In the Field: E Sadler (Homestead)
In the Field: Elliott Sadler
By Elliott Sadler, Special to NASCAR.COM
November 14, 2007
11:27 AM EST
This is it -- the end of another season. I just wanted to let everyone know I had a great time doing In the Field this season on NASCAR.COM. It's something cool, to be able to share with your fans, each and every week, and kind of let them know what a driver goes through away from the racetrack -- and sometimes out on the racetrack.
I really enjoyed my full season of doing Trackside Live on the SPEED Channel and I'll tell you what -- I have a lot of respect, now for all the preparation work that's done to get ready to do a show like that, or even to prepare and write stories for this Web site.
I got to do an awful lot of that first-hand to get ready for our shows and now I can appreciate what the media does, which is just another aspect of the entertainment we bring each week to all the fans of this sport.
So another season winds down and even though it was a disappointing season, the way we ran on the racetrack with our Chargers, I'm still excited about the future that we have with Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
I get along with my teammates great. I love working with Kasey [Kahne] and I'm looking forward to getting to work with Patrick [Carpentier].
A lot of things changed in our racing program this year to get ready for next year to make our stuff better, so we're going through that learning process and staying focused on it. I think we're going to have a pretty productive winter and we're looking forward to getting ready for next season, and getting started with out preparation for the 2008 Daytona 500.
But before we get to that, I have a couple things going on that I really, really enjoy. I get to spend a little time with my family in Emporia, Va. -- both as we wrap up hunting season and also get through the holidays. Being with the family in Virginia is probably my favorite thing to do, and getting to hunt, which is something I've done my whole life, is the bonus to that.
I spend the holidays with my nieces, and my brother and sister, and my sister-in-law and I just can't wait to get home and spend a lot of time with them. That's very special to me, and me and my girlfriend, Amanda, get to spend a lot of time together, too. When we're traveling as much as we do as Nextel Cup drivers, we don't get to spend the time with our family and our loved ones like we should, and we want to -- so I'm looking forward to a good vacation at home.
Of course, hunting season is coming in the Commonwealth of Virginia. That's something, as you all know, that I thoroughly enjoy doing with my dad. That's something we've been doing together ever since I've been born, pretty much. A lot of my family and friends that I've grown up with are going to spend the next eight weeks in the woods, basically, hopefully sharing some good times together and some stories, I'm sure.
It should be a good offseason and I'm looking forward to it. I love being at home. Hunting season is one of my favorite times of the year and I'm very fortunate to have a job that runs during the summertime, and then my favorite hobby, hunting, is during the wintertime, so they don't overlap.
It'll be a good way to have some therapy after having such a frustrating season -- getting out in the woods and surrounding myself with family and friends and kind of put that behind me, to where I can kind of recharge my batteries and get a good, fresh start for next season and the new year.
Speaking of recharging, my gang of dogs is all healthy and ready to go, especially Princess, who's the mom to all my pups. I've got about 83 dogs now -- and they're all fired up with the season ready to get going.
Now I don't know what you think about hunting dogs, but they don't really make what you might think are rookie mistakes -- like getting distracted and chasing squirrels or anything like that. They won't run anything but a deer, though sometimes they'll get after a turkey, because a deer and a turkey smell so much alike -- and you don't have to be a puppy to make that mistake.
But it's bred into them to chase and bark and learn what they're doing. We've done a good job of training them this summer, I think. My buddy Jimmy that takes care of all my dogs while I'm gone all summer, working, has got them all fit and ready to go. They're all rested up and they're in for a fun eight weeks -- because it's fun for them, too. It's what they love to do. I've got an ample supply of them. I've been raising dogs for 15 years and I love 'em. They're like my children. They know you and you're proud of them when they do something well -- just like having children yourself, I'm sure. When they do something great you're proud of them and you love 'em to death. And when they do something they're not supposed to do, you get frustrated and you get mad at 'em -- but then you love 'em again the next day. Kinda the same thing as having kids, I'm thinking.
We've been still hunting for a couple weeks now -- which is where you're sitting still, up in a tree, and waiting for them to come out. We've had some good luck and we've seen some really nice deer. So we know we've got them on our property and now we have to figure out a way to maneuver them around and make some successful hunts out of it.
Right now we've been using muzzle loaders, and Monday morning about 6 o'clock, when I get home from Homestead, I'll be at the hunt club getting everything straight, and getting all the guys fired up and suited up and ready for a great Monday morning hunt.
After that, I do have three or four days where I'm not going to be able to hunt. I have to do some testing, take some pictures for next year and do some commercials for Coca-Cola, and things like that.
I've already done a lot of my Tylenol stuff for next year, and Bass Pro Shops -- I have a bunch of their people coming to hunt with me -- so I've got some other cool stuff lined up.
But you want to know what one of the most fun things is? Tuesday night we kicked off our season, in which every Tuesday night we cook for a lot of the local hunt clubs, and a lot of our family and friends. We do it right behind my house, in the barn, for about 70 or 80 people every Tuesday night during hunting season. It's kind of a 'thank you' to our family and friends and customers of the Sadlers for so many years -- of my dad's businesses.
It's just a great time for a bunch of hunters and friends to get together and just hang out, and compare stories and swap lies -- you know, who killed the biggest deer and who missed the biggest deer -- all the fun things that we get to do.