I had the opportunity to meet some past and present local racecar drivers.

Some of these drivers were Hermie Sadler, Elliott Sadler, and Denny Hamlin. I also was able to do a short interview with Kyle Busch and Mark Martin.

These were just a few of the famous people that my dad and I met while reporting on the spring race in Richmond.

I also met with the plant manager of Lipton Tea in Suffolk, and an employee there who was the honorary starter for the Friday night race.

Hermie Sadler

Q:

What has been your racing career highlight?

A:

The first late model stock car race that I won back in 1992 in Manassas. You never forget your first win.

Q

How long have you been a state of Virginia media spokesperson such as the Virginia Lottery and Virginia is for Lovers?

A:

We started out with Virginia is for Lovers back in 1993. We did a promotion with the Virginia division of tourism and then I became involved with the Virginia lottery back in 2001 when I was driving one of there cars that they sponsored for a couple of years in the Sprint Cup Series. I’ve been fortunate to represent my home state and that’s what some people don’t get to do.

Q:

In breaking into TV and radio sports coverage, how difficult was this and what are some of the high and low points?

A:

It hasn’t been difficult at all, just because I don’t try to over-engineer what I do. I just get on TV and talk about what I’ve seen on the racetrack just like if I were to be sitting at home watching it on TV. They give us a lot of lead way to get points across to the fans at home so it’s been a pretty easy transition for me.”

Q:

“I know you are a wrestling fan, are you still active in anyway and how so?”

A:

“I am involved with TNA wrestling obviously. I have been involved with it since they started in 2001. I own a professional wrestling organization called the United Wrestling Federation and we do live events up and down the east coast. I have a contract with TNA where I appear on there Spike TV show once a month to do color commentary to do something different and have a good time on there.”

Q:

“Do you have any comments on Hamlin’s weekend performance especially as a native Virginia son?”

A:

“I’m from Virginia, it’s a Virginia track and if it’s not my brother winning then I want any other Virginian to win. I always think it’s a good story when any of the hometown boys win. Denny’s had a great weekend so far obviously winning and sitting on the pole for the race tonight. If we can get one of those Virginia guys in victory lane I think that would be a good ending to the weekend.”

Q:

“Do you have any comments on Elliott’s qualifying and how do you expect him to finish tonight?”

A:

“I think he’s going to do well because he had a good run at Phoenix until his engine blew and he has the same car here that he had in Phoenix. He has a top 10 qualifying run and track position is very, very important at a track like Richmond and I expect him to do well.”

Q:

“Do you have any comments on the Franklin/Southampton area or any encouraging remarks to your local race fans, Elliott’s fans, and racing in general.”

A:

“I wish we still had a racetrack there, you know Southampton Motor Speedway. It’s a lot of race fans in that area and a lot of them will be here this weekend. It’s a tough time for people right now and hopefully once people get there feet back under them and things start going better we’ll see racing return back to Southampton County.”

Q:

“Do you have any comments or wishes to Suffolk’s recent tornado victims?”

A:

“Our foundation is doing some stuff to help the victims in Suffolk and that was an unbelievable thing that happened. As bad as it was we we’re lucky that nobody got hurt worse then they did. A lot of people were affected negatively and when something like that happens we’re very fortunate that nobody got seriously injured or even killed. It’s something that we don’t see that often. The thing about Southside Virginia is that when people have misfortune, people rally around them to help them out and the same thing will happen now.”

I also was able to interview Denny Hamlin this past weekend after he won the pole for the big event Saturday night. He said “It’s definitely good to be back in my home state, it‘s pretty much where I grew up. It’s a lot of fun for us to come back here and enjoy ourselves and see all the fans with the gear on. It’s just been great here for us. We’ve been on a roll and we need to keep having these good, solid runs.” Hamlin also won the race on Friday night and finished 24th on Saturday night after leading the first 381 laps out of the 410 laps they raced.

I also spoke with Ted Narozny, who is the Plant Manager of Lipton Iced Tea, which is located in Suffolk, Virginia, on the donation of 10,000 dollars to the Victory Junction Gang. The Victory Junction Gang is a camp for kids that was set up by Kyle Petty in 2004 in honor of his son Adam. Lipton sponsored the Nationwide race that was held on Friday night. The car that Lipton was sponsoring on Friday night was driven by Kasey Kahne. Kahne won the pole with this car for the Friday night race. In an interview with him about the Victory Junction Gang he said “I’m just looking forward to this weekend with Lipton on the Nationwide car. We had a good qualifying run and ended up 2nd in practice. We’ve done some things with Lipton over the last couple of years like Unilever. It’s been a lot of fun to work with those people and be part of this. I’m happy to be here and I’m excited to hear what there going to do with Victory Junction.” Mr. Narozny then said “Being a sponsor of the Lipton 250 race is really important to us. Lipton is the hometown tea in Virginia and our plant in Suffolk employs over 400 people and this is part of the reason why Lipton is the number 1 tea in America. We’re committed to Virginia in other ways as well.” Kyle Petty then said “It is important and huge for us to have Lipton come on board just as Kroger has been apart of the Victory Junction program in the past. They have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for us in the last few years. With Lipton, it’s huge for us, because this connects us to the state of Virginia and that’s been critical for us all along. We’ve said it from the very beginning, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and eastern Tennessee. We’ve got to get those regions engaged to see more and more kids and to have that look in the community to be able to bring kids to the camp and I think that’s what Lipton does for us. Kasey and his foundation, and his mother have been involved in the camp and Kroger has been involved in the camp. For us to have a new partner in Lipton is pretty cool. This is huge for us because this opens up the state of Virginia for us. Another person from Lipton Tea that I interviewed prior to the race Friday night was longtime employee Ricky Gregory who was the honorary starter for the Nationwide race. Mr. Gregory said “I’ve been at Lipton for 18 years. I’m the honorary starter tonight for the Lipton Tea 250. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been going to races since 1984. I started by going to Darlington. This is the first time I’ve held an honor like this in all those years.”