Bobby Hillin Jr. #31 Team Ireland Chevrolet

    In 1991, Team Ireland was formed by Irishman Martin Birrane~ The team made their debut in the 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 500 @ Pocono, fielding the #53 Ireland Chevrolet with Indy Car star John Paul Jr. at the wheel~ Paul never adjusted to the heavier NASCAR cars, and was replaced after 2 races by Bobby Hillin Jr., for a planned 15 race schedule in 1992~


    The team changed to #31, and used cars and engines supplied by Richard Childress Racing~ Hillin competed in 10 races with the team in 1992, with a best finish of 13th in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte~ Due to lack of sponsorship, and being unable to pay a fine levied by NASCAR for illegal use of cylinder heads in the Mello Yello 500, Birrane chose to close up shop, and leave the sport~


    As this team only ran 14 races during it's NASCAR tenure, there isn't much to write about.. Hillin did have a decent career, and I'll talk about him more later, as I have 3 or 4 more Hillin cars to review~

                                               Bobby Hillin Jr. #31 Team Ireland Chevrolet~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

                                                          

    They did a great job with this car, with the exception of the absence of the side and rear decals~ Very shiny clear coat, and bright green lettering~ I wouldn't necessarily call this a "rare" car, but it is probably the most rare of the Hillin cars~  Along with this car, a car hauler of the team was produced by Matchbox~ I can't find any footage of this actual car, but I am gonna post a couple Hillin videos down below~ Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by~

                                                   1993 Daytona 500 Hillin/Petty Scuffle~

                                                                Bobby Hillin singing~

                                                1987 Bud at the Glen (Hillin/Marlin crash)