ESPN Sprint Cup

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Elliott Sadler has more pressing issues to worry about than the lawsuit he threatened to file if Gillett Evernham Motorsports didn't keep him in the No. 19 Dodge this season.

Like how to get his passport current.

Sadler discovered his passport had been reported as stolen and red-flagged when he recently applied for a new one. There is some question about whether he can get it updated in time to leave the country on Sunday for his honeymoon.

“

There's a reason why when you drive a car the front windshield is as big as it is and the rear window is as small as it is. You really have to look forward to be successful.

” -- Elliott Sadler

"Actually, the questions you're giving me are pretty easy to the question my wife will give me Sunday if I have to tell her we can't go on the honeymoon," Sadler said during Wednesday's NASCAR conference call. "I guess I'm a threat to national security."

Sadler was a threat to be unemployed a week ago. He learned through a sponsor that GEM, which has since merged with Petty Enterprises, was going to replace him with AJ Allmendinger.

That prompted Sadler to seek legal counsel, which was preparing a lawsuit seeking to keep Sadler in the car. It never got that far because GEM officials, less than 24 hours after the merger became official, announced the 33-year-old would keep his ride.

Sadler easily could be bitter over the situation, but insists he's not. He's taking the high road even though he said the initial news that he was out felt "gut-wrenching."

"You know, it was an eye-opener for me as far as how fast things can happen in this sport, how you can't take anything for granted," said Sadler, speaking for he first time about the situation. "There's a lot of different ways you can look at this. You can be negative or you can be positive about it.

"We got our differences resolved. We got our team headed in the right direction, so I'm being positive about it."

Sadler said there are no hard feelings toward co-owner George Gillett, GEM management or Allmendinger, who will drive part-time in a fourth car. He is using the experience as motivation.

"I want to be a top-tier driver in this sport," said Sadler, who finished 24th in points in 2008, his third straight season of 22nd or worse. "I've got to get my butt in gear and make that happen. This is the best motivation I've had in a long time."

Sadler said team officials never told him he was out of the 19, that it was discussed as a possibility during numerous team meetings that he attended after last season.

"We wanted to try to make the 19 team better," he said. "A lot of different ideas and situations and stuff came out in the open. Myself and the team were looking at a lot of different ways to get better. Sometime the ideas were not on the same page. We came up with a whole list of things to change. One of those was a driver change."

Sadler said news that he'd been replaced came from a sponsor, but he did acknowledge that the organization gave him permission to look around in case a change was made.

"They were very up front with me," he said. "There were no smoking mirrors."

Sadler said the lawsuit came about to protect himself and his sponsors, most of which already had filmed commercials for the start of the season with him as the spokesperson.

He's glad it didn't come to that, and feels good about where the team is headed. He particularly likes being reunited with crew chief Kevin Buskirk, who was his engineer at Robert Yates Racing in 2004 when he won his last two races.

Sadler is following the advice of what he says a "brilliant man" once told him.

"There's a reason why when you drive a car the front windshield is as big as it is and the rear window is as small as it is," he said. "You really have to look forward to be successful."

Sadler is looking eager to get going with the team that he plans to cut his honeymoon short to be at Rockingham Speedway next Wednesday for a test.

If he gets a passport to go on a honeymoon, that is.

David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.