Sadler learned the importance of eating before a race in his Cup debut
By SceneDaily Staff
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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Geoff Burke / Getty Images
Elliott Sadler made his Cup series debut 10 years ago this weekend at what was then called Charlotte Motor Speedway, starting 31st and finishing 42 in a Gary Bechtel-owned car. And among the many lessons he learned was about what to eat.
“The biggest thing I remembered was the race started later in the day than Nationwide Series ones,” Sadler said. “I never ate before a race because they were so short, and they started at noon.
“Here I was making my first Cup start, the longest race of the year, with a later start time, and I hadn’t eaten a thing – like I always did back then.”
A 600-mile race is a long, grinding event, and Sadler got hungry during the race.
“Well, just before the halfway point I was absolutely starving,” Sadler said. “So I asked the crew to please get me something to eat on the next pit stop. All they had were powdered donuts.”
On the next pit stop, Sadler’s crew handed him a powdered doughnut to eat while he was driving.
“They pass this white powered doughnut through the window, and there I am – with gloves on and full-faced helmet – trying to eat a white powered doughnut while driving a race car,” Sadler said. “You can imagine what that, and I, looked like.”
Sadler has since learned more about prerace dining, so he probably won’t need a doughnut during this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
“Ten years later, my prerace ritual now consists of lots of rest, fluids and a good meal of roasted chicken,” Sadler said. “Going hungry in a race car is something I have not done since that day in 1998.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Elliott Sadler
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