Elton Sawyer

Elton Sawyer (born November 5, 1959) is a former NASCAR driver. He is married to former NASCAR driver Patty Moise. Sawyer is currently the Vice President, Officiating and Technical Inspection of NASCAR.[1]

Elton Sawyer
Born (1959-11-05) November 5, 1959
Chesapeake, Virginia
NASCAR Cup Series career
29 races run over 2 years
Best finish38th (1995)
First race1995 Hanes 500 (Martinsville)
Last race1996 NAPA 500 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
392 races run over 20 years
Best finish5th (1998, 1999, 2001)
First race1983 Cardinal 250 (Martinsville)
Last race2002 Ford 300 (Homestead)
First win1994 Cardinal Pride/Budweiser 250 (Myrtle Beach)
Last win1999 Busch 200 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 131 2
Statistics current as of November 2, 2013.

Beginnings

Sawyer began his career in the NASCAR Busch Series. He ran a handful of races in 1983, 1984, and 1985, scoring 8 top tens while running his own team. From 1986 to 1989, he ran full-time seasons with Lewis Motorsports. Sawyer ran competitively, scoring many top tens, while finishing between 14th and 18th in points in all of those years. Sawyer left the Lewis organization, after not winning in his four seasons with the team, and headed to the team owned by A.G. Dillard. In 1990, Sawyer ran his best career season, scoring 4 top fives and finishing 13th in the points. However the following year, the Dillard team faced sponsorship problems, which kept Sawyer from completing the whole year. He salvaged a 20th-place finish in the points that year. The sponsorship issues that affected Sawyer in 1991 also caused problems for him the next two years. He was not able to find a solid ride, and only competed in 4 races.

Mid 1990s

However, luck changed for Sawyer in 1994 when he found a solid ride at Sutton Racing. He would go on to win his first Busch Series race at Myrtle Beach Speedway. He would only have six more top tens the remaining of the year, finishing 14th in points. In 1995, Sawyer continued driving in the Busch Series full-time for Sutton, but he was named to replace Loy Allen Jr. in the No. 27 Winston Cup car Junior Johnson & Associates.[2] Sawyer's Cup season did not fare too well, but his Busch year was his best of date, finishing 9th in points. In that same year, Sawyer competed in the Winston Select, driving the No. 27 car of Junior Johnson that made it in, thanks to Jimmy Spencer winning twice the previous year.

Sawyer started the 1996 Cup season driving for David Blair Motorsports. However, after sponsorship problems, he was released from the team. He then decided to jump back down to Busch, however he did not grab a solid ride until 1997, when he rejoined Sutton. Sawyer would go on to finish 8th in points. In 1998, he had a great year, finishing 5th in points, after scoring 10 top tens. In 1999, Sawyer joined Akins Motorsports in the Busch Series. Sawyer had one of his most competitive years, winning a race at New Hampshire International Speedway. He also scored 14 top tens, and finished 5th in points. 2000 was also a great year for Sawyer after he scored once again 14 top tens and finished 6th in points.

Decline

2001 turned out to be Sawyer's last full season in NASCAR. He raced competitively, scoring his career high of 19 top tens in a season, while finishing 5th in points. Akins had sold the No. 98 car to Michael Kranefuss in April 2001, however the team was unable to secure sponsorship after the season and folded causing Sawyer to search for a ride for 2002. Sawyer did race 3 races in 2002 for the ailing Jeff Purvis at Brewco Motorsports. However, David Green received the ride in 2003. Sawyer continued looking for a ride; however, he was unable to find one due to the trend of teams wanting young drivers with sponsorship money.

On February 2, 2015, NASCAR announces that Sawyer would become the Managing Director of the Camping World Truck Series, replacing Chad Little, who was moved to a new role within the organization. Sawyer had previously served as the Director of Team Operations for Action Express Racing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.[3]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series
NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NWCC Pts Ref
1995 Junior Johnson & Associates 27 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR
20		 TAL
27		 SON
DNQ		 CLT
25		 DOV
41		 POC MCH
23		 DAY NHA
23		 POC
29		 TAL
14		 IND
41		 GLN
29		 MCH
21		 BRI
DNQ		 DAR
32		 RCH
38		 DOV
40		 MAR
33		 NWS
34		 CLT
28		 CAR
31		 PHO
30		 ATL
28		 38th 1499 [4]
1996 David Blair Motorsports 27 Ford DAY
25		 CAR
DNQ		 RCH
30		 ATL
19		 DAR
30		 BRI
37		 NWS
32		 MAR
DNQ		 TAL
37		 SON CLT
21		 DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH
DNQ		 BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO 43rd 705 [5]
Ranier-Walsh Racing 20 Ford ATL
23
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1996 David Blair Motorsports Ford 18 25

Busch Series
NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NBSC Pts Ref
1983 Zervakis Racing Team 01 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR HCY MAR NWS SBO GPS LGY DOV BRI CLT SBO HCY ROU SBO ROU CRW ROU SBO HCY LGY IRP GPS BRI HCY DAR RCH NWS SBO MAR ROU CLT HCY MAR
30		 141st 73 [6]
1984 Sawyer Racing 02 Pontiac DAY RCH
7		 CAR HCY MAR
5		 DAR ROU NSV 38th 577 [7]
0 LGY
9		 MLW DOV CLT SBO HCY ROU SBO ROU HCY IRP LGY SBO BRI DAR
Lewis Motorsports 42 Pontiac RCH
9		 NWS CLT HCY CAR MAR
2
1985 DAY CAR HCY BRI MAR
8		 DAR SBO LGY
4		 DOV CLT SBO HCY ROU IRP SBO LGY
9		 HCY MLW BRI DAR RCH
27		 NWS ROU MAR
20		 38th 577 [8]
Olds CLT
23		 HCY CAR
1986 DAY CAR
29		 15th 3046 [9]
Pontiac HCY
12		 MAR
8		 BRI DAR SBO
6		 LGY
3		 JFC
14		 SBO
8		 HCY
15		 ROU IRP
21		 SBO
4		 RAL
20		 OXF SBO
10		 HCY
8		 LGY
9		 ROU
7		 BRI
12		 RCH
6		 DOV MAR
9		 ROU
11		 CLT MAR
5
Chevy DOV
12		 CLT
12		 DAR
39		 CAR
27
1987 DAY
14		 HCY
13		 MAR
27		 DAR
25		 BRI
25		 LGY
3		 SBO
24		 CLT
39		 DOV
11		 IRP
2		 ROU
11		 JFC
14		 OXF
32		 SBO
14		 HCY
20		 RAL
18		 LGY
3		 ROU
2		 BRI
4		 JFC
24		 DAR
24		 RCH
12		 DOV
28		 MAR
26		 CLT
43		 CAR
36		 MAR
8		 14th 2955 [10]
1988 DAY
28		 HCY
21		 CAR
38		 MAR
21		 DAR
23		 BRI
22		 LNG
6		 NZH
34		 SBO
15		 NSV
25		 CLT
36		 DOV ROU LAN LVL MYB
7		 OXF
35		 SBO
8		 HCY
12		 LNG
15		 IRP
16		 ROU
9		 BRI
15		 DAR
17		 RCH
29		 DOV
36		 MAR
3		 CLT
34		 CAR
15		 MAR
7		 16th 2686 [11]
1989 DAY
23		 CAR
15		 MAR
3		 HCY DAR
32		 BRI NZH
24		 SBO CLT
32		 DOV
21		 ROU
6		 LVL
3		 VOL
23		 MYB
5		 SBO
12		 HCY
15		 DUB
24		 IRP
18		 ROU
17		 BRI DAR RCH
35		 DOV MAR
30		 CLT CAR MAR
15		 18th 2202 [12]
Huffman Racing 70 Olds LAN
11		 NSV
1990 A.G. Dillard Motorsports 41 Buick DAY
5		 13th 3442 [13]
Roy Hill Racing 4 Buick RCH
8
A.G. Dillard Motorsports 27 Buick CAR
19		 MAR
2		 HCY
10		 DAR
27		 BRI
30		 LAN
27		 SBO
10		 NZH
14		 HCY
23		 CLT
19		 DOV
9		 ROU
17		 VOL
2		 MYB
22		 OXF
29		 NHA
25		 SBO
24		 DUB
28		 IRP
6		 ROU
5		 BRI
31		 DAR
41		 RCH
12		 DOV
25		 MAR
18		 CLT
34		 NHA
6		 CAR
13		 MAR
15
1991 DAY
15		 RCH
26		 CAR
25		 MAR
5		 VOL
12		 HCY
12		 DAR
29		 BRI
27		 LAN
11		 SBO
7		 NZH
11		 CLT
38		 DOV
23		 ROU
23		 20th 2481 [14]
Henderson Motorsports 75 Olds HCY
24
Laughlin Racing 45 Pontiac MYB
26		 GLN OXF NHA
Fred Harris 67 Pontiac SBO
7		 DUB
DNQ		 IRP
14		 ROU
27		 BRI
12		 DAR
23		 RCH
34		 DOV
21		 CLT
DNQ		 NHA CAR MAR
30
1992 Huffman Racing 77 Buick DAY CAR RCH ATL MAR
16		 DAR BRI HCY LAN DUB NZH CLT DOV ROU MYB 81st 179 [15]
Owen Racing 91 Buick GLN
33		 VOL NHA TAL IRP ROU MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT MAR CAR HCY
1993 Akins-Sutton Motorsports 38 Ford DAY CAR RCH DAR BRI HCY ROU MAR NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL IRP MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH
25		 DOV ROU CLT
36		 MAR CAR HCY ATL 80th 143 [16]
1994 DAY
20		 CAR
12		 RCH
4		 ATL
DNQ		 MAR
22		 DAR
13		 HCY
28		 BRI ROU
31		 NHA
DNQ		 NZH
2		 CLT
21		 DOV
13		 MYB
1		 GLN
35		 MLW
8		 SBO
17		 TAL
21		 HCY
14		 IRP
22		 MCH
20		 BRI
15		 DAR
9		 RCH
31		 DOV
13		 CLT
5		 MAR
19		 CAR
39		 14th 2873 [17]
Zock Motorsports 82 Ford ATL
38
1995 Akins-Sutton Motorsports 38 Ford DAY
39		 CAR
32		 RCH
15		 ATL
10		 NSV
30		 DAR
38		 BRI
18		 HCY
26		 NHA
2		 NZH
8		 CLT
27		 DOV
12		 MYB
10		 GLN
22		 MLW
14		 TAL
10		 SBO
7		 IRP
2		 MCH
13		 BRI
26		 DAR
8		 RCH
10		 DOV
17		 CLT
20		 CAR
14		 HOM
12		 9th 2952 [18]
1996 MS Racing 14 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL
33		 NSV
12		 DAR BRI HCY
17		 NZH CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NHA TAL IRP 39th 1217 [19]
Akins-Sutton Motorsports 38 Ford MCH
25		 BRI
12		 DAR
16		 RCH
22		 DOV
8		 CLT
19		 CAR
14		 HOM
15
1997 DAY
16		 CAR
12		 RCH
11		 ATL
2		 LVS
31		 DAR
17		 HCY
6		 TEX
11		 BRI
32		 NSV
17		 TAL
42		 NHA
4		 NZH
23		 CLT
43		 DOV
9		 SBO
5		 GLN
19		 MLW
6		 MYB
5		 GTY
4		 IRP
3		 MCH
16		 BRI
34		 DAR
13		 RCH
31		 DOV
16		 CLT
22		 CAL
19		 CAR
12		 HOM
32		 8th 3419 [20]
1998 DAY
28		 CAR
14		 LVS
30		 NSV
10		 DAR
11		 BRI
4		 TEX
27		 HCY
27		 TAL
10		 NHA
27		 NZH
36		 CLT
8		 DOV
8		 RCH
18		 PPR
4		 GLN
11		 MLW
2		 MYB
11		 CAL
12		 SBO
25		 IRP
8		 MCH
8		 BRI
18		 DAR
12		 RCH
33		 DOV
3		 CLT
13		 GTY
38		 CAR
32		 ATL
13		 HOM
26		 5th 3533 [21]
1999 98 DAY
21		 CAR
7		 LVS
26		 ATL
8		 DAR
2		 TEX
12		 NSV
8		 BRI
3		 TAL
41		 CAL
7		 NHA
1		 RCH
34		 NZH
32		 CLT
8		 DOV
9		 SBO
23		 GLN
11		 MLW
34		 MYB
7		 PPR
8		 GTY
13		 IRP
8		 MCH
26		 BRI
7		 DAR
14		 RCH
16		 DOV
26		 CLT
19		 CAR
14		 MEM
3		 PHO
15		 HOM
13		 5th 3891 [22]
2000 Akins Motorsports DAY
30		 CAR
12		 LVS
25		 ATL
18		 DAR
9		 BRI
12		 TEX
28		 NSV
13		 TAL
18		 CAL
9		 RCH
34		 NHA
9		 CLT
9		 DOV
9		 SBO
3		 MYB
3		 GLN
7		 MLW
6		 NZH
2		 PPR
25		 GTY
10		 IRP
6		 MCH
31		 BRI
29		 DAR
3		 RCH
19		 DOV
33		 CLT
29		 CAR
19		 MEM
2		 PHO
11		 HOM
40		 6th 3776 [23]
2001 DAY
43		 CAR
29		 LVS
8		 ATL
35		 DAR
9		 BRI
17		 TEX
21		 NSH
5		 TAL
6		 CAL
12		 RCH
40		 NHA
9		 NZH
11		 CLT
19		 DOV
6		 KEN
4		 MLW
6		 GLN
6		 CHI
8		 GTY
8		 PPR
30		 IRP
4		 MCH
7		 BRI
5		 DAR
2		 RCH
8		 DOV
11		 KAN
16		 CLT
9		 MEM
26		 PHO
38		 CAR
10		 HOM
2		 5th 4100 [24]
2002 Brewco Motorsports 37 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR
22		 PHO
20		 HOM
22		 70th 297 [25]

References
  1. "NASCAR enhances competition executive team". Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  2. Pearce, Al (May 17, 1995). "Driver To Do Double Duty: Sawyer To Run Cup, Grand National Races". Daily Press. Newport News, VA. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  3. "NASCAR moves Chad Little to inspection role; Elton Sawyer to lead Truck Series". Fox Sports. February 2, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  4. "Elton Sawyer – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  5. "Elton Sawyer – 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  6. "Elton Sawyer – 1983 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  7. "Elton Sawyer – 1984 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  8. "Elton Sawyer – 1985 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  9. "Elton Sawyer – 1986 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  10. "Elton Sawyer – 1987 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  11. "Elton Sawyer – 1988 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  12. "Elton Sawyer – 1989 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  13. "Elton Sawyer – 1990 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  14. "Elton Sawyer – 1991 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  15. "Elton Sawyer – 1992 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  16. "Elton Sawyer – 1993 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  17. "Elton Sawyer – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  18. "Elton Sawyer – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  19. "Elton Sawyer – 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  20. "Elton Sawyer – 1997 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  21. "Elton Sawyer – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  22. "Elton Sawyer – 1999 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  23. "Elton Sawyer – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  24. "Elton Sawyer – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  25. "Elton Sawyer – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
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