No. 19 Dodge driver Elliott Sadler carries the familiar McDonald’s paint scheme this weekend in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at Martinsville Speedway. Sadler will race the McDonald’s car six times in 2007 joining a small group of Sprint Cup drivers who have carried the Golden Arches paint scheme through the years. The list includes Hut Stricklin, Jimmy Spencer, plus Gillett Evernham Motorsports drivers Bill Elliott and Kasey Kahne.

The Emporia, Va. native always enjoys racing in his home state. At Martinsville, Sadler has led three races for 49 laps, including 10 laps in this race last year. He has completed 96.7% race laps in 18 starts at the .526-mile track. Sadler is 20th in points, one point behind 19th and 87 from 12th place.

One thing Sadler hasn’t had much success with at Martinsville is the concession stand. That’s where their famous pink hot dogs slathered with chili and onions are served by the thousands. As popular as they are, they haven’t made an impression on the driver who still holds the record for most Bologna burgers eaten at one time (16) at nearby South Boston Speedway.

Elliott Sadler Quotes:

McDONALD’S SPONSORSHIP: “First off, it is going to be great having the McDonald’s colors and logo on our car this weekend. When they told me about this last year, it was more of an honor than anything else. Their logo is one of the most recognized in the world and we’re going to represent them in Martinsville; one of the most historic tracks on the NASCAR circuit and in my home state. They told me they serve more than 47 million people a day in 30,000 restaurants in 120 countries around the world. That’s amazing. I grew up in Emporia (Virginia) two hours from Martinsville and I go past a lot of McDonald’s on the way here. I know because I’ve visited a lot of them through the years.”

MARTINSVILLE: “To be successful at Martinsville, you need to take care of your brakes all afternoon. Once you get the car to rotate in the center of the corner, you’re off to a good start. And, when you can do that and have plenty of forward bite to come off that corner, you’re really going to have a really good day. Those are the mechanical keys to racing at Martinsville. The other part is to just stay out of everyone else’s mess. Things happen quickly on a short track and you can be done before you know what happened.”

MARTINSVILLE HOT DOGS: “Okay, I’m going to get in some trouble here, but I can’t eat anything that turns the bun pink. Clay Campbell, his family and all the great people that run Martinsville do a great job, but I can't eat one of those hot dogs there. Now, the guys on the team are going to be all over that concession stand in the infield, I can guarantee you that much. They like, no they love, to eat and the track is so small they can slide by there on the way back and forth to the truck very easily.

“When I ate 16 bologna burgers at South Boston (Va.) Speedway years ago - which is still a record - that was something totally different. All you need on those is grilled onions and lots of mustard. The hot dogs at Martinsville have onion, chili and a whole bunch of other stuff - that’s not for me.”

Behind the Hauler Open Interview Session: Elliott Sadler will be available to all interested media behind the No. 19 McDonald’s hauler on Friday, March 28th at 10:45 a.m.

Making times for Martinsville: Qualifying is set for 3:40 p.m. (ET) Friday on MRN Radio and SPEED-TV. Race time Sunday is 2 p.m. MRN Radio and Fox-TV with 500 laps as the distance.

Sadler on Trackside Live at Martinsville: After the starting grid is set, Sadler will join the “Trackside Live” crew on the Speed-TV stage at Martinsville on Friday evening at 7 p.m.

Sadler gets “Sirius” every week: Elliott Sadler appears every Tuesday on Sirius NASCAR Radio. Ch. 128 at 4:40 p.m. throughout the 2008 NASCAR Season. The No. 19 Dodge driver will talk about whatever comes to mind with host Dave Moody whose show “Sirius Speedway” airs 3 to 7 p.m. each weekday.

Car Notes

· The No. 19 McDonald’s Dodge will run GEM Chassis No. 221 this weekend; a brand new car never raced and tested last fall in Atlanta.

Martinsville Speedway

· Has made eight starts at the .526-mile track earning one top-five, three top-10s and led three races for a total of 49 laps.

· Led 10 laps in this race last year after starting 18th and finishing 24th

· Best start was seventh in the 2006 spring 2006 race and his best finish was fifth in the spring 2003.race.

· Has completed 8,708 of 9,006 laps.

Career Stats

· First victory came at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2001, second at Texas Motor Speedway and third was fall California Speedway race in 2004.

· Has won three races while earning 16 top-five and 56 top-10 finishes in 326 starts.

Earned seven Pole Awards