More rumors from Mike Mulhern of the JournalNow, some a tad on the wild side: Kmart officials are studying a possible return to the Winston Cup tour, according to NASCAR sources. One of the men who could land a Kmart sponsorship, Ricky Rudd, presumably for his proposed second team.(I assume this is as a primary sponosr as they are on the #2 and #12 teams in an associate role, also Ricky Rudd, announced at Indy that he would not start a 2nd team) Michael Waltrip is pulling out all the stops in his search for a new ride, and his name is being mentioned in connection with the Larry Hedrick and Jim Mattei rides. Hedrick’s team failed to make last night’s race; the Statesville team has had to use provisionals in 14 of the year’s first 21 races. Sources close to Waltrip say the Mattei option, which would keep him in a Ford, may be the more likely.(not sure if this means as a replacement for current drivers or as a 2nd team car) RJR officials are mulling over a proposal to kick off the 2000 Winston Cup season with a Dec. 31 race in Las Vegas, 9 pm until midnight. If that comes off, then the off-season between the last race of the 1999 season, which will apparently be Nov. 21, and the first race of the 2000 season would be all of five weeks.(this seems unlikely, but who knows) Steve Hmiel is one of the big questions in the garage. Will he stay with Jack Roush or move on? Hmiel is head of Roush’s Liberty operation, which fields cars for Johnny Benson and LePage. But Roush-North has been overshadowed this season by Roush-South, where Mark Martin and Jeff Burton work out of. Hmiel is one of the top crews
and team managers in the sport. If he moves on, there is speculation he could move to Richard Petty’s operation. That’s where Hmiel got his start back in the early 1980s.
Hmiel still lives in the Petty neighborhood, and a move to Petty Enterprises might make more sense than a move to Charlotte. A few years ago Hmiel took a job with Rick Hendrick, as manager of his three teams, but Hmiel quit after only a few days on the job, saying it didn’t feel right. An unnamed Nashville businessman is a potential new Winston Cup car owner, according to NASCAR sources who say an offer is in the works to purchase a part of Brett Bodine’s team. Indy-car man Chip Gnassi is once again considering a Winston Cup effort, according to sources close to the situation. (JournalNow) (08-23-1998)
