In 1992, Kirk Shelmerdine left a lucrative job as Dale Earnhardt’s championship crew chief and decided to race his own way into the Cup Series. But the journey proved as treacherous as it was humbling. By 2004, he was a struggling owner-driver fielding some of the slowest cars on the circuit. All kinds of controversy followed his No. 72 – even political intrigue. But this same year laid the foundation to something much greater, much to the joy of his small but dedicated fan base. #RiseOfTheFieldFillers #ROTFF MUSIC CREDITS “Get Tough” – TrackTribe “Come On Out” – Dan Lebowitz "The Awakening" – Patrick Patrikios SPECIAL THANKS (1) Dave Laurence at RacingUnderdog.com for his coverage in 2004 (https://web.archive.org/web/20040212065151/http://www.racingunderdog.com/) (2) Dave W’s Racing Channel for his collection of classic qualifying broadcasts (https://www.youtube.com/user/de31168) (3) BakerRacingPix.com for his collection of photos from Riverside, particularly the championship “start-and-parks.” (http://www.bakerracingpix.com/) (4) Rick Houston and Steve Waid at "The Scene Vault Podcast," for their interviews with both Kirk Shelmerdine and Brett Bodine. (https://www.patreon.com/thescenevaultpodcast/posts) VIDEO CREDITS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjZQnMo0uMCH1XGqEgdhjTmhnmUtwLmkR PHOTO CREDITS Associated Press BakerRacingPix.com Crash.net eBay Edwin Turner Fuller Motorsports and Collectibles Google Images KirkShelmerdine.com Jayski’s Silly Season Site Jim Garrahan Legends Media Motorsport.com @nascarman_rr PhotosByBill.com Precious Moment Photography Richard Childress Racing ShelmerdineRacing.com Sportpics Wikipedia Commons @wimmer33fan OTHER SOURCES 2ndChanceRaceParts.com Jayski’s Silly Season Site Racing-reference.info The Scene Vault Podcast ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDBDJveEodI

A stand-alone version of my introduction to the starting grid video for the 2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega (thus the lack of clips after that time). Thought it would be neat to have it here next to the Daytona 500 montage I made back in February. Music is "Poison Well" by Insolence (from the soundtrack to "Driven") ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKe6TUY9jrQ