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BAM Racing

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BAM Racing
Owner(s)Beth Ann Morgenthau
Tony Morgenthau
BaseCharlotte, North Carolina
SeriesSprint Cup Series
Race driversKen Schrader Mike Bliss David Gilliland Robby Gordon Klaus Graf
SponsorsAT&T, Warner Music Group, Schwans
ManufacturerDodge (2002-2008), Toyota (2008-2010)
Opened2000
Closed2010
Career
Drivers' Championships0
Race victories0

BAM Racing was a NASCAR racing team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, owned by Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau. The team began racing in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2000 before moving to NASCAR in 2001. They sat out 2009 due to the recession, and have not raced since.

Sprint Cup Series

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Car No. 49 history

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BAM Racing attempted its first Cup race at the Talladega 500 in 2001 with Andy Hillenburg, but failed to qualify. They also attempted the Pepsi 400, Pennsylvania 500 and the Brickyard 400 with Hillenburg, as well as the Pennzoil Freedom 400 with Rich Bickle, but did not qualify for any of those races.

BAM switched to Dodge for 2002, and acquired equipment from American Equipment Racing owner Buz McCall, who also provided the shop for use.[1] The team qualified for the 2002 Daytona 500 with Shawna Robinson as its driver, who was scheduled to compete in 24 races.[1] However, she struggled and her last race for the season was at the second Daytona race where she would finish 40th. Kevin Lepage, Stuart Kirby, Ron Hornaday, Stacy Compton and Derrike Cope would finish out the season with a best finish of 22nd at Talladega.

For the 2003 season it was announced that Ken Schrader would drive the No. 49. The team was forced to run with multiple sponsors throughout the year but most of the year the car was sponsored by AT&T through its 1-800-CALL-ATT collect call service. The team qualified for 32 races and had a best finish of 8th at Michigan. In 2004, it was announced BAM Racing had secured a deal with Schwan Food Company for multiple years. They were able to achieve a best finish of 6th during the season, had three less DNF's, and improved their average finish by two places.

Schwan's and Schrader again returned for the 2005 season and BAM had its best season to date with three top tens and an average finish of 25th place. After the conclusion of the 2005 season, Ken Schrader left to join Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. For 2006, Schrader was replaced by Brent Sherman who brought along sponsorship from Serta Mattresses. Sherman was to run for the Rookie of the Year award. However, after struggling through the start of the season he was released in favor of veteran Jimmy Spencer. Spencer was also an advisor for BAM and was a mentor for Sherman during his time there. However, Sherman's departure from the team left it unsponsored, as Serta had followed Sherman from ARCA racing to Busch Series and Cup series racing. Spencer raced from the spring Martinsville race until the spring Richmond race, when Mike Wallace took over. In May 2006, Kevin Lepage left Front Row Motorsports to take over the No. 49, before he was replaced by Mike Bliss in October. Chris Cook was hired to drive for the team to run the road course events, but failed to qualify for both events.

In 2007, BAM Racing was to race with Mike Bliss as the driver, using Evernham engines, but Bliss failed to qualify for 11 out of 15 attempts, and resigned midway through the season. Chad Chaffin was the team's interim driver at Loudon and Chicagoland, and Larry Foyt racing at Daytona. In the team's first attempt to qualify after Bliss' resignation at Loudon, Chaffin made the race after Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Team Red Bull Toyota were disqualified after failing post-qualifying inspection. Journeyman road racer Klaus Graf attempted several races in the No. 49, but didn't qualify for any of them due to engine blowups and a rain shower cancelling qualifying. Bliss briefly returned for a few races, before journeyman John Andretti was hired to complete the rest of the season for BAM. John Andretti was signed to drive the full 2008 season, but the contract was nullified just days before 2008 Daytona testing to put Ken Schrader in the seat in hopes of attracting more sponsorship.[2] Schrader drove in the Budweiser Shootout, but failed to qualify for the first two races of the season.[3]

2008 Daytona 500.

The team switched from Dodge to Toyota before the Goody's Cool Orange 500, along with announcing Microsoft's Small Business division as their sponsor. BAM promptly announced that they would be withdrawing from the next two races at Texas and Phoenix to refocus the team's efforts.[4] Both the expenses of switching manufacturers and the pullout of Microsoft to Michael Waltrip Racing have forced BAM Racing to push their scheduled return further back, with NASCAR.com reporting on April 15, 2008, that the team may not return to racing until the fall. However, BAM made a minor attempt at a comeback in the Sprint All-Star Race. BAM fielded a ride for Petty Enterprises developmental driver Chad McCumbee, the car was a Dodge with sponsorship from Marathon Oil. McCumbee finished 13th.

On July 11, 2008, Sports Illustrated reported that BAM Racing was in talks with Barack Obama regarding a one-race sponsorship at Pocono, through BAM spokesman Rhett Vandiver. However, Obama spokesman Bill Burton told Yahoo! Sports that the sponsorship would not happen.[5] The team took the 2009 season off due to the economy and its unwillingness to be a start and park operation.

Warner Music Nashville announced a strategic marketing alliance that gave WMN exclusive promotional opportunities with the NASCAR Sprint Cup racing team. Under the agreement, WMN artists had the opportunity to participate in branding and promotional programs at NASCAR events. The team planned to attempt a full schedule in 2010 with the new partnership and to run Toyotas. Larry the Cable Guy was to be featured on the car for the Daytona 500, with WMN artists Blake Shelton, Whitney Duncan, Gloriana, Jessica Harp, Jason Jones and James Otto joining the team for later races.[6]

On January 8, the team announced it would align with Robby Gordon and his self-owned team for the 2010 season. The join contract stated that RGM/BAM would have at least one car present at each race and would jointly field Gordon's No. 7 Toyota at certain races with sponsorship from WMN. Although it was announced that BAM would field the #49 car alongside the #7 after the Daytona 500, the #49 car did not show up and Gordon ran the #7 under BAM/Warner sponsorship until the 2010 Coca-Cola 600. BAM was not seen afterwards; it was later announced that the RGM/BAM partnership had dissolved and that RGM is exploring taking legal action against BAM Racing and Warner Music Nashville. The team made no further attempts for the remainder of 2010.

In September 2019, former American Equipment Racing owner Buz McCall confirmed in an interview with a fan that BAM is now defunct.

Car No. 49 results

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NASCAR Sprint 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 Owners Pts
2001 Andy Hillenburg 49 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL
DNQ
CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY
DNQ
CHI NHA POC
DNQ
IND
DNQ
GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MAR TAL PHO CAR N/A -
Rich Bickle Chevy HOM
DNQ
ATL NHA
2002 Shawna Robinson Dodge DAY
24
CAR LVS
42
ATL
34
DAR
42
BRI TEX
36
MAR TAL
DNQ
CAL
42
RCH DAY
40
41st 1004
Ron Hornaday Jr. CLT
36
DOV POC MCH SON CHI
DNQ
NHA POC IND
DNQ
GLN
Derrike Cope MCH
37
BRI
41
DAR RCH NHA ATL
37
CAR PHO
38
HOM
34
Kevin Lepage DOV
36
Stuart Kirby KAN
37
Stacy Compton TAL
22
CLT
42
MAR
2003 Ken Schrader DAY
42
CAR
24
LVS
28
ATL
38
DAR
17
BRI
37
TEX
24
TAL
33
MAR
10
CAL
30
RCH
24
CLT
28
DOV
26
POC
43
MCH
42
SON
33
DAY
41
CHI
28
NHA
36
POC
26
IND
DNQ
GLN
DNQ
MCH
8
BRI
12
DAR
38
RCH
25
NHA
37
DOV
33
TAL
21
KAN
28
CLT
DNQ
MAR
22
ATL
26
PHO
27
CAR
36
HOM
DNQ
38th 2569
2004 DAY
40
CAR
27
LVS
32
ATL
26
DAR
22
BRI
6
TEX
19
MAR
40
TAL
23
CAL
20
RCH
23
CLT
31
DOV
34
POC
25
MCH
39
SON
23
DAY
35
CHI
27
NHA
37
POC
21
IND
18
GLN
28
MCH
28
BRI
32
CAL
33
RCH
30
NHA
16
DOV
25
TAL
20
KAN
27
CLT
21
MAR
31
ATL
23
PHO
20
DAR
30
HOM
25
33rd 3032
2005 DAY
39
CAL
14
LVS
34
ATL
26
BRI
23
MAR
24
TEX
23
PHO
38
TAL
8
DAR
18
RCH
30
CLT
9
DOV
37
POC
20
MCH
28
SON
35
DAY
10
CHI
26
NHA
26
POC
31
IND
22
GLN
32
MCH
25
BRI
11
CAL
29
RCH
19
NHA
40
DOV
28
TAL
26
KAN
17
CLT
34
MAR
13
ATL
34
TEX
29
PHO
30
HOM
22
31st 3159
2006 Brent Sherman DAY
21
CAL
37
LVS
34
ATL
36
BRI
42
TEX
DNQ
PHO
32
TAL
DNQ
40th 1865
Jimmy Spencer MAR
DNQ
Mike Wallace RCH
35
Kevin Lepage DAR
36
CLT
DNQ
DOV
39
POC
31
MCH
34
DAY
DNQ
CHI
DNQ
NHA
30
POC
34
IND
DNQ
MCH
41
BRI
21
CAL
38
RCH
33
NHA
30
DOV
37
KAN
DNQ
Chris Cook SON
DNQ
GLN
DNQ
Mike Bliss TAL
26
CLT
42
MAR
DNQ
ATL
26
TEX
23
PHO
41
HOM
39
2007 DAY
DNQ
CAL
DNQ
LVS
DNQ
ATL
21
BRI
17
MAR
30
TEX
41
PHO
DNQ
TAL
DNQ
RCH
DNQ
DAR
DNQ
CLT
DNQ
DOV
DNQ
POC
DNQ
MCH
DNQ
POC
DNQ
47th 1502
Klaus Graf SON
DNQ
GLN
DNQ
Chad Chaffin NHA
36
CHI
31
Larry Foyt DAY
DNQ
Ken Schrader IND
25
John Andretti MCH
37
BRI
40
CAL
37
RCH
37
NHA
DNQ
DOV
37
KAN
33
TAL
33
CLT
42
MAR
33
ATL
28
TEX
DNQ
PHO
DNQ
HOM
DNQ
2008 Ken Schrader DAY
DNQ
CAL
DNQ
LVS
21
ATL
DNQ
BRI
41
48th 276
Toyota MAR
37
TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM
2010 David Gilliland DAY
DNQ
CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH NHA DOV KAN CAR CLT MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM N/A -

Car Nos. 59 and 70 history

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The team fielded a second car for Klaus Graf at Infineon in 2004, the No. 59 SEM Products/Color Horizons Dodge. He finished 17th. The team attempted a number of races later in the year, but failed to qualify for all of them. Larry Foyt also attempted a number of races late in the 2004 season, instead running the No. 70 due to the system of the 2004 provisional points. The team shut down at the conclusion of the 2004 season. Before shutting down, the team was looking to run a second or even a third car in 2005 but sponsorship never materialized.

Car No. 59/70 results

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NASCAR Nextel 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 Owners Pts
2004 Klaus Graf 59 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON
17
DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN
DNQ
MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN MAR
DNQ
61st 188
Larry Foyt CLT
DNQ
ATL
DNQ
PHO DAR HOM
70 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO DAR HOM
DNQ
N/A -

ARCA Re/Max Series

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Car No. 49 history

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The team was created in 2000 from the remnants of the ISM Racing that was not being used by Tyler Jet Motorsports. NASCAR Winston Cup Series team. Tony Morgenthau gave the team as a birthday present to his wife, Beth Ann, whose initials comprised the name of the team. BAM Racing attempted 6 races late in the 2000 ARCA Season with Matt Mullins. The team would have a best start of 10th at Charlotte in October and a best finish of 13th at Pocono in June.[7] The team ceased operations upon BAM's move to Winston Cup.

Car Nos. 69 and 99 history

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BAM Racing returned to ARCA in 2004 as part of Klaus Graf's development program. The German driver made his debut in the No. 69 BAM Racing Dodge at Nashville Superspeedway in October, starting 5th and finishing 3rd. He ran a second race in the No. 99 BAM Racing Dodge at Talladega in October, where he started 7th and finished 29th after a crash.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Williams, D.C. (January 3, 2002). "Robinson to announce 24-race schedule for 2002". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Archived from the original on January 5, 2002. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  2. ^ Ken Schrader and the BAM team failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and the following race at California Speedway. [1]
  3. ^ "NASCAR News, Results, Schedule & Standings". Sporting News.
  4. ^ "NASCAR.COM – BAM Racing to skip Cup races at Texas and Phoenix – Apr 1, 2008". nascar.com.
  5. ^ "Nascar Racing News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos". Yahoo Sports.
  6. ^ http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/headlines/cup/01/07/bam.racing.vip.artists/ BAM announces additional VIP artists
  7. ^ "Matt Mullins ARCA Stats". racingone.com.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Klaus Graf ARCA Stats". racingone.com.[permanent dead link]

9. Interview with a Former NASCAR Team Owner Buzz McCall, R-U Relentless and Unstoppable? https://youtube/7tRDgE3xqDU

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