Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 29, 1990 TAG: 9007290071
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Fast car. Solid team. Corporate sponsorship. Just about everything a race car driver could want.
Finally, in November of 1989, Sawyer got the call. Car owner Alan Dillard wanted him to replace Rick Mast as driver for his NASCAR Busch Grand National team.
"When Alan called, it was like an early Christmas for me," Sawyer said.
"It was the big chance I had been waiting for. I was going to a good team, a team that had won races. It was the best situation I had ever been in."
A pumped-up Sawyer, who had spent his first four years on the GN tour laboring with his own under-financed team, began the 1990 season with a flurry.
He avoided a 27-car crash in the season opener at Daytona, Fla., and finished a strong fifth. He followed up with an eighth-place run at Richmond; a 19th at Rockingham, N.C.; a second at Martinsville, and a 10th at Hickory, N.C. Through five races, Sawyer stood a surprising second in the GN championship standings, only seven points behind leader Bobby Labonte.
"Things were really looking good," said the driver from Chesapeake.
But as happens so often in racing, Sawyer soon witnessed the flip side.
In April, Sawyer and his new team ran into a wide range of problems that led to bad finish after bad finish.
"We were being put out of races by things that shouldn't ever happen - a burnt spark plug wire, running out of gas, stuff like that," Sawyer said. "Dale Earnhardt can't drive a car without the oil can cap on or with a burnt spark plug wire. It wasn't my fault."
Sawyer, a driver who previously had a lot of input in the car's preparation, quickly found himself at odds with the team's crew chief, Jim Harmon.
Harmon, a disciple of racing's old school, was set in his ways and didn't want feedback from a young driver who had never won a GN race, Sawyer said.
"Jim and I had a hard time communicating," Sawyer said. "Jim had his way of doing things and I had mine. But the situation got to the point where I and the rest of the crew was not working with Jim well. It was just like a cancer on the team."
Backing his driver, Dillard made a move to cure the team's problems. On Monday, Harmon resigned rather than wait to be given his walking papers.
"I told Alan if he thought the problem was me that I would get out of the car," said Sawyer, taking a break before Saturday's GN show at Pulaski County Speedway.
"It gives me a boost of confidence that Alan listened to me. But Alan looked into it himself, and he pretty much knew what was happening.
"We're rock bottom in every area right now and a change had to be made."
Sawyer said the team has talked to several "big-name" candidates and hopes to select a new crew chief this week.
Despite his team's spiraling fortunes, Sawyer remains upbeat. He believes he will cash in on his long-awaited "big chance."
"I really thought I would have won a race by this point in the season," Sawyer said. "We had Martinsville won, then we had the bad deal on the restart with the caution lights on and I didn't take off.
"But there's no doubt in my mind about my abilities to drive a race car. I know I've got the ability to win on this series. Put me in the right situation and I can drive with anybody.
"I know a lot of people are probably saying, `Yeah, Elton Sawyer has never won and he's inexperienced.' But before I'm through, I hope to prove that I can do this. I don't plan on blowing the chance."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB