewers will relive NASCAR’s 60th season, and one of the most important years in the sport’s history.
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