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Shelmerdine to third Haas-Carter car? UPDATE 4:

July 6, 2001 at 12:00 AM

Shelmerdine to third Haas-Carter car? UPDATE 4: See original story and Updates on the #26 Team News and Links page. – Haas-Carter Motorsports participated in a two-day test session on Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway with driver Kirk Shelmerdine and the #46 Ford. Owner Travis Carter says he’s unsure whether or not he’ll field a third team for the 43rd annual Pepsi 400 on July 7. “We want to run it sometime, but I doubt (the car) would be ready for the Pepsi race,” Carter said. “Perhaps Talladega. (The test) is a good opportunity to learn something for all the cars. In order to do that, we need a third car to do it. “We hope to learn a little something for the 26 and 66. You’re always looking to expand your operation and that’s what we’re doing, looking to expand to a third car. As much as I hate to say it, it looks like it’s the nature of the beast.” Shelmerdine, a veteran of the ARCA RE/MAX Series, knows his way around tracks like Daytona International Speedway. He won the pole for the 2000 Discount Auto Parts 200 Presented By ACDelco at the “World Center of Racing.” Said Shelmerdine of the test: “You can’t just jump right in there. There’s a lot of research that goes into it. From our standpoint, we’re going to test a lot and see what happens after that. I don’t think there’s time to get prepared even if you had a year. There’s so many more things on the list to get through in order to hit the ground running.” Carter says Shelmerdine would be a potential driver to put into the #46 Ford if the team chooses to enter the car in a race. “If we run the car at one of these races, he would be probably a good candidate to run it,” Carter said. “We’re tweaking the minor stuff,” Carter said. Said Hillenburg: “We’re a lot better than our last trip here. We feel a lot better about this test.”(DIS Site/PR)(6-27-2001) UPDATE 4: Kirk Shelmerdine, a four-time champion crew chief with Dale Earnhardt and lately a part-time driver, moved one step closer to a Winston Cup ride last week when he tested one of Carter’s Fords at Greenville-Pickens. “If we get sponsorship, we might run him in a race,” Carter said.(Winston Salem Journal)(7-6-2001)