Hooters on the #11? UPDATE 2 more races, two cars?: hearing from some readers that it was reported on a local Atlanta sports talk radio, 790 AM The Zone, that during an interview with Cup driver/owner #11 Brett Bodine, that he will have Hooters Restaurants as his sponsor at Atlanta in a one race deal.(3-8-2002) UPDATE: — While Hooters restaurants owner Robert Brooks ponders future long-term involvement in NASCAR Winston Cup racing, he has reached a temporary sponsorship agreement with team owner-driver Brett Bodine for Sunday’s MBNA 500. Bodine’s #11-Ford will carry Hooters colors for the Atlanta Motor Speedway event. Bodine has been struggling to keep his team afloat because of sponsorship difficulties. Bodine and Brooks worked out the agreement Thursday night, the eve of race qualifying. Also involved in those discussions was driver Kirk Shelmerdine. Brooks sponsored Shelmerdine in a failed effort to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500, then announced that he planned to start a Winston Cup team with Shelmerdine as the driver. Brooks has been exploring options, including buying a race shop or suitable property in the Charlotte area to start a Winston Cup team. He also has talked to Bodine about becoming more involved in his operation, possibly as a co-owner, Brooks said Thursday. Brooks’ restaurants sponsored Alan Kulwicki’s unlikely Winston Cup championship run in 1992. The next spring, Kulwicki and three Hooters representatives, including Brooks’ son, Mark, were killed in the crash of a private plane on the way to a race in Bristol.(Greenville News)(3-8-2002) UPDATE 2: Brett Bodine’ #11 Ford will be sponsored by Hooters restaurants for the MBNA 500, a one-race deal that may turn into a larger association down the road. Bob Brooks, the Hooters CEO, met with Bodine on Thursday to begin discussions about a possible future together. Brooks had previously announced his intentions to start a Winston Cup team to run a limited schedule beginning later this season. Driver Kirk Shelmerdine, who tried to qualify for the Daytona 500 in a Hooters-sponsored Ford, was to be part of that new team. Brooks said Thursday night that if he and Bodine work out a deal for 20 or more races this year, there may be some events where Bodine and Shelmerdine both attempt to qualify.(ThatsRacin.com)(3-8-2002)
