Fantasy NASCAR Racing

points over Bill Elliott.  In the process,Earnhardt set a NASCAR modern era record of four consecutive wins and won five of the first seven races.  In the 1987 season, Earnhardt earned the nickname "The Intimidator", and his final season for the blue and yellow Wrangler Jeans sponsorship.  Shelmerdine led Earnhardt to three wins in 1988 as Bill Elliott won the title.  The following season they would win five times but still only manage a second place finish in points.  In 1990 the duo returned to their Championship form as they won nine times and Earnhardt claimed his fourth Cup Title, beating out Mark Martin by 26 points.  The 1991 season saw Earnhardt win his fifth Winston Cup championship.  This season, he scored four wins and won the championship by 195 points.  They could only manage one win and finish 12th in points.  In the ten season that Shelmerdine lead Earnhardt, the two amassed 44 wins, and won the Cup championships in 1986, '87, '90 & '91).  Notable wins included; Coke 600 (1986 & 1992); Southern 500 (1987, 1989 & 1990).  His accomplishments include being one of the youngest crew chiefs to win a NASCAR race, and one of the youngest crew chiefs to win a Cup championship.  In 1992, he announced he was retiring from his crew chief duties, and embarked on a racing career on his own to pursue his dream of being a driver.  He started running in the ARCA series in 1993 where he has three career wins.  Shelmerdine's Cup career actually started in 1981 in a race at College Station at Texas World Speedway.  His next start would come at Talladega Superspeedway in 1994 for Jimmy Means.  Shelmerdine finished 26th in the #52 Ford.  He started his own Cup team in 2002 and ran races at Talladega, Loudon and Pocono, but he was primarily a "field filler" driver.  2004 was a breakout year for Shelmerdine, as he attempted all 36 races as an owner, 32 as a driver.  As team owner he had other drivers fill in for him at selected tracks.  2005 was a step back as the team qualified for only three races.  He started out 2006 on a better note.  He was rolling his car on to his hauler after failing to qualify high enough in his qualifying race for the Daytona 500.  A NASCAR official stopped him, and informed him that he qualified for his first Daytona 500 by gaining the final spot with his qualifying speed.  He finished in 20th place on the lead lap, the best finish of his Cup career.  His performance gained media attention as he said if he did not qualify, he'd sell his race team because he was extremely low on money.  He was using a motor from Richard Childress (in exchange for a displaying a sponsorship decal).  His tires had been donated by a family of Dale Earnhardt fans.  He had no full-time pit crew, only his loyal team mates such as Phil Harris, J.V. Daniels and a few others.  He raced off and on until 2010 when his folded up his shop and retired.  The assets of Kirk Shelmerdine Racing were to be sold at Public Auction at the team's basis in Welcome, North Carolina.  Shelmerdine stated the reason for the closure is lack of sponsorship and technology provided for independent teams.