the Road not Taken reached the pinnacle of the sport as ’s crewchief during four championship campaigns. But he stepped away from Cup racing 14 years ago and headed down a path that eventually

placed him back in the limelight By JERRY F. BOONE

irk Shelmerdine crawled No, the story about Shelmerdine isn’t Earnhardt Sr. between 1986 and 1992. through the window of his about where he ended up that Sunday But four titles in six years were not black Monte Carlo after fin- afternoon. It is about how he got there. enough to keep the fire inside Shelmer- ishing 20th in the Daytona Newly minted racing fans may not dine stoked. In a decision that rocked 500 and grinned like he know the name Kirk Shelmerdine, but the Winston Cup garage, he simply quit. had just won the biggest those who go back more than a decade “I came down here as a teenager to Krace of his career. Instead of being hold him in awe. race,” he says. “I never figured on being showered with champagne, Shelmer- He came south from his Pennsylvania a crewchief. Suddenly I was in my 30s, dine was soaked in perspiration as he home to race. He was just a kid. To pay and I had spent half my life on my back, waited for NASCAR’s tech inspectors to the bills, he worked as a tire changer underneath one of these cars. Success in release his car so he could load up and and a mechanic, eventually hooking up this business costs everything you have. head home to Welcome, North Caroli- with Racing. By age It takes that level of devotion to do the na. 28 he was among the most successful job the way it has to be done. He wasn’t in Victory Lane. Jimmie crewchiefs in Winston Cup. His figures “Still, getting out was the hardest Johnson got to park his Lowe’s Chevro- from atop the pitbox include 46 victo- decision I ever made . . . but also the let on that hallowed piece of pavement. ries, 14 poles, 142 Top-5, and 246 Top- easiest. It got to the point I wasn’t will- Maybe that will come some other day 10 finishes. But the most important ing to give it everything I had, and at for Shelmerdine, although the odds are number is four— the number of Win- that point the decision was pretty much against it. ston Cup championships with Dale made.”

38 40TH ANNIVERSARY Shelmerdine and Phil Harris, his crewchief, are two-thirds of his full- time team. JUNE BOONE

Shelmerdine says he thought about for 15 years.” February. getting out of the business for almost Making the field has been an obses- two years before he finally packed his THE SHOW sion with Shelmerdine. This was his fifth toolbox and left Richard Childress. It was this single-minded stubborn- attempt to drive his way into the race. “I didn’t really have any plans for ness that put him underneath that car— “I tried last year and barely got on the when I got out,” he recalls. “I was sitting his own car—in the Daytona garage in track,” he says. “This time I have a much around with time on my hands when a better car and a real engine.” couple buddies talked to me about rac- That’s about all he has. He arrived at ing an old car in an ARCA But four titles in six the Speedway with one used car, a cou- race at Daytona. ple engines, no big-name sponsorship, “We came back to Daytona just to years were not enough not much money, and two crewmen on have fun, and I did really well. I think I to keep the fire inside the payroll. finished Second or Third in my first race He raced his way into the Daytona on the most famous track in stock car Shelmerdine stoked. In 500 by beating eight other drivers to fin- racing. I was feeling pretty good.” ish 21st in one of the Twin 150 qualify- What he found inside the helmet was a decision that rocked ing races. what was missing under the hood. the Winston Cup No one was more surprised than the “I knew I wanted to drive,” he says. man behind the wheel. “I’ve been working toward a crack at the garage, he simply quit. “I had the numbers written on my

JUNE 2006 39 THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

į Harris and Shelmerdine discuss replacing the wonderful story. At Daytona, dreams Monte Carlo, hammer in hand, pound- ’s A-arm with a new piece before the car goes out for its final practice run. JERRY F. BOONE can still come true.” ing away on a stubborn part until it sees Perhaps. But it helps if you work at things his way. them. His way is the way racing used to be. hand,” he says. “I was trying to figure It is the final Saturday morning of The crew works on an ’04 Monte out if we had made it, and I figured we Speedweeks, and the time is T-minus-30 Carlo that drove two didn’t.” minutes to the final practice for the years ago with US Army sponsorship. He didn’t realize he was in the sea- biggest race of the NASCAR season. Under the hood of the black Chevrolet, son’s first race until a NASCAR inspector Most drivers are in their team haulers, the hinge supports still have “US Army” showed up at his garage and told huddling with engineers and crewchiefs laser cut in the aluminum. In a bit of Shelmerdine to push his car into the over their last shot at pre-race perfection coincidence, Shelmerdine drew the post-race inspection line for teardown. or signing autographs for eager fans at a garage bay just to the left of Nemechek’s “It says something about the unique sponsorship breakfast. team. qualifying system for the Daytona 500,” Not Shelmerdine. says , former Winston He is still in his blue jeans, faded T- HELPING HANDS Cup champion and Daytona 500 win- shirt and a cap that says “Alaska.” He is He has a car. He has an engine. But ner. “Kirk’s is a Cinderella story. It’s a on a creeper beneath the black No. 27 he doesn’t have much else. The tires on the side of the car are marked with the number 27, which replaces the crossed out 8 and 57. “Some teams, like the 8, just give us the wheels and tires after they’ve put four or five laps on them,” explains Jerry Pennington, the team’s tire specialist and gas man. “There’s still a lot of wear in them and it saves us about $1,800 a set.” Under NASCAR’s new tire policy, Pennington must keep track of all the tires and wheels he gets. He then has to return them to Goodyear before the teams he got them from can leave Sun-

ǡ While other drivers were resting in their haulers or meeting with sponsors and fans, Shelmerdine was working under his car 30 min- utes before final practice for the Daytona 500. JERRY F. BOONE

40 40TH ANNIVERSARY STOCK CAR RACING THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

day night. Each tire carries a unique bar The builder supplied four teams, but almost nine years, but his resumé code, and NASCAR insists on account- three of them went home after crashing includes more than 20 seasons with Bud ing for each one as part of its effort to in the Twin 150s. Moore Racing. limit testing by controlling how many “Kirk’s our last best shot,” Kellis says. “For us, just making this race is a vic- tires a team can go through in a season. “I went with them for testing and asked tory,” says Harris. “I don’t think the guy Shelmerdine’s crew is as low-profile to come down here to help. You just who finishes first will feel any happier as his car. have to love these guys and what they than we did when we made the field. are doing.” Given what we’ve got to work with, for Outside the garage door, a crewmem- Kirk and me, it’s that big a deal.” ber pulls furiously on the hand starter Harris pulls the alignment equipment Outside the garage door, a for the generator needed to power the off the top of the toolbox. It consists of crewmember pulls furi- car’s oil warmers. He yanks and yanks, four used brake rotors with steel shafts but the rope refuses to engage the screwed to the center of them—and ously on the hand starter engine. Shelmerdine’s ball of red string. for the generator needed Kellis grabs a wheel chock and Then he goes to work aligning the thumps the end of the engine. The spool suspension just like he did when he to power the car’s oil engages and the motor fires up with the began wrenching on cars decades ago. next pull. Most team owners budget about $1 warmers. He yanks and He puts the chock back on the pit million for the race. Shelmerdine arrived yanks, but the rope refus- cart. “All it takes is the right tool for the in deep in debt, with less than job,” he says with a grin. 10 percent of that available for Speed- es to engage the engine. And the right tool doesn’t have to be weeks. the latest piece of high-tech hardware. “It’s about everything I have and “Racing has changed so much since I everything my friends could come up Skip McKenzie came from Ottawa, left Childress,” says Shelmerdine. “The with,” he says. Ontario, to help . But biggest difference isn’t the technology, He gets money from a few local busi- when Shepherd didn’t make the race, but the number of people it takes to run nesses and the executives of a Tennessee the burley Canadian walked over to a team. When I was with Dale, we had oil company who formed a promotional Shelmerdine’s garage and asked, “What only about eight guys working for us, business to raise funds for small teams. can I do?” and we did everything. Now everyone is He also has perhaps the most unusual McKenzie races open-wheel modi- a specialist. sponsor in racing. fieds, and says he knows what it is like “There [are] a lot of teams shaking Mike Feezor, one of his crewmen, to fuel a season on little more than pas- their heads at what we are doing was with Shelmerdine a few years ago sion. because we don’t have all the fancy when the financial end of the team was “If you’ve ever been in a race car, you equipment. The most important tools in circling the drain. He called his mother just can’t walk away from a team like my box are a tape measure and a ball of and mentioned the money problems. this,” he says. red string.” She rushed to the shop and gave the Jarad Kellis came with the engine. And Phil Harris. team $50,000 to carry on. It was Pro Motor Engineering, the “As far as we are concerned, any car It got him to Daytona in 2003. She Mooresville, North Carolina, shop that qualifies is capable of winning,” helped again in 2004 and in 2005. where Kellis works, that built the Chevy says Harris, Shelmerdine’s crewchief. Winifred Feezor passed away last engine for Shelmerdine. He has been with Shelmerdine for November, but before she died she told

Ĭ Shelmerdine and his crew check suspension movement after changing the Ĭ Richard Childress offered sponsorship from his winery to help his former car’s upper A-arm. JERRY F. BOONE employee pay the bills for 200 laps around Daytona. JUNE BOONE

42 40TH ANNIVERSARY STOCK CAR RACING her son to make sure Kirk got his money the political intrigue, financial maneu- į It took Kirk Shelmerdine almost 15 years to to make it to Daytona this year. So vering, and conflicts with the rule book return to pit road for the Daytona 500, this time as a driver. JERRY F. BOONE Shelmerdine got $60,000 from her that have become the norm for the Day- estate, and his car carried a large decal tona 500. featuring a buffalo and sponsorship from As a driver, his resumé is unimpres- doesn’t pause to think of the answer. the Minnesota Mdewakanton Dakota sive. He has a trio of victories in the The 47-year-old driver has muscled Oyate, which represents the tribe. ARCA stock car series and three Top-5 his way into the Daytona 500, putting finishes in the Daytona ARCA race. He’s teams with big-name drivers and huge ON A SHOESTRING made sporadic attempts to run in Cup, sponsor packages in the trailer. Still, though, it’s not enough. It hasn’t qualifying for a few races here and Has someone offered to buy his ride? been for years. there. In 2004, he attempted 30 of the To put in a substitute driver that would If wads a car up season’s 36 races and started 18 of carry the colors of a high-profile spon- against the wall on Sunday, Hendrick them. He never finished better than sor? Or maybe accept a big enough Motorsports simply rolls a replacement 37th that year, and ended the season check to convince Shelmerdine to load off its assembly line. with just a bit over $1 million in win- up, go home, and clear a space at the “And he still gets his check,” says nings. back of the 43-car grid? Shelmerdine. “I’ve got zero cars ready. If Daytona could have been Shelmer- “There’s a very short list of men who this one gets destroyed, I’ve got to find dine’s check to solvency. But it is one he have driven in the Daytona 500,” he $80,000 to get another one. That’s a declined to accept. He has been asked repeats. “My name on that list is not for huge hit for a guy like me. about selling his spot so often that he sale. You couldn’t put a price tag on “I spent a lot of time last winter ask- that.” ing myself, How long can I keep this That makes Shelmerdine’s reputation up? This race gets me in the black. It “There’s a very short one of the few things in NASCAR that gets me out of the debt from last year apparently isn’t for sale to the highest and gives me enough to keep the doors list of men who have bidder. On Sunday, it was time to see if open at the shop. We still don’t have the he made a wise investment in himself. money to run the rest of the season— driven in the Daytona Race day dawns cold and damp, with certainly not to go to the races out 500,” he repeats. “My the constant mist threatening to turn to West—but it will keep us in business for rain. Shelmerdine doesn’t have time to a while.” name on that list is not notice the change from Saturday’s blis- The success of Shelmerdine’s team tering sun. became the feel-good story of Speed- for sale. You couldn’t “Don’t try to keep up with me,” he weeks. It was a welcome diversion from put a price tag on that.” shouts over his shoulder. “You won’t be

JUNE 2006 43 THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

į Shelmerdine’s hastily assembled crew was about having to race on used tires. Tony Eury Jr., crewchief on the Bud- quick enough to keep the No. 27 on the lead lap “She turned to me and said ‘You go weiser car driven by Earnhardt’s son, for 500 miles. JUNE BOONE write him a check,’” he says. “It took me watches the black car work its way a day to get him on the phone.” through the inspection process and able to do it.” A second old friend turns up Sunday comments on the effort it has taken his He works the garage like a politician morning with sponsorship from Chil- old friend to get there. three days before an election. He’s lin- dress Vineyards. “It’s just wonderful,” he says. “I’ve ing up crew, trying to find drafting part- “I remember what it was like to come known Kirk a long time, and to see him ners, and shopping for uniforms for his to Daytona when I was starting out and come down here and make the race— tossed-together over-the-wall squad. had no money,” Richard Childress says. especially when drivers from multi-car One of those to suit up for Sunday is “I had a lot of people help me out back teams went back in the trailer to be Brandon Hall, who, besides Harris, is then. This is payback time.” sent home—says everything about his the only other man on the team payroll. The clock ticks toward deadline. A determination. This is how the sport Hall looks at the grandstands, where the pair of NASCAR inspectors lean on a was created. crowd is already beginning to fill the stack of tires to watch progress on the “Kirk’s here because he deserves to seats, and says, “I just can’t believe we No. 27 Chevy as the garages empty. be here.” made it. This is the most exciting day of Shelmerdine’s crew was the last one to Jerry F. Boone can be reached at my life. This is a day I will never forget.” push its car into the inspection line. [email protected]. Back in the garage, things are coming together for the little team that could. Tampa businessman Tim Lopez shows up with a promise to buy all the tires during the race. He also volunteers his son, Tim Jr., to work behind the wall. “My wife and I have always been big Earnhardt fans and we knew what Kirk’s part was in winning those champi- onships,” he explains. “We were in a motor coach in the infield watching an interview with Kirk when he was talking

Ǡ Shelmerdine and Terry Labonte run side by side as the Daytona 500 begins. JUNE BOONE

44 40TH ANNIVERSARY STOCK CAR RACING