“Ernie is very talented and his experience will make a tremendous impact on our team,” stated Hermie Sadler. “We are proud to have him and are looking forward to a very successful season. We’re gearing up to run the first eight NASCAR Busch Series races and select NEXTEL Cup races. I’ve been very impressed with Ernie’s knowledge and work ethic and know his hard work will pay off with solid results.”

Sadler also announced a partnership with Jenkins and Jenkins. The LaPlata, Maryland based law firm will join SCORE Motorsports as a major associate sponsor for 2004. SCORE Motorsports is seeking additional sponsorship in order to run the entire 2004 schedule and compete for the NASCAR Busch Series Championship.

For more information regarding sponsorship opportunities please contact SCORE Motorsports by calling (434) 348-0267.

Hermie & Bryant in Charlotte, Oct. 2003

Hermie & Bryant with Gov. Warner in April 2003

The Score Motorsports team formed by veteran NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler and former NBA basketball player Bryant Stith will become charter member of NASCAR's "Drive for Diversity" in 2004. Sadler and Stith say they will field a car at South Boston (Va.) Speedway in the program designed to place minority drivers in Late Model cars in NASCAR's Dodge Weekly Series. Sadler said he and Stith were approached by NASCAR Chief Operating Officer George Pyne about taking part in the program.

NASCAR and Access Communications, the company spearheading the Drive for Diversity program, have assured the partners that the car will have a full primary sponsor for a program expected to cost $100,000 to $300,000 annually. The story says Sadler also plans to drive at least a dozen Busch Series races and a few Nextel Cup events for Score Motorsports next year (2004 season).

NEW FACES IN DRIVER'S SEAT? ; NASCAR'S EMPHASIS FOR 2004 SEASON CENTERS ON DIVERSITY PROGRAM
Nate Ryan. Richmond Times - Dispatch. Richmond, Va.: Feb 1, 2004. pg. C.1
Copyright Richmond Newspapers, Incorporated Feb 1, 2004

The 2004 NASCAR season officially doesn't begin until Friday, when the garage doors at Daytona International Speedway are hoisted for business. Yet the year already has been stamped with an overriding theme: change.

Nextel will replace Winston as the title sponsor for the first time in 33 years. Brian France will begin his first full year as NASCAR's head honcho. A 10-race playoff will determine the series' champion.

But while newsmakers dominate the national headlines, the most sweeping change in NASCAR might be taking place at the short tracks scattered across the Southeast that represent racing's grass roots. This year could be remembered as a turning point in the career of NASCAR's first black, Hispanic or female champion.

The wheels were set in motion at Hickory Motor Speedway in the course of two blustery days in early January. The historic 0.363- mile oval - tagged "the birthplace of NASCAR stars" for claiming Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett and Ralph Earnhardt as past champions - welcomed a dozen male and female drivers of various racial and ethnic backgrounds for the "Drive for Diversity" scouting combine.

The new program, commissioned by NASCAR and created by Access Communications, intends to build a pipeline to funnel well-trained minority drivers and crew members into a traditionally lily-white sport.

"They will be the ones who set the precedent," Access Communications General Manager Daryl Stewart said. "This is the new wave."

If successful, the project will be regarded as NASCAR's first wave. Through five decades, stock-car racing has garnered a lackluster record for attracting minorities. Danville, Va., native Wendell Scott became the only black driver to win on its premier circuit in 1963. Bill Lester, who is entering his third year in the Truck Series, will be the only black driver competing regularly in any of the top three divisions this year.

Focusing on developing talent through its minor leagues, NASCAR and its teams will make the biggest push this year to increase minority involvement. Joe Gibbs Racing has jump-started its own diversity initiative with former NFL star Reggie White, putting Chris Bristol and Aric Almirola in Late Models at North Carolina short tracks.

The Drive for Diversity plans should be finalized by mid- February. Emporia native Hermie Sadler and former U.Va. basketball star Bryant Stith will co-own a team competing at South Boston Speedway, and Cup veteran Bobby Hamilton and longtime owner George deBidart also will field cars. At least five drivers will be paired with Late Model teams in the Dodge Weekly Racing Series. The program also will put another half-dozen minority crew members in the Craftsman Truck Series.

The divergent dozen driver candidates range in age by more than two decades and include blacks, a Native American, Latinos and women. But their goals are common.

"Everyone here wants to win a championship," said Joe Henderson, an 18-year-old from Franklin, Tenn. "There's nothing black or white about that."

Color still has curtailed advancement in some cases. Shanta Rhodes, a frequent competitor at New River Valley Speedway in Radford, has been discouraged when his sponsorship efforts have dried up to the benefit of others.

"Being a minority and not seeing changes since Wendell Scott, it's hard to put forth money because it hasn't been done," Rhodes, 28, said. "I pitch companies, and I see them on Robert Yates' or Richard Childress' cars two months later. The big teams take the money because they have more to offer.

"We haven't really had a minority showcase their talents at the top three levels. Once that's done, you'll see the bigger teams taking on minorities."

According to deBidart, who also owns teams in the Busch and Truck series, those chances have been limited.

"This was long overdue," deBidart said.

But he still expects a wait of at least five years before minorities begin finishing in the top 10 of a Nextel Cup Series race. Patience will be a key to progress.

"The last thing I want is to go to the Daytona 500 in three years and have a diversity provisional," deBidart said. "We can do this if we do it right. We don't want to get there because we're made to meet certain quotas. Fans won't accept that. They have to make it the way others did, earning their stripes racing on Friday and Saturday nights."

For those who don't make the cut, there is hope of planting seeds for success in the future.

"Regardless of if these 12 drivers make it, you've got more kids coming up," Rhodes said. "They'll have role models, and we can give them hope. I don't care if I make it, I just want to be part of it. This is history in the making."

Bruce Driver, a 39-year-old Modified ace from New Jersey, echoes that attitude, hoping to become a mentor to minority stars when his driving is done.

"This program is going to be great for the younger generation," he said. "This isn't just one team. It's owners, organizations and teams coming together to be diverse. NASCAR isn't looking to put its name on a program and have it fail."