FRANKLIN CO., Va. (WDBJ) – Senator Bill Stanley is a regular at the Capitol and the courthouse, and at speedways in Virginia and the Carolinas.
Stanley teamed up with former NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler to challenge the state’s ban on skill games. And now they have a race team sponsored by Pace-O-Matic, a company that manufactures many of the skill games operating in Virginia.
Stanley and Sadler have known each other for years, but the lawsuit led them in new directions, including a podcast, and a racing team.
“And so it just seems to be why not,” Stanley told WDBJ7. Hermie and I will get a wild idea and write it down on paper and the next thing you know we’re doing it. And that’s how we got to this race team.”
They put driver Ryan Newman behind the wheel in NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour Race at the Richmond Raceway Friday night.
And they’re running a full schedule in the Smart Modified Tour that visits racetracks including the Motor Mile Speedway, Franklin County Speedway and the South Boston Speedway.
“As you can see this thing is built like a bullet. It’s fast and it’s really fun to drive.”
Chris Williams is the director of the SMART Modified Tour, and he’s happy to have the Sadler/Stanley Racing team in the field.
“To be honest, it’s broadened our whole SMART Modified Tour,” Williams said in an interview. “And I think the relationship is going to build even further from here.”
It’s no coincidence that skill games manufacturer Pace-O-Matic is a leading sponsor of the Sadler-Stanley Car, and the SMART Modified Tour.
“I think racing, skill games and Pace-O-Matic is a great partnership, because the people that play the games are the people that love racing,” Stanley said. “The people that have the games in their stores are the ones around these short tracks in the Commonwealth of Virginia and other states.”
The SMART Modified Tour is at South Boston Speedway this Saturday, and at Franklin County Speedway April 10.
The skill games lawsuit rolls into the Greensville County Courthouse on May 18.
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