Shelmerdine's Nextel Cup career actually started in 1981 in a race at College Station (Texas World Speedway, where owner/driver James Hylton brought out a 2nd car (No. 8) for Shelmerdine to drive. After two laps, he quit and finished 33rd of the 34 cars. His next start would come at Talladega Superspeedway in 1994 for Jimmy Means. Shelmerdine finished 26th in the No. 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.