DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 7, 2010) – Carl Edwards and Elliott Sadler will each make milestone NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts this Saturday night, in the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Edwards will make his 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup start, and Elliott Sadler will make No. 400.
Edwards has enjoyed success in his short time racing at NASCAR’s top level. Through the first 199 races, Edwards has 16 wins, 61 top fives and 102 top 10s.
In the modern era (since 1972), seven drivers have won more races by their 200th start than Edwards: Jeff Gordon (45); Jimmie Johnson (27); Darrell Waltrip (25); Davey Allison* (19); Tony Stewart (19); Rusty Wallace (18); and Bill Elliott (17). (*Note: Davey Allison won his 19 races in 191 career starts.)
Though still seeking a championship, Edwards has come close. He has made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in four of his five full-time seasons, missing only in 2006.
Edwards was the championship runner-up in 2008, and finished third in 2005.
Below is a timeline of some of Edwards’ career highlights on his way to 200 starts:
1 – Edwards’ first start came at Michigan on August 22, 2004. He finished 10th that race, the last driver to earn a top-10 finish in his first start.
14 – On Feb. 20, 2005, Edwards competed in his first career Daytona 500, finishing 12th.
17 – Edwards won his first series race, edging Jimmie Johnson at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 20, 2005. The margin of victory that race – .028 seconds – is tied for 12th closest since the inception of timing and scoring in May of 1993.
47 – Edwards nabbed consecutive victories for the first time in his career. Start No. 46 was a victory at Atlanta, his first season sweep (Edwards has two sweeps in his career, the second at Texas Motor Speedway in 2008). Start No. 47 was a win at Texas.
109 – Edwards nabbed the coveted “Bristol Night Race” checkered flag for the first time on August 25, 2007. He won that race again in 2008.
157 – Edwards logged his series-high ninth win in 2008 at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The victory wasn’t enough to catch champion Jimmie Johnson, as Edwards came up 69 points short in the final series standings.
Sadler’s career began with two races in 1998, before joining the series full-time in 1999. A member of the inaugural Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup class in 2004, that season was also his best career year. In 2004, Sadler had two wins, eight top fives and 14 top 10s – all career highs.
Below is a timeline of some of Sadler’s career highlights:
1 – Sadler’s first race is also the sport’s longest: the Coca-Cola 600. On May 24, 1998, Sadler finished 42nd.
75 – Sadler nabbed his first career win, on March 25, 2001 at Bristol Motor Speedway, driving for the legendary Wood Brothers. He led 70 laps in the event.
184 – Sadler’s second win came at Texas Motor Speedway on April 4, 2004, leading 48 laps.
202 – At Auto Club Speedway on Sept. 5, 2004, Sadler won his third, and most recent, race. He led 59 laps in the event.

Martin Defending PIR Champion

Mark Martin’s splendid 2009 season hit high gear at the Phoenix spring race. His victory a year ago was the first of five victories last season, as he finished second in the final series standings to Jimmie Johnson.

Martin has been somewhat quiet thus far this year – with the high-profile exception of being the Daytona 500 polesitter; he comes into Phoenix 17th in points.

An old-fashioned NASCAR rivalry seems to have been reignited at Martinsville. Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth got into it at the end of Monday’s race, sparking memories of past run-ins.

Back in 2006, the two past champions battled on- and off-track. At Bristol that year, Kenseth spun out Gordon, prompting Gordon to shove the 2003 champion on pit road. A few months later, in July at Chicagoland Speedway, Gordon got payback, spinning Kenseth out while in the lead.

Practically the same occurred at Martinsville. Kenseth got into the back of Gordon, who was leading out of a green-white-checkered restart. The bump slowed Gordon, pushing him out of the groove. Kenseth passed the four-time champion, but not for long. Gordon bumped back, sending Kenseth out of the groove, and the lead.

Neither was happy with the other after Martinsville. Stay tuned.

APRIL 8, 2010 – “Suggs Family” — On January 11, 2010, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” traveled to Loris, SC – with race car driver Jeff Gordon as the celebrity volunteer — to meet Amanda and Derrick Suggs, a young couple who had just started their own family when they adopted Amanda’s younger siblings to keep them from being separated in foster care. When Derrick and Amanda got married, they moved into the home Derrick inherited from his grandfather, who built it in 1953. The home came with a long list of needed repairs: a leaking roof, outdated and exposed electrical wiring, rotting foundation and cracked asbestos siding. This episode will air Sunday, April 11 (8-9 p.m., ET) on ABC. Also in the episode, WWE Divas The Bella Twins and WWE Superstars Big Show and R-Truth team up with Ty and the “EM:HE” designers to take on their toughest opponent yet — the old Suggs family home.

At a very young age, Amanda was forced to take on the role of a mother figure to her siblings. The children were often left alone for extended periods of time and, because the family moved so often, they were frequently out of school. Between missing school herself and caring for her siblings, Amanda fell so far behind that she dropped out after the seventh grade. At 16 Amanda reached out to her aunt for help, and she agreed to take care of Amanda and the two oldest boys. Living with her aunt helped Amanda get her life back on track, and within three months she received her GED and began community college classes. When she turned 18, Amanda moved to Myrtle Beach to continue her college education. When she met Derrick, they instantly fell in love, were married, and soon welcomed their first born, Walker. But shortly thereafter Amanda’s brother, Jacob, informed her that he and his younger brothers were being taken away from their parents and placed in foster care. Without hesitation, Derrick and Amanda brought the boys to live with them.

Derrick enjoys playing the role of father, big brother and friend to the boys, but he’s much more than just a dedicated father and husband. Derrick has gone above and beyond to improve the image of the police department and revitalize the relationship between the police and the community. He created a community outreach team within his police squad to help clean up the high crime areas of his district, and also set up youth activities such as “Shop with a Cop,” which takes underprivileged youth out to buy toys and clothes. Last year Derrick and his partner saved the life of an infant who had stopped breathing while his mother was driving down the highway, and they were nominated for Officers of the Year. Derrick, 28, and Amanda, 26, have given every bit of themselves to their children (James, 19, Jacob, 17, Jordan, 10, Walker, 5, and Mason, 9 months) and their community, but they still lack the time and money required to fix their home.

The Biff, Lagasse Have Baker Curb On The Move

Greg Biffle is the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to finish in the top 10 in each race in that series this year. The defending NASCAR Nationwide race winner at Phoenix also has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three NNS events, giving him a streak of nine consecutive top-10 finishes. He looks to extend that streak at PIR, a dominant NASCAR Nationwide Series track for the 2002 NNS champion. In 11 career NNS starts, he has three wins, six top fives and nine top 10s. Two wins – including this race last year – came for Jack Roush. His other victory was for Brewco Motorsports, the precursor to his current NNS team, Baker Curb Racing.

And for the fourth consecutive week, Biffle’s BCR teammate, Scott Lagasse Jr., has moved up in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. After leaving Daytona in 32nd, he’s knocking on the door of the top 10, currently 12th, 23 points behind 10th-place Michael Annett.