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Dustin Long

From Daytona to California, Dustin Long covers the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Read all of his stories on PilotOnline.com's Auto Racing channel. He also writes a regular column for SportsIllustrated.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Sadler says he's looking for a new ride in 2011

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 said Friday at Chicagoland Speedway

 

"I want to race. My dad and I talk about this every week when I get home. This is all I've done since I was 7 years old. It'd be a shame to have to end it like we're ending it this year, not running as well we want to run. I think every driver, every crew chief, every team is looking for that good combination where the team loves you and you love them back and you're all on the same page. I would love to find that. 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. You know what? I'm OK with that because I'm a huge fan of Richard Petty's. He deserves to be a part of this sport for a long time and he brings a lot to this sport as far as from the fans are concerned. If I'm not a part of their plans, that's OK, as long as they can get something figured out and stay healthy and stay a part of the sport because this sport needs people like Richard Petty to be a part of it. We need good sponsors like Stanley and Best Buy and the sponsors that they have. Good luck to them on the direction that they're taking.

 

"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.''

 

 

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Sadler

I really enjoy watching Elliott race but I must say that he should probably rethink the leaving RPM thing. There are many drivers not working today because they thought that they could do better. I would list them but he would maybe be offended thinking that I was comparing him to them. That's not true. However, while most drivers want to race, win and sell merchandise, there are some happy to turn laps. Those guys are called start and parks. There are no openings coming up next year for any decent full time rides. There are no openings for NNS. No one watches thr trucks (they should, there is more action there than anywhere). I don't think that Elliott is in a position to worry because he has differing views on how to run a raceteam. Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin...OK they can have a differing view. FAce it, if they show you for any reason at the track other than "...just hit the wall" I think you can walk from a team. Otherwise Elliott, stay put. Or talk to Robby Gordon about starting your own team...

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