In the Field: Elliott Sadler (cont'd)

The neatest thing we've done so far is put a 50-inch flat screen TV on the outside of the house that I can watch when I'm in the pool, in the Jacuzzi or out on the deck.

It's built on a slide so when I'm not there it slides back inside the house and locks up. You can't even tell it's there, when it's closed up. So that's the coolest thing we've done so far.

I got an awesome security system, too. Plus, I got my guard dogs.

The funniest thing, to me about shopping was going after those paintings. It reminded me of Beverly Hills Cop, when Eddie Murphy walks in the art gallery to see his old friend and some of the weird art they had hanging on the wall, and Eddie's looking at them like they're crazy.

I looked at some of that last week, but thought 'You know what? Never in a million years would I have thought I would buy anything like this.'

Usually I put deer heads, or deerskin or something like that up on the wall -- something that looks like a log cabin.

But I actually picked out some weird looking art that was like something you'd see in that gallery in Beverly Hills Cop. I'm actually gonna put it up on the wall and I think it's gonna be cool looking.

At least it's something different, and something contemporary.

At this point, the biggest thing we need to get done is my cabinets. They're late on them, and I'm starting to get impatient -- even though I'm managing to stay pretty busy.

Inside the house we're using a lot of blacks and browns. It's going to be kind of a dark-finished house. But it's pretty cool.

It's got a lot of tile in it. No wood, because I'm not a hardwood guy. So it's got a lot of tile, granite and some marble -- and a lot of carpet. I hate cold floors so I like as much carpet as I can get.

It's all pretty cool. It's a stucco house and I'm real, real happy with it so far.

But I'll tell you one thing. The biggest surprise so far has been how much it cost to put furniture in it. You make a budget and you figure out how you can build it and what your monthly payments are going to be.

And then they come break the news to you that this is how much it's going to be for a TV and a radio and a sofa and a bed and whatever else you need. The cost of furnishing a house nowadays is amazing -- especially when you're trying to match it up and to be neat.

You can't put old stuff in a new house. I can't take all the stuff out of my apartment that I've been living in for the last four years and put it in my new house.

It just won't fit. You don't come in on a pit stop and put old tires on -- you put on new ones for better performance. So for a new house, you've got to put new stuff in it. And that costs.

I'm beginning to find that out, so I need to start running a little better on Sundays to start getting some money put aside for all that.

Last weekend, I got to do something cool. When I left Martinsville after Happy Hour practice I went back to South Boston Speedway to watch my cousin, Owen Miller, race his No. 2 Dodge Late Model stock car.

I don't get many chances to watch him race at South Boston so I really wanted to do that. I sponsor him with my Elliott Sadler Dodge dealership.

He's kind of following in my footsteps. He finished second in the points last year and we're trying to give him what he needs to win a championship. His last two races have been a little rocky so after the Richmond test I'm going to his shop to help him get better for the rest of the season.

He lives right across the street from me, so I try to go over there and help him as much as I can when I'm home. And being at Martinsville was one of the great weekends when I got to go and watch him.

Also, after we test at Richmond this week, for the first time in my life I'm going to Walt Disney World -- as a 31-year-old kid. I'm going with my girlfriend's family, and I can't wait.

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.