Team Ireland

{{About|the NASCAR team|the hockey team|Ireland men's national ice hockey team|Irish A1 Grand Prix team|A1 Team Ireland|Team Ireland (foundation)|Team Ireland Foundation|Olympic Team Ireland|Olympic Federation of Ireland}}

{{Infobox NASCAR team

| Team_name = Team Ireland

| Logo =

| Owner_names = Martin Birrane

| Base =

| Series = Winston Cup Series

| Numbers = 53 (1991)
31 (1992)

| Drivers = John Paul, Jr.
Bobby Hillin Jr.

| Sponsors =

| Manufacturer = Chevrolet

| Debut = 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 500 (Pocono)

| Final = 1992 Mello Yello 500 (Charlotte)

| Races = 14

| Drivers_champ = 0

| Wins = 0

| Poles = 0

}}

Team Ireland was a stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1991 and 1992. Owned by Irishman Martin Birrane, the team posted a best finish of thirteenth with driver Bobby Hillin Jr.

Winston Cup Series

=Car No. 31 history=

Team Ireland made its debut in the 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, competing in four races with the No. 53 Chevrolet; the team intended to field IndyCar driver John Paul Jr. in its cars, but after Paul proved to have a hard time adjusting to the heavy NASCAR cars, he was replaced after two races by Bobby Hillin Jr., who joined the team for a planned 15-race schedule in 1992.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xTgdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0aUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6089,331831&dq=martin-birrane+team-ireland&hl=en|title=Aiming High|last=Stout|first=Harold|date=May 3, 1992|work=The Tuscaloosa News|page=C1|accessdate=2013-09-12|location=Tuscaloosa, AL}} Changing to the No. 31 and using cars and engines supplied by Richard Childress Racing, the team competed in ten races during the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, posting a best finish of 13th in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway,{{cite web|url=http://www.racing-reference.info/rquery?id=birrama01&trk=t0&series=W&o=1|title=Martin Birrane (owner) - NASCAR Sprint Cup Results|work=Racing-Reference|publisher=USA Today Sports Media Group|accessdate=2013-09-12}} before being forced to close due to a lack of sponsorship;{{cite news|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/262940964|title=A speedway phenom gets second chance|last=Fry|first=Darrell|date=February 11, 1993|work=St. Petersburg Times|page=1C|access-date=2013-09-12|location=St. Petersburg, FL}} the team was unable to pay a fine levied by NASCAR for the use of illegal cylinder heads in the Mello Yello 500 in October,{{cite book|last=Howell|first=Mark D.|title=From Moonshine to Madison Avenue: A Cultural History of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series|year=1997|publisher=Bowling Green State University Popular Press|location=Bowling Green, OH|isbn=0-87972-739-X|page=26}} and team owner Birrane chose to leave the sport.{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=GB&p_theme=gb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB192BA2472E1DD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Kyle Petty notches fourth straight pole spot at Rockingham|last=Zeller|first=Bob|date=October 23, 1993|work=Greensboro News & Record|page=C5|accessdate=2013-09-12|location=Greensboro, NC}}

==Car No. 31 results==

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%"
Year ! Driver ! No. ! Make ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! 15 ! 16 ! 17 ! 18 ! 19 ! 20 ! 21 ! 22 ! 23 ! 24 ! 25 ! 26 ! 27 ! 28 ! 29 ! {{Tooltip\|NWCC\|NASCAR Winston Cup classification}} ! Pts
rowspan=2\| 1991 ! John Paul Jr. ! rowspan=2\| 53 ! rowspan=3\| Chevy \| DAY \| RCH \| CAR \| ATL \| DAR \| BRI \| NWS \| MAR \| TAL \| CLT \| DOV \| SON \| POC \| MCH \| DAY \| style="background:#efcfff;"\| POC 32 \| TAL \| style="background:#dfffdf;"\| GLN 16 \| style="background:#ffcfcf;"\| MCH DNQ \| BRI \| DAR \| RCH \| DOV \| MAR \| NWS \| colspan=4\| ! rowspan=2\| ! rowspan=2\|
rowspan=2\| Bobby Hillin Jr. \| colspan=25\| \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| CLT 18 \| style="background:#FFCFCF;"\| CAR DNQ \| PHO \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| ATL 32
1992 ! 31 \| style="background:#EFCFFF;"\| DAY 38 \| CAR \| RCH \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| ATL 21 \| style="background:#FFCFCF;"\| DAR DNQ \| BRI \| NWS \| MAR \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| TAL 28 \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| CLT 13 \| DOV \| SON \| POC \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| MCH 17 \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| DAY 25 \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| POC 25 \| TAL \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| GLN 23 \| style="background:#CFCFFF;"\| MCH 26 \| BRI \| style="background:#DFFFDF;"\| DAR 17 \| RCH \| DOV \| MAR \| NWS \| style="background:#000000; color:white"\| CLT 40 \| CAR \| PHO \| ATL ! !

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%"

Year

! Driver

! No.

! Make

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7