Herm's first start in the #25 Virginia is for Lovers car came in the 1993 Hardee's 200 @ Richmond, where he started 9th, and finished in 11th place~ He got his first top 10 in the car just 2 races later, in the Budweiser 250 @ Bristol, with a 6th place finish~ He followed this up a week later with another top 10 in the Mountain Dew 400 @ Hickory, where he finished 9th, after starting from the 13th spot~
Sadler's first top 5 in the car came 2 races later, in the Miller 500 @ Martinsville, where he came home in the 4th position, after starting 15th~ For the next 3 races, (Nazareth, Charlotte, and Dover) Sadler failed to finish higher than 29th place~ In the Havoline 250 @ the Milwaukee Mile, Hermie scored his best finish as of yet, with a 3rd place showing~ He equaled that finish in the 21st race of the season, the Autolite 250, @ Richmond~
Hermie Sadler with the #25 Virginia is for Lovers car on the beach~
Hermie picked up his first win of his career driving the Virginia is for Lovers car in the Polaroid 300 @ Rougemont, after starting from the 4th spot~ This race also marked the end of Glenn Jarrett's career~ For the final 5 races of the season, Herm finished no higher than 14th place (Hickory)~
The team ran Oldsmobiles for the entire season, and finished the season with 1 win, 4 top 5's, and 8 top 10's.. while finishing 10th in the final points standings~ Sadler also won the 1993 R.O.Y. honors~
The 1994 season saw the team switch from Oldsmobiles to Chevrolets, and Sadler started and finished the season opener at Daytona in 12th place~ He followed that up with a 3rd place finish at Rockingham in the Goodwrench 200, and a 5th place finish @ Richmond, in the Hardee's Frisco 250~
Hermie Sadler's #25 battles Ricky Craven, and his #2 Dupont Chevy~ (1994)
The season started picking up by the 6th race of the season, and in the Mark III Vans 200, @ Darlington, Sadler came home with a 10th place finish, after starting the race on the outside of row 1~ He follwed that up with a 9th place finish in the Sundrop 400, @ Hickory~ He had some trouble the following week @ Bristol~ While he started in 6th position.. Sadler finished 18th, following a couple of accidents~
Never one to get discouraged.. Sadler picked up his 2nd, and final victory of his career the following race, in the Pantry Stores 300, again @ Rougemont~ After this win, the Herm was in 2nd place in the season point standings, tying a season best~ He didn't pick up another top 10 until several races later, in the Fay's 150 @ Watkins Glen, where he finished 5th~ Two races later, in the Ford Credit 300 @ South Boston, (South Bostons first BGN race since 1991) Sadler was narrowly beaten by David Setzer (his first ever win), in what was a real heartbreak for the Virginia native~
Sadler's final top 5 of the season came several races later, in the SpitFire 200 @ Dover, where finished 5th after starting from the 41st starting spot~ Another odd note on his 1994 season.. Sadler failed to qualify the #25 Virginia is for Lovers car for the Busch Light 300 @ Atlanta.. so he purchased the #4 Kodak Funsaver Chevrolet from Fred Turner, where he started, and finished 32nd~ He finished the season off with 1 win, 6 top 5's, and 11 top 10's, while leading a career high 291 laps, and finishing a career high of 5th in the final points standings~
Hermie Sadler #25 Virginia is for Lovers Chevrolet~
I actually just got this car today, specifically for the blog~ I already had it, but the one I have has really nice packaging still, so I didn't wanna open it~ When I found this one today for a dollar.. I picked it up so I could open it and do a blog on it~ As some of you may know, I'm from Virginia.. so this was always a super cool car to me, probably more so than if I was from Vermont.. or Maine, etc~
Hermie looks so young, and tiny in the picture.. as this was over 20 years ago, but I'm still more fond of the older Racing Champions cards, that had the autograph on the back~ It's like you're only getting 1/2 of a card this way, and I never was a fan of that~ Another thing I didn't like about the car, is the orange that goes around the bottom of it... it's too pale~ It's not only like that on the die-cast either.. the real car was like that too.. like a powdered orange.. and it just bothered me that it wasn't a more vibrant orange, or even a red~
Other than that, the car was beautiful on track, as well as this 1/64 version~ I love when they put a nice glossy coat on the black cars~ It's like a nicely waxed and buffed floor~ I love it~ haha~ Overall I give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, it's only flaw being the 1/2 card thing~ Below is a picture of a custom card I made for an Al Unser Jr. car I got that was in a PVC promo box, which has no card or stand~ I'm gonna get it printed off, and put it on a stand.. and when I get done with it, I'll do a post on it~
If any of you want a custom card made for a car you have, send me an email @ buttermilkjug@yahoo.com and I'll make one for you, and send you the file so you can have it printed off at a print shop~ I won't charge for it, I like making them~ Also below are some Hermie Sadler clips from his career~ I hope y'all enjoy, and thanks for stopping by the blog again.. I'll try and get a new post up sooner than I got this one up~ ;)
Al Unser Jr. #46 Valvoline Synthetic custom Racing Champions card~
Made by me~
Top 5 Hermie Sadler crashes~ Courtesy of NASCARNixon~
Hermie and Sterling Marlin @ a wrestling event~ lol~
Courtesy of Web Conn~
Hermie crashes in the 2003 Little Trees 300~
Courtesy of nascarvideoarchive~
Hermie Sadler wrestles R-Truth~
Courtesy of Tito jacking~
No comments:
Post a Comment