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May 29, 2008
Elliott Sadler Signs Multi-Year Contract Extension With Gillett-Evernham Motorsports
Today it was announced that Elliott Sadler has signed a multi-year contract extension with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports. I admit to being surprised by this announcement since Elliott has most definitely not lived up to the lofty expectations that some had for him the past few years and the results haven't been very good this season either. In all fairness to Elliott he can only do the most with the cars that he's been given and he might not have been given very competitive cars in recent times. However, I've been wondering this season whether GEM is fully satisfied with what they're getting from Elliott - apparently the answer is yes, they are. Elliott says that he's also very happy with GEM. he said,
“This is the place where I want to race. I think what we are building here is special and something other drivers and crew members envy.”
I'm sure some drivers and crew members would take working at GEM over their current teams. However, is being 25th in points really something to envy? That's certainly better than being 35th in points or worse, but it's not all that great either.
Of course these days a driver's personality and what they do off-the-track is just as important as what they do on the track. Tom Reddin, GEM's CEO said,
“In addition to being a great Sprint Cup driver, Elliott has a wonderful personality that attracts fans and sponsors who love working with him. We have enjoyed working with Elliott over the last year and a half and look forward to continuing our relationship.”
Which might very well be why GEM was willing to overlook that Elliott is 25th in points and hasn't come close to repeating the success he had in 2004 since then. It's very true that Elliott is a driver who has a terrific personality. He's very outgoing, friendly and funny. Elliott is extremely fan-friendly and represents his sponsors extremely well. Those are important qualities to teams and sponsors.
However, what's interesting to me is that there's been a bit of a backlash against Elliott from some of his fans. Some have come to think that he's fake, some are unhappy with the activities of his fan club and others have some issues with things that go on in his personal life. Of course there are fans of every driver who take issue with similar things in relation to their own favorite driver, and part of that might be that fans tend to get extra critical when the on-track performance isn't very good, but it seems like over the past year or two more and more of Elliott's fans have been vocal in expressing their displeasure about a variety of off-the-track issues that relate to him than with most other drivers. I wonder if GEM is aware of any of this? Maybe not since a lot of negativity in regards to those issues doesn't have too much to do with them and might be directed towards Elliott through his fan club. In addition, given that a lot of fans seem to prefer to be negative about everything and are never satisfied no matter what happens, it may be that GEM simply ignores those who have been less than positive about Elliott. Still, it's interesting that they cite how fans are attracted to him, when the past few years some seem to be turning away from him.
Posted by silverdsl at May 29, 2008 03:55 PM