#19-Elliott Sadler said Friday that he does not expect to be back with Richard Petty Motorsports after this season and that he’s had talks with car owners about a ride in 2011 and could be a month or so from announcing his new plans. Here’s what Sadler (in part) said Friday at Chicagoland Speedway: “I want to race. My dad and I talk about this every week when I get home. Me and the 19 car have had our differences in the past. We have definitely worked through that. Foster (Gillett, who oversees the team) has been very open-minded and very honest the last couple of months of trying to make our team better to end the season strong. I don’t fit into their future plans. We haven’t talked about anything 2011 at all. Me as far as what they’re doing and what we’re doing. So we’re definitely going on our different ways, but we need to end up this season as strong as we can. I think it will help me try to find something, land something for next year and I think it will help them land a driver that I think fits into what they’re trying to do in the future. At this moment I do not expect at all to be back with this organization. I feel really good in the area my career is going next year. I’ve had a lot of good talks with a couple of different car owners in the last month and a half, two months and we’ll see where it takes us. I should know something here in the next month or month and a half on what my future will be for next year. (that will be dependent on sponsorship). We’ve had some awesome conversations.”(Virginian Pilot)(7-9-2010)
UPDATE – Sadler could return: Richard Petty Motorsports plans to have a three- to four-car stable next season that includes AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard, vice president of race operations Robbie Loomis said on Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway. Loomis also didn’t close the door on re-signing Elliott Sadler, who declared himself a free agent on Friday and said he didn’t expect to return to the organization. “We have interest [in Sadler],” Loomis said. “Elliott is among three or four drivers who is on the table we’re looking at. The bottom line is, I always say this, we’re in the performing business and when you’re performing it’s easier for everything.” Sadler ranks 28th in points, but Loomis hopes the addition of crew chief Todd Parrott can turn the #19 team around. “I don’t think the door is closed by any means,” Loomis said. “Elliott is a talented racecar driver. For whatever reason we haven’t been able to put together the finishes we need. There’s been a lot of changes we’ve made over the years, even before I got there. We really felt like putting Todd in there is going to be the real measuring stick with where we’re at with that race team.” Although Allmendinger is talking to several other teams, Loomis expects him to return to the famed #43 and be the anchor of the organization with Kasey Kahne headed to Hendrick Motorsports. “We know where we’re at,” Loomis said of Allmendinger’s contract negotiations. “We just need to get our I’s dotted and T’s crossed.”(ESPN.com)(7-11-2010)
