BACE Motorsports was a championship-winning NASCAR team. It was owned by entrepreneur Bill Baumgardner, who also founded Staff America. Baumgardner was inspired to start his own team after Staff America was a sponsor in the Busch Series for two years. The team was famous during its tenure for always running its familiar No. 74.

BACE Motorsports
Owner(s)Bill Baumgardner
BaseCharlotte, North Carolina
SeriesWinston Cup, Busch Series
Race driversJohnny Benson, Randy LaJoie, Chad Little, Tony Raines, Tim Fedewa
SponsorsLipton Tea, Fina, Bayer, Outdoor Channel
ManufacturerChevrolet
Opened1993
Closed2005
Career
Drivers' Championships3 (Busch Series)
Race victories16

Beginnings (1993)

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BACE made its debut in 1993 at the season opening race at Daytona International Speedway. Jack Sprague was the driver, and he finished 44th after the engine expired. After that less-than-stellar debut, Sprague and BACE made a good turn around, and they soon became a consistent top-20 contender, and had three top-10 finishes. After the fall race at Dover International Speedway, BACE and Sprague parted ways, and Winston Cup star Ernie Irvan occupied the car for one race, but another driver took the reins as well, a young short-track driver named Johnny Benson.

Championship years (1994–98)

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With Steve "Birdie" Bird as the crew chief, Benson's rookie year with BACE started off slow, as he originally didn't finish higher than 16th. After a long string of finishes 22nd or worse, Benson put together two consecutive top-5 finishes at The Milwaukee Mile and South Boston Speedway, then had three more top-ten finishes before winning his first race at Dover. At the end of 1994, Benson was named the Busch Series Rookie of the Year and was sixth in points. Benson's momentum carried over into the following year. Along with Lipton Tea coming on board as sponsor, Benson won twice early in the season, and finished outside of the top-ten only nine times. The consistency was enough for him to clinch that year's championship. When Benson signed on with Bahari Racing for 1996, veteran Randy LaJoie was tabbed his replacement along with a new sponsor in Fina. LaJoie had no problem adjusting, and he won five times as well as a second straight championship for BACE; then he repeated the performance in 1997. 1997 also saw the appearance of a second BACE car, the No. 33 Kleenex team driven by Tim Fedewa. In two seasons, Fedewa won twice and finished 7th in points in 1998. After a seemingly disappointing 1998 season that saw just one victory and a fourth-place finish in points, LaJoie left for Phoenix Racing while Fedewa signed with Cicci-Welliver Racing, and sponsor Kleenex departed for Progressive Motorsports.

Later years (1998–2005)

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BACE had an entirely different look in 1999. Alka-Seltzer and Bayer sponsored the 33 car driven by Jason Jarrett, while the rookie Tony Raines drove the unsponsored No. 74.[1][2] The results were mixed. Raines showed consistency and came out of left field to win Rookie of the Year,[2] while Jarrett was released after the race at California Speedway,[3] and was replaced by a series of rotating drivers including Mike Wallace, Hermie Sadler, and Benson returning to the team briefly. For 2000, Raines slid over to the No. 33, while rookie P. J. Jones signed to drive the 74 car.[4] Raines finished second at South Boston, and finished 15th in points, while the 74 team disappeared briefly due to operating expenses,[5] before Chad Little became the driver towards the end of the year. Raines (No. 33) and Little (No. 74) returned in 2001, and both drivers finished in the top ten in points (Raines-6th, Little-9th). Raines finished 12th in point for the 2002 season in the No. 33. Little started the season out in the unsponsored No. 74 but after the first couple of races that season, BACE decided to make the move to Winston Cup running a part-time schedule in the No. 74 Monte Carlo. After missing several races, Little left the team. Raines drove the rest of the part-time schedule in 2002 and made the move to full-time Winston Cup in 2003. Raines got a sixth-place finish at North Carolina Speedway, but was left in the dust for the Rookie of the Year running. BACE returned to the Busch Series for 2004, but this time, Raines was not their original driver until later in the year, when he replaced Damon Lusk. BACE was forced to cut back to a part-time schedule because of their decreasing finances, and put Jimmy Spencer in the car with a few races to go in the season. In 2005, BACE announced they would temporarily suspend operations but return as soon as sponsorship was found. Its equipment was sold to Kevin Harvick Incorporated, and the team has not been heard from since.

Motorsports Results

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Winston Cup Series

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Car No. 73 History

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NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
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 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 NWCC Pts
2002 Tony Raines 73 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV
31
POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL CAR PHO HOM 68th 70

Car No. 74 History

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NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
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 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 NWCC Pts
1997 Randy LaJoie 74 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR TEX
DNQ
BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO ATL N/A -
2002 Chad Little Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL
DNQ
RCH CLT
DNQ
DOV
33
POC MCH SON DAY 45th 572
Tony Raines CHI
DNQ
NHA POC IND
DNQ
MCH
43
BRI DAR
35
RCH NHA DOV
31
KAN
41
TAL CLT MAR ATL
29
CAR
DNQ
PHO
43
HOM
DNQ
Joe Varde GLN
42
2003 Tony Raines DAY
33
CAR
37
LVS
24
ATL
24
DAR
41
BRI
42
TEX
42
TAL
16
MAR
33
CAL
31
RCH
14
CLT
37
DOV
31
POC
30
MCH
33
SON
31
DAY
DNQ
CHI
22
NHA
33
POC
16
IND
25
GLN
41
MCH
24
BRI
20
DAR
42
RCH
35
NHA
33
DOV
30
TAL
31
KAN
26
CLT
25
MAR
23
ATL
18
PHO
19
CAR
6
HOM
13
35th 2800

Busch Series

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Car No. 7 History

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NASCAR Busch Series results
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 30 Owners Pts
1996 Greg Sacks 7 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY NZH CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NHA TAL IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM
31
1997 Bryan Wall DAY CAR RCH ATL LVS DAR HCY TEX BRI NSV TAL NHA NZH
25
CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAL CAR HOM

Car No. 26 History

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NASCAR Busch Series results
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 30 31 32 Owners Pts
1998 Johnny Benson Jr. 26 Chevy DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT
17
GTY CAR ATL HOM
7
71st 146
1999 DAY
37
CAR
14
LVS
11
ATL
43
DAR TEX
15
NSV BRI TAL CAL
38
NHA RCH NZH CLT
35
DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 57th 562

Car No. 33 History

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NASCAR Busch Series results
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 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts
1997 Tim Fedewa 33 Chevy DAY
34
CAR
10
RCH
18
ATL
7
LVS
15
DAR
14
HCY
3
TEX
38
BRI
7
NSV
3
TAL
5
NHA
39
NZH
11
CLT
35
DOV
15
SBO
19
GLN
32
MLW
10
MYB
12
GTY
6
IRP
4
MCH
25
BRI
27
DAR
15
RCH
9
DOV
14
CLT
27
CAL
33
CAR
19
HOM
10
9th 3398
1998 DAY
20
CAR
18
LVS
19
NSV
8
DAR
34
BRI
34
TEX
13
HCY
3
TAL
27
NHA
11
NZH
1*
CLT
18
DOV
17
RCH
15
PPR
35
GLN
7
MLW
8
MYB
6
CAL
17
SBO
1
IRP
38
MCH
32
BRI
5
DAR
26
RCH
21
DOV
15
CLT
30
GTY
18
CAR
9
ATL
27
HOM
10
8th 3515
1999 Jason Jarrett DAY
27
CAR
21
LVS
38
ATL
23
DAR
41
TEX
DNQ
NSV
24
BRI
DNQ
TAL
43
CAL
39
32nd 2167
Johnny Benson Jr. NHA
21
RCH
DNQ
DOV
12
DOV
34
CAR
6
PHO
14
HOM
27
Brad Leighton NZH
34
GLN
43
MLW
37
IRP
36
Mike Wallace CLT
DNQ
Curtis Markham SBO
DNQ
Hermie Sadler MYB
31
PPR
11
GTY
14
MCH
32
BRI
DNQ
DAR
DNQ
RCH
24
Geoff Bodine CLT
17
MEM
38
2000 Tony Raines DAY
21
CAR
24
LVS
16
ATL
12
DAR
21
BRI
22
TEX
15
NSV
36
TAL
33
CAL
20
RCH
15
NHA
15
CLT
25
DOV
16
SBO
2
MYB
17
GLN
14
MLW
26
NZH
12
PPR
43
GTY
28
IRP
40
MCH
35
BRI
11
DAR
39
RCH
41
DOV
24
CLT
19
CAR
26
MEM
12
PHO
18
HOM
33
19th 3061
2001 DAY
36
CAR
38
LVS
4
ATL
10
DAR
22
BRI
8
TEX
20
NSH
16
TAL
14
CAL
8
RCH
2
NHA
12
NZH
6
CLT
24
DOV
10
KEN
3
MLW
10
GLN
27
CHI
11
GTY
23
PPR
19
IRP
12
MCH
3
BRI
17
DAR
10
RCH
21
DOV
7
KAN
7
CLT
14
MEM
31
PHO
16
CAR
22
HOM
14
8th 3975
2002 Pontiac DAY
34
TAL
20
13th 3804
Chevy CAR
9
LVS
36
DAR
7
BRI
11
TEX
20
NSH
30
CAL
25
RCH
37
NHA
24
NZH
10
CLT
21
DOV
27
NSH
22
KEN
3
MLW
5
DAY
13
CHI
18
GTY
5
PPR
35
IRP
9
MCH
16
BRI
8
DAR
9
RCH
4
DOV
11
KAN
5
CLT
11
MEM
15
ATL
19
CAR
23
PHO
28
HOM
36
2003 DAY CAR LVS
33
DAR BRI
2
TEX
36
TAL NSH CAL
31
RCH
3
GTY NZH CLT
36
DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI
8
NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI
8
DAR RCH
8
DOV
22
KAN
38
CLT MEM ATL PHO
23
CAR 39th 1339
Damon Lusk HOM
18

Car No. 74 History

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NASCAR Busch Series results
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 30 31 32 33 34 Owners Pts
1993 Jack Sprague 74 Chevy DAY
44
CAR
12
RCH
20
DAR
24
BRI
21
HCY
19
ROU
21
MAR
9
NZH
12
CLT
24
DOV
27
MYB
16
GLN
21
MLW
32
TAL
15
IRP
17
MCH
9
NHA
20
BRI
23
DAR
33
RCH
13
DOV
4
19th 2429
Randy LaJoie ROU
4
Johnny Benson CLT
30
CAR
DNQ
HCY
19
ATL
18
Ernie Irvan MAR
9
1994 Johnny Benson DAY
26
CAR
25
RCH
15
ATL
16
MAR
20
DAR
16
HCY
4
BRI
30
ROU
4
NHA
12
NZH
31
CLT
22
DOV
22
MYB
16
GLN
33
MLW
3
SBO
3
TAL
38
HCY
11
IRP
11*
MCH
38
BRI
8
DAR
4
RCH
6
DOV
1
CLT
11
MAR
13
CAR
8
6th 3303
1995 DAY
10
CAR
4
RCH
3
ATL
1
NSV
6
DAR
2
BRI
6
HCY
1
NHA
5
NZH
3
CLT
30
DOV
14
MYB
9
GLN
7
MLW
33
TAL
5
SBO
16
IRP
13*
MCH
5
BRI
12*
DAR
2
RCH
3
DOV
9
CLT
26
CAR
3
HOM
9
1st 3688
1996 Randy LaJoie DAY
7
CAR
7
RCH
6
ATL
28
NSV
21
DAR
12
BRI
6
HCY
3
NZH
1
CLT
5*
DOV
1
SBO
5*
MYB
18
GLN
30
MLW
3
NHA
1*
TAL
3
IRP
1*
MCH
10
BRI
29
DAR
5
RCH
8
DOV
1
CLT
6
CAR
9
HOM
10
1st 3714
1997 DAY
1*
CAR
3
RCH
8
ATL
16
LVS
29
DAR
1*
HCY
2*
TEX
9
BRI
3
NSV
6
TAL
12
NHA
7
NZH
3
CLT
10
DOV
3
SBO
1*
GLN
21
MLW
1
MYB
3
GTY
17
IRP
1*
MCH
17
BRI
4
DAR
18
RCH
2
DOV
2*
CLT
15
CAL
10
CAR
20
HOM
2
1st 4381
1998 DAY
5
CAR
7
LVS
18
NSV
4
DAR
23
BRI
25
TEX
6
HCY
23
TAL
23
NHA
5
NZH
42
CLT
14
DOV
11
RCH
11
PPR
3
GLN
37
MLW
10
MYB
1*
CAL
16
SBO
2
IRP
4
MCH
16
BRI
31
DAR
19
RCH
30
DOV
37
CLT
29
GTY
7
CAR
30
ATL
41
HOM
9
4th 3543
1999 Tony Raines DAY
28
CAR
20
LVS
28
ATL
21
DAR
21
NSV
11
BRI
39
TAL
24
CAL
17
NHA
13
RCH
17
NZH
11
CLT
18
DOV
17
SBO
9
GLN
13
MLW
21
MYB
19
PPR
25
GTY
21
IRP
10
MCH
30
BRI
30
DAR
25
RCH
36
DOV
4
CLT
25
CAR
12
MEM
28
PHO
20
HOM
28
12th 3142
Steve Grissom TEX
40
2000 P. J. Jones DAY
40
CAR
35
LVS
35
ATL
24
DAR
27
BRI
39
TEX
31
NSV TAL CAL RCH NHA CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV 38th 1262
Chad Little CLT
DNQ
CAR
32
MEM PHO HOM
DNQ
2001 DAY
9
CAR
15
LVS
16
ATL
15
DAR
24
BRI
12
TEX
31
NSH
27
TAL
11
CAL
18
RCH
20
NHA
14
NZH
20
CLT
21
DOV
11
KEN
6
MLW
20
GLN
16
CHI
17
GTY
13
PPR
16
IRP
3
MCH
16
BRI
9
DAR
13
RCH
6
DOV
4
KAN
36
CLT
17
MEM
16
PHO
13
CAR
17
HOM
27
9th 3846
2002 DAY
14
CAR
24
LVS
21
DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM 69th 312
2003 Kerry Earnhardt DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX TAL NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR
23
HOM 119th 0
2004 Damon Lusk DAY
21
CAR
24
LVS
DNQ
DAR
25
33rd 1553
Tony Raines BRI
6
TEX
43
NSH
15
TAL
26
CAL GTY RCH
16
NZH CLT
12
DOV
12
NSH
41
KEN
15
KEN MLW CHI
20
NHA PPR
16
MCH
35
BRI
29
CAL
19
RCH DOV
36
KAN
Tyler Walker IRP
30
Jimmy Spencer CLT
22
MEM ATL PHO
39
DAR HOM
28

References

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  1. ^ "BUSCH: BACE Motorsports Signs Jason Jarrett". us.motorsport.com. 1998-11-14. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  2. ^ a b Paula. "Fast Facts: Tony Raines". Skirts and Scuffs. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  3. ^ "BUSCH: Jason Jarrett; The man behind the name". us.motorsport.com. 2000-03-08. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  4. ^ "BUSCH: P.J. Jones Signs with BACE Motorsports". us.motorsport.com. 2000-01-11. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  5. ^ "BUSCH: BACE closes doors for now". us.motorsport.com. 2000-04-07. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
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