Dale Earnhardt Jr Turns the Spotlight on NASCAR Hall of Fame Crew Chief Kirk Shelmerdine as He Cites Dale Earnhardt SR’s Example

Kirk Shelmerdine, the ever famous crew chief has recently been nominated to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Shelmerdine made it to the prestigious title as the newest member alongside Matt Kenseth and Hershel McGriff. Dale Earnhardt Jr opened up on this recently.

Kirk was elected on Wednesday through the modern ballot system. So was Kenseth, while McGriff made it through as one of the five nominees. Dale Earnhardt Jr applauded the former crew chief of his father and expressed that his efforts were valiant which played a part to the success of his father.

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Talking about this, Dale Earnhardt Jr tweeted from his official Twitter handle, “For me, my father was the best wheelman ever. But any talented driver will tell you that the crew chief must provide the winning hot rod. Some couldn’t always do that even for a great like Ironhead. Kirk always did.”

How was Kirk Shelmerdine’s partnership with Dale Earnhardt?

Kirk won four titles when he was the crew chief of Dale Earnhardt. Dale who was a seven-time Winston Cup Series Champion, won the titles in 1986, 1987, 1990, and 1991 while working with Kirk. The duo together won 29 races in those four seasons. Dale Earnhardt Sr. teamed up with Shelmerdine from 1984 to 1992.

Prior to that Kirk worked with Ricky Rudd as his crew chief. He worked with Ricky for two seasons. Apart from the duo, the 64-year-old crew chief also worked with James Hylton and Richard Childress. He won 46 races with them out of all 460 races they appeared in. Moreover, Shelmerdine posted top 10 finishes in more than half of the starts from his drives. Insane statistics indeed.

After getting elected to the Hall of Fame, Kirk stated as reported by ESPN, “It would be a few more years before it happened. It’s always been a surreal thing for me to be in the middle of all these legends. As the years go by the stats pile up and you start to be in the sentence with it all. Everything just clicked together.”

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As it seems, Kirk Shelmerdine had a vital role to play in Dale Earnhardt Sr’s career. So, Dale Earnhardt Jr appreciating the new Hall of Famer is indeed a classy act.