Hooters signs with Brett Bodine for rest of 2002 and gets a teammate: Brett Bodine got some good news on Thursday. The Hooters Restaurants chain has decided to sponsor #11 Ford Bodine’s team for the remainder of the 2002 season. The company had been one-race sponsor for Bodine in the past two races [Atlanta and Darlington]. “This is a great opportunity for our race team to be involved with Hooters Restaurants for the remainder of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup season, said Bodine. “This sponsorship will put stability back into our race team so we can focus on making our team more competitive. The sponsorship agreement will give Hooters primary sponsorship of a Winston Cup series car for the first time since 1996. The company won the 1992 Winston Cup championship as sponsor of the #7 Ford driven by the late Alan Kulwicki.(ThatsRacin.com) and….Bodine gets a teammate: Kirk Shelmerdine, a regular in the ARCA series, will run a limited schedule this season in Winston Cup as a second team with Brett Bodine Racing. Shelmerdine, once a crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, has picked up sponsorship for his schedule by Eastern Foods Inc. The team plans to enter as many as five races this season. This is a great opportunity for me, Shelmerdine said. We look forward to this new partnership.(ThatsRacin.com) AND more: Hooters of America chairman Bob Brooks will sponsor Brett Bodine’s #11 Ford for no less than 26 of the remaining 31 races on the schedule and will also back a second car out of the BBR shops in five races for Kirk Shelmerdine using the Naturally Fresh brand of his Eastern Foods company. Bodine’s team has the option of selling the remaining five races to another primary sponsor, but a team spokesperson said Hooters might opt to be on the car for those events as well. Bodine’ associate sponsorship programs with Wells Fargo Financial, Timberland Pro, TEC Graphics and Express Services Inc. all will continue. Doug Richert, who joined Bodine at the season’ second race, at North Carolina Speedway, working in the crew chief’ role as a consultant, will continue in that position at Bristol as Bodine weighs his options.(NASCAR.com)(3-21-2002)
