Shelmerdine and Hooters? UPDATE 3: hearing Kirk Shelmerdine will make a one race deal with Hooters to run the Daytona 500 with the #80 Stan Hover team with Danny Glad building the engine(1-25-2002) UPDATE: The Hooters restaurant chain, which sponsored the car that the late Alan Kulwicki drove to the 1992 Winston Cup championship, plans to return to the series after a five-year absence. Hooters plans to sponsor the #80 Ford, which Kirk Shelmerdine will drive in an attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(1-26-2002) UPDATE 2: hey the Buzz caught up……..A little birdie tells The Buzz that Hooters restaurants may be returning to Winston Cup. Rumors are swirling around a possible one-race Daytona 500 deal that would put ARCA ace Kirk Shelmerdine in a Hooters-sponsored Ford with #80 on the side.(NASCAR.com Buzz)(1-27-2002) UPDATE 3: The Hooters restaurant chain, which sponsored the car that the late Alan Kulwicki drove to the 1992 Winston Cup championship, plans to return to the series after a five-year absence. Hooters plans to sponsor the #80 Ford, which Kirk Shelmerdine will drive in an attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500. “I’d say it’s a done deal as far as the one race goes,” said Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for Hooters of America. Shelmerdine, who was Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief during four of his seven championship seasons, has driven cars on the ARCA circuit but now is considering running the Hooters-sponsored ProCup Series with an occasional Winston Cup start.(Atlanta Journal Constitution)(1-28-2002) UPDATE 4: After a seven-year hiatus from the NASCAR Winston Cup ranks, the orange and white Hooters Restaurant paint scheme will return in 2002. Stan Hover is set to field a car for crew chief-turned-driver Kirk Shelmerdine during Speedweeks at Daytona next month. The #80 Ford will look similar to the one the late Alan Kulwicki drove to a championship in 1992. “As of right now, Hooters is going to sponsor us during Speedweeks and then we’re going to talk from there,” Hover said. “It’s pretty cool to put this deal together and get them to come back into to the sport after a long absence. Considering they had that championship with Kulwicki and all, we’re real excited about this. From what I understand, the cars are going to be painted a lot like they were before. Hooters just wanted to have some fun and they figure Daytona was the place to start.” Shelmerdine has competed mostly in the ARCA ranks the last few years, but may be stepping into a BGN ride this year. Hover said that Shelmerdine is his driver for Speedweeks and, to the best of his knowledge, will drive the #49 Chevrolet for Jay Robinson if they can put a BGN deal together. Look for Andy Hillenburg to take over any more driving duties for Hover if the team enters any more races.(NASCAR.com)(1-30-2002)
