March 14, 1998
Test at Texas Track Takes Toll
Wednesday March 11, the Sadler Race Team tested at Texas Motor Speedway. Andy was the first car on the track that morning. It did not take long before the 1.5 mile oval was turning a nice race car into a sheet metal paper weight. Andy said he hit a patch of fluid in turn two and ended up in the fence. Andy walked away from the accident unhurt, but the primary car was sufficiently trashed. Testing resumed after the TMS crew made some repairs to the racing surface. The last car on the track, Don Pardus, also crashed. He was taken to a local hospital for observation. These incidents are only going to fuel the controversy around Burton Smith’s Texas showplace. Many drivers complained after last year’s race which was highlighted by a 13 car pile-up in turn 1 on the opening lap.
The Sadler crew and Andy were able to prepare the back-up car and continue their test session on Thursday. The team plans to focus their attention on the Texas 500 on April 5th.
The team is bouncing back from a disappointing weekend at Atlanta. Bad weather limited the testing time, so the team was not able to dial in the car for qualifying like they wanted. The cold and damp conditions were different from the weather they had testing in the week before. Rain on Saturday forced the cancellation of second day qualifying, which sent the team home early along with Sterlin Marlin, Chad Little and others.
We would like to wish Steve Park a speedy recovery.
Make sure you check out the pictures from the Daytona 500
If you have any questions for Andy Hillenburg, Doug Fowler, the crew chief, or Check Sadler, the team manager, e-mail them to [email protected] and we will try to get answers as soon as possible.
For questions about this site e-mail [email protected]