In the Field: Elliott Sadler

I'll tell you a couple things: One, I feel a lot better now than I did a week ago, when I was sicker than I've been in a long time; and two, it's hard to say if I'm more excited about the way my Tar Heels are doing in the NCAAs, or going to Bristol for the first Car of Tomorrow race.

I know some people might try to cover it up -- but getting babied by my mom last week back home in Emporia was great, and that's why I didn't mind talking about it.

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I didn't feel too good at all last week, almost all week. I had something like the flu and I really felt bad, but to be back in Virginia when I got sick and to be in a position where my mom could take care of me and fix me soup and things like that was definitely an advantage.

I'd bet there are plenty of times that people have gotten sick and wouldn't have minded if their mom and dad could have taken care of them.

How bad was it? I basically didn't get out of bed for three days and I had to change my shirt about every two hours because I was sweating so bad, and then I was freezing with cold chills coming over me.

Thankfully her TLC had me all well and ready for the busy race weekend in Atlanta.

Yes, we do pick up some marketing savvy by racing in the Nextel Cup Series, but I have no designs on marketing my mother as the ideal "get better quick nurse," or anything like that.

She has taken care of me, my brother, Hermie, and my sister, Missi, for a long time, and we all still live around home, where we were born and raised -- so she still doesn't miss a chance to take care of us.

"Momma Bell" is what most of my friends call her. She's never sick, and she's always on call, it seems like, for any time we have any problems she's always there to come to the rescue, so let's keep her around home, just in case.

We use her pretty hard, right now.

Fortunately she had me well in time to go to Winston-Salem to see the Tar Heels play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

That was pretty awesome. I had never seen Michigan State or Marquette [the other game that session] play in person, so I really wanted to do that. So that was pretty cool -- and I also got to see Carolina play one last time, because I don't think their schedule is going to cross very well with our racing schedule for the rest of March Madness.

So I wanted to watch them at least play one game. By Thursday, I was feeling like I was on the upswing, so my brother and I, along with three of my buddies, decided to go to the game.

Man, we had a lot of fun doing that, and I'm glad I got to experience a little NCAA Tournament action in person.

You know I'm going to find a great spot to watch North Carolina's game on Friday with Southern California. I'm pretty enthused about how they played on offense, at the game I went to, with a lot of great passes, great assists and good screens and stuff like that.

Something that's got me worried, at least after that opening game, was their focus and their team defense. With Georgetown potentially coming, down the road, as well as the tough teams they'll meet trying to get to the Final Four, we definitely have to play better team defense.

So I think coach [Roy Williams] will get them a little more fired up and a little more focused for the next couple events, especially with some hard teams coming into town, so we'll see what happens.

The guys played great offense and I was very impressed with the way Tyler [Hansbrough] played in the first game, so I think he's back and more comfortable. So if we can play a little team defense for an entire game, I think we'll be OK.

Mask or no mask [Hansbrough] is a baller!

Now, if you're asking me if the Nextel Cup Series is going to have its own version of March Madness at Bristol and Martinsville, with the Car of Tomorrow, I don't know.

The test we had at Bristol didn't go as well as we would have liked but I'm sure my team director, Josh Browne, will get me hooked up for the race on Sunday. We feel like we've done a great job at Evernham getting ready for the Car of Tomorrow.

But I think it's going to be the same old Bristol. There are going to be a lot of wrecks, there will be a lot of cautions and there will be a lot of people upset at the end of the race. Surviving is going to be the key.

The Car of Tomorrow isn't going to change that.

I don't care if we race bicycles or dump trucks around there, it's going to create that style of racing, so bring it on. Nobody really knows what's going to happen.

We're somewhat skeptical, but optimistic at the same time about how the Car of Tomorrow is going to perform in the race at Bristol. It should be a good race, but I think there will be a lot of cautions until we get used to what these things want and how they react.

But having said that, I still think it's going to be a great race for the fans, just like it always is.

Bristol is "Heaven on Earth" and the race fans love that place for all the right reasons.

Elliott Sadler, now in his ninth full season in the Cup Series, shares weekly with NASCAR.COM readers life on the road through staff writer Dave Rodman.