From Wrestling Promoter to Restaurant Owner and Father of Three, FOX NASCAR’s Hermie Sadler Stays at 200 MPH

This extended Q&A marks the next in a long-running series with FOX Sports motor sports personalities continuing over the next several months. FOX NASCAR reporter and veteran NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler, who covers pit road for FS1 in the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES and NASCAR XFINITY SERIES, is back behind the wheel this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, two days after covering Wednesday’s NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES race from Bristol (live on FS1 on Aug. 17 at 8:30 PM ET with pre-race coverage beginning at 8:00 PM ET). Between his FOX NASCAR duties and racing schedule, Sadler, who lives 75 miles from Richmond, where he will again compete in the No. 14 Toyota, still finds time to own and operate a restaurant; serve on the board of directors for a professional wrestling organization; manage the Hermie and Elliott Sadler Foundation, which raises funds for various charitable organizations for the advancement of autism research; and be a father to three daughters, one of whom is autistic, and a husband to their mother.

FOX SPORTS: You’ve spent the past week-and-a-half with your mother, Bell, at the hospital in Richmond. She has had a tough road. How is she doing now?

SADLER: “She was very ill and was diagnosed with septic shock, and her infection was traced back to her gall bladder. It caught us off guard a bit, but fortunately, between the doctors in Emporia (Va., hometown) and in Richmond, they’ve done a great job of caring for her. The experience has brought our family closer because Elliott (Sadler, brother), Missi (Sadler, sister) and I have pulled together to support our mom through this and also help our dad, who isn’t in the best health. We’re hoping she will be out of the ICU by Wednesday and home by the weekend.”

FOX SPORTS: Your oldest daughter, Cora, just went back to UNC-Chapel Hill last weekend for the fall semester of her sophomore year. You’re a UNC grad. How much did the fact you graduated from UNC influence her decision to enroll there last year?

SADLER: “Cora grew up going to sporting events at UNC with me and knows of the friendships I have with UNC folks and how special they are to me. But we never discussed any of that while she was making her decision. She’s really excited about being back this week with her cheerleading friends and in her apartment. We found out a couple of weeks ago that she made Varsity Cheerleading this year as a sophomore, so she will be traveling to cheer the Tar Heels on versus Georgia on Labor Day Weekend. I will be in Canada for the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES race, but hopefully, I will be able to catch it on TV. But I should be able to make three home football games this season, weather permitting on the NASCAR circuit.”

FOX SPORTS: You and your wife have a house full of girls. What are your three daughters’ ages?

SADLER: “I’m seriously outnumbered in my house by 4-1. Cora is 19, Halie is 18 and Naomi is 13.”

FOX SPORTS: When you announced you were driving the No. 14 TriStar Motorsports Toyota in the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES races at Bristol and Richmond, you tweeted you needed to “delete 30 pounds” before Bristol. How much of a joke was that and are you on a diet?

SADLER: “I poke fun at myself because I’m concerned about being able to zip my uniform all the way up. I don’t want to be Jimmy Spencer with my firesuit zipped only halfway up. Although I’d like to lose a few pounds, the main thing I’ve been focusing on is hydrating better. I don’t race often anymore, and the cars are hotter inside than they used to be. I am down about 10 pounds from three weeks ago. I’ve cut out a daily ritual. For years, every single night at 4:15 a.m., my internal clock wakes me up, sends me to the kitchen and makes me get a Rice Krispie treat and a glass of milk. That had to stop. I don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll get to drive a race car, so I want to make sure I’m in the best condition I can be and not fall out of the seat.”

FOX SPORTS: Back in June, you tweeted out a picture of a driving lesson gone awry with your daughter, Halie, complete with a car stuck between some trees. What happened?

SADLER: “Halie is my 18-year-old autistic daughter. Although she’ll probably never drive, we have been trying to push her outside her comfort zone on some things. So, we’re working on the components of a learner’s permit. I usually am the one giving Halie driving lessons, but Cora (19-year-old daughter) was with her on our property. Halie was in the driver’s seat with Cora outside the car, leaning into the driver’s window showing her turn signals and so forth. Halie got a little mixed up, put the car in reverse and then hit the gas instead of the brake. She backed Cora’s car all the way down our backyard and into the creek. If you ask Halie what happened to Cora’s car, she says, ‘It fell in the creek.’ We all got a huge laugh out of it, but fortunately, no one was hurt. Halie’s not the only one in our family who has ever torn up a vehicle.”

FOX SPORTS: Tell us a little about your role in the wrestling world and how you first became involved.

SADLER: “Right now, I’m on the Board of Directors for Global Force Wrestling, an upstart promotional company owned by Jeff and Karen Jarrett. Jeff has been a lifelong wrestler and promoter. I’ve been a part of this for about 18 months. I grew up a wrestling fan, and my dad used to take Elliott and me to NWA shows with Ric Flair and those guys. Being involved in NASCAR as a driver and TV personality, I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people, including some wrestling personalities. For a few years, I furnished ‘The Rock’ (Dwayne Johnson) a car in exchange for appearing in commercials for my car dealerships. In 2002, I became an initial partner in TNA Wrestling with Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter. Sterling Marlin and I appeared in a couple of their Pay-Per-Views together, and I wrestled a couple of times. You seriously should check it out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfv5rJAvX8w&app=desktop). I might surprise you.”

FOX SPORTS: Rate yourself as a wrestler on a scale of 1-10.

SADLER: “Oh, I’m a 12.”

FOX SPORTS: You own and operate a restaurant, of all things, in your hometown of Emporia, Va., called FOSHO. How did you stumble into restaurant ownership and where did the name come from?

SADLER: “FOSHO was started out of necessity. I built a building in Emporia about six years ago, and one of the tenants was Starbucks. After a year, they decided the city wasn’t for them, so we negotiated a buyout, leaving me with a beautiful building with a drive-thru but no tenant. Instead of dealing with another franchise, I opted to start my own. It has been well-received and done well, and we have grown the catering component of it, as well. I tried for a year to find a name I liked and could trademark. It turns out people had trademarked anything and everything they could think of with my name on it. I was coming up blank. One day while working out in Phoenix, I was headed from the track to meet my friend (and fellow Tar Heel) Scott Williams to play golf. I texted him I was running late and would be there soon. He replied, ‘FOSHO!!’ I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but I liked it. And more importantly, nobody had trademarked that term for restaurant and services. So, I named it FOSHO, and the name has been a great conversation piece through the years.”

FOX SPORTS: You and Elliott are renowned for your accents that are nearly indistinguishable from each other. Do you have any funny stories about this?

SADLER: “When we were younger, I was able to answer the phone when Elliott’s girlfriends called and make things quite interesting for him, without him knowing, because they couldn’t tell us apart. Well, interesting for me, but maybe complicated for him. Most people think I’m either from Canada or Louisiana, which I find odd. But with my accent, I never dreamed I’d do one TV show, much less 10 years’ worth. I poke fun at myself, and if people don’t like my accent or find it funny, that’s okay, as long as they watch NASCAR on FS1.”

FOX SPORTS: Who is your pick to win Wednesday’s NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES race at Bristol Motor Speedway?

SADLER: “It’s be hard to pick against William Byron for anything right now. He has shown the ability to be so good on so many kinds of tracks at a very young age. Byron is the standard bearer right now, but my two dark horses at Bristol are Timothy Peters and Daniel Hemric. Hemric is getting close to winning. Peters has had a fast truck in a lot of races recently, but his team hasn’t been able to put a complete race together. Bristol is one of his favorite tracks. Both those guys are primed to win any day now.”