564 - Elliott & Hermie Sadler: Virginia Is For Brothers

Dale Earnhardt Jr. welcomes longtime NASCAR competitors Elliott and Hermie Sadler to the studio on this episode of the Dale Jr. Download. After growing up in Emporia, Virginia, the accomplished brother duo picked up their father’s interest in racing and entered into the go-kart ranks. They explain that their father owned dirt cars that competed on the short tracks of Virginia and North Carolina and were maintained in their family-owned Chevy dealership. Hermie would win a World Karting Association national championship for dirt karts in 1988 and would graduate to late model stock cars with the support of his parents. Hermie explains that after initially struggling, his father tried to convince him to give up his racing career in pursuit of something new. In what was supposed to be one last attempt behind the wheel, Hermie would win his first-ever late model race in Manassas, inspiring him to continue onward.

When Hermie graduated into the NASCAR Busch Series and found early success by winning his first race and the Rookie of the Year title in 1993, Elliott followed him up the racing ladder, occupying the now vacant family late model seat. Elliott would keep the Sadler name in victory lane by winning the 1995 track championship at South Boston before making a splash in the NASCAR Busch ranks himself. Elliott tells the story of getting a call from the Wood Brothers to drive the famed 21 NASCAR Cup ride and how he scored an emotional victory for the team at Bristol. Meanwhile, Hermie struggled on his path through NASCAR and would eventually settle into the broadcast booth, where he became one of the most known on-air personalities in the sport. Elliott takes listeners through his journey from Yates Racing to Evernham Motorsports before moving back to the NASCAR Xfinity ranks, where he’d finish up his career at JR Motorsports.