Hut Stricklin

Hut Stricklin, son-in-law of Nascar legend Donnie Allison, won the 1986 Goody’s Dash Series championship, winning nine of seventeen races and ten poles.

Stricklin ran three Winston Cup races in 1987 for owner Skip Jaehne. In 1989, Stricklin finished second in the 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year standings while driving the #57 Heinz Ketchup Pontiac for Rod Osterland.

In 1990 Stricklin drove two races for G.Bradshaw, and one race for legendary owner Rick Hendrick before teaming up with Nascar legend Bobby Allison in the #12 Raybetos Brakes Buick.

In 1991, Hut Stricklin turned heads in Winston Cup, as he finished a career high 16th in the final Nascar Winston Cup Standings. Hut’s season was highlighted with a 2nd place finish to friend Davey Allison at Michigan.

Stricklin entered 1992 with high hopes. Halfway through the season Stricklin was lured to leave Bobby Allison Motorsports to join Nascar legend Junior Johnson in a new team with mega sponsor McDonalds. Allison soon learned sponsor Raybestos Brakes would move to another team the next season and decided to part ways with Stricklin after the 21st race of the season. Stricklin finished out the season running 4 races with Junie Donlavey and 2 races with Larry Hedrick before running the season finale in the #27 McDonald’s Ford at Atlanta for Junior Johnson.

In 1993, Stricklin finished 4th in his McDonald’s Ford at Daytona but, his season would not be what he had expected. Owner Junior Johnson was going through a divorce with longtime wife Flossy and the value of Junior’s teams were the focal point. Stricklin finished 24th in the final points standings.

Junior Johnson teamed up with Travis Carter to start up a new Winston Cup team for the 1994 season. Johnson & Carter decided to move Stricklin to new #23 Ford team, with mega sponsor Camel Cigarettes under the “Smokin Joe’s Racing” label. The Smokin Joe’s Racing was a fan favorite but, being affiliated with Junior Johnson didn’t fair well for Stricklin as much as it did for Johnson’s drivers Bill Elliott and Jimmy Spencer. Both of Johnson’s drivers made it to victory lane while Stricklin battled mechanical failures all year long finishing 26th in the final standings.

In 1995, Stricklin hit a low and a high point in his career. Travis Carter decided to part ways with driver Stricklin and replace him with Jimmy Spencer. While looking for another ride, owner Kenny Bernstein hired Hut Stricklin to be a consultant for rookie driver Steve Kinser in the #26 Quaker State Ford. Kinser was struggling while moving from open wheel cars to the stock car series and Stricklin was being hired to assist in setups and coaching for Kinser. When Kinser kept wrecking cars, Bernstein decided to replace Kinser with Stricklin. Crew chief Richard Broome and Stricklin hit it together from the start. Stricklin grabbed his first career Winston Cup Pole Award at North Wilkesboro. While racing for Bernstein Stricklin scored five top-10 finishes and finished 30th in the final points standing even though he only attempted 24 races. But bad news came when Stricklin learned Bernstein had struck a deal with driver Brett Bodine to sale the team. Then the Stovola Brothers called and hired Hut Stricklin.

Hut Stricklin ran the entire 1996 season in the #8 Circuit City Ford and finished a second best for Stricklin in the final points standing at 22nd.  The highlight of 1996 year for Stricklin was a dominating effort as Stricklin lead the most laps only to loose the lead due to over heating on the final laps to Jeff Gordon and finishing 2nd at the Southern 500 at Darlington.

The 1997 season was challenging for Stricklin because Stricklin’s owners, the Stovola brothers, pressured Stricklin to leave his hometown Calera, AL and reside near the shop in North Carolina. They also advised Stricklin to sale his Busch team, the #28 Smokey Mountain Chew Ford, and concentrate on his Winston Cup efforts. Stricklin finished 34th in the final standings.

In 1998, Stovola Brothers decided to switch from Ford to Chevrolet. The season started out bad when Circuit City pulled out and Stovola Brothers were forced to sale their team. Stricklin then filled in the #97 CAT Chevy after driver David Green was released. Then he drove for Andy Petree in the #55 Oakwood Homes Chevy in the first Daytona Night Race. Stricklin also drove the #77 Jasper Ford.

In 1999, Stricklin was in Daytona wearing a different hat. Stricklin was a crew chief for friend Gary Bradberry in the #78 Triad Motorsports Pilot Ford. Stricklin turned wrenches while searching for opportunities in the garage that would put him behind the wheel. Scott Barbour approached Stricklin with opportunity to drive his #58 SBIII team. Stricklin ran very well in 10 starts with limited sponsorship from MTX Audio, Federated Auto Parts, Speedbet.net and Turbine Solutions. Unable to land a primary sponsor, Barbour closed the team leaving Stricklin looking again.

In 2000, Stricklin teamed up with Junie Donlavey at the Brickyard and finished 14th without a crew chief in the #90 Hills Bros Coffee Ford.

In 2001, Stricklin agreed to a 1year deal with owner Donlavey and finished an impressive 6th at Michigan. Stricklin reunited with crew chief Philipe Lopez in efforts to bring the team up to speed however, Donlavey and sponsor Hills Bros had differences over the shops location. Sponsor Hills Bros wanted owner Donlavey to move his team to the Charlotte, NC area in order to use more resources. When Donlavey declined, Hills Bros began a search for a team to move their sponsorship and driver Hut Stricklin over to. With the 2001 season closing, Hill Bros announced Bill Davis Racing would be Stricklin’s next stop. Stricklin competed in the season’s final race in the #23 Hills Bros Dodge and finished 11th at Atlanta.

Now we’re here, 2002, and Stricklin finds himself in a familiar spot, looking for another team. Stricklin started the season on a sour note when the team failed to qualify at Daytona and was able to finish only as high as 11th at Talladega. Battling a new hard tire compound and changing Nascar rules, the team never was able to come together as Hut fans had hoped. During the Bristol night race, driver Jeremy Mayfiled sent Stricklin’s car into the wall after putting his bumper into Stricklin’s left rear while leaving turn 3. The crash destroyed Stricklin’s car and hopes at Bill Davis Racing. Stricklin received word on the following morning that Kenny Wallace would replace Stricklin immediately in an effort to gain knowledge for 2003 season when Wallace and sponsor Stacker 2 would replace Hills Bros on the #23. In a recent report Stricklin stated he was making phone calls in order to line something up for the next season.

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