CONCORD, N.C. -- Elliott Sadler will have something to celebrate Sunday at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
No, it won't be career victory No. 4.
Memorial Day weekend marks the 10th anniversary of his very first Cup race. Sadler finished 42nd in the 1998 Coca-Cola 600. Only David Green did worse.
What does Sadler remember most about that first Cup start?
"I'll tell you what I remember about my first race that sticks out of my mind is that I got absolutely hungry. I starved to death halfway through the race," Sadler told reporters this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "And the reason why is that all the Busch races use to start at noon. You really didn't have time to eat and you didn't want to have a lot on your stomach for a 200-mile race. The Coca-Cola 600 starts at 5:30 in the evening and I didn't eat anything the whole day.
"Halfway through the race I was like, 'Guys, I am hungry. I need something. Please give me something to eat.' They pushed a white powdered doughnut through the window for me to eat with gloves, and it's hot. I think that I got more on me than in me. That's the biggest thing that I remember about that race I still remember like it was yesterday."
Turns out, Sadler didn't need to worry about eating too much before the race. Engine problems ended his day after 204 of the 400 laps.
One of Sadler's most memorable moments outside of that first career start?
"Dale Earnhardt Sr. was one of my biggest heroes growing up, one of the biggest guys I looked up to," he said. "At Bristol, we got in a wreck in Turn 1 on like the second lap. He hit me, spun me out and also took Dale Jr. out. After the race, me and Junior were talking about it and were like, 'What was your dad thinking? What was this? What was that?'
"We both got a pinch on our neck and it was like, 'You kids better stop talking about me.' And we were like, 'Yes, sir. Yes, sir.' So it was pretty funny, and we talked about it and totally laughed it off and went on from there."
Sadler hasn't had much to laugh about in 2008. He's got just one top-10 in a dozen starts in the No. 19 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge.
Perhaps that will change Sunday. After all, he's got 10 years of experience to fall back on.
"Am I a better race car driver? Maybe better with my mind; I don't know with my hands and stuff," Sadler said. "I think that's all about the same. [But] I try and be a smarter race car driver than I was 10 years ago."