Sadler Finally Wins for Wood Brothers

It certainly was an eventful day for the Wood Brothers Racing Team.

And Elliott Sadler, their driver, was thrilled by his first victory, one that put a pioneer NASCAR team in the winner’s circle for the first time in eight years.

Sadler outraced John Andretti Sunday to win the Food City 500--an event that ended with Jeff Gordon sending Tony Stewart into the wall at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

“It’s just a big day for me and a big day for the Wood Brothers,” Sadler said. “We had a terrible year last year, and everybody knows that.

“Instead of making changes behind the wheel, they stuck with me. So this means more than anything in the world. It’s hard to win these Winston Cup races.”

The Wood Brothers, a racing family from Virginia who have run Fords since 1953, have struggled to win races over the last decade.

It almost ended last season, when Sadler finished 29th in the points and CITGO Petroleum Corp. ended its sponsorship with the team after 16 years.

But Ford Motor Co. stepped in with sponsorship, allowing the brothers to keep the operation going. They were rewarded when Sadler gave the family its 97th victory and first since Morgan Shepherd won in 1993.

Driving a backup car because he wrecked his first one in practice on Friday, the 25-year-old Sadler came from the 38th starting position to win. It marked the farthest back a driver has come to win a race at Bristol. The late Dale Earnhardt started 26th when he won the speedway’s August race in 1999.

He became the third driver this year--joining Michael Waltrip and Kevin Harvick--to get his first Winston Cup victory. The record for first-time winners is four, set in 1988 and tied last season.

Stewart and Gordon rekindled a feud that dates back to last season, when they tangled in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and exchanged words afterward.

Stewart was running fourth on Sunday with Gordon right behind him as they headed into Turn 4 on the final lap. Gordon tapped Stewart in the rear, causing him to spin out and into the wall.

Stewart drove around the track on the cool-down lap in pursuit of Gordon. By the time he made it around, Gordon had entered pit row.

Stewart made a hard left into the pits, maneuvered through the traffic and rammed into the back of Gordon. The hit caused Gordon to spin out and slam the retaining wall.

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Del Worsham outraced 10-time NHRA funny car champion John Force in the O’Reilly Nationals at Baytown, Texas, for his first victory of the season.

Worsham gained the starting-line advantage and blasted down the track in his Pontiac Firebird in 4.852 seconds at 311.63 mph. Force’s Ford Mustang finished at 4.859 at 303.63.

Mike Dunn won the top fuel division and Warren Johnson was the pro stock winner.