The 49 BAM car spinning out in 2006.

BAM Racing is a NASCAR racing team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, owned by Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau. The team ran from 2001 to 2008 before sitting out 2009 due to the economy. BAM Racing will return in 2010 with the #49 Warner Music Nashville Toyota Camry with a driver yet to be named.

[edit] History

The team was created in 2001, when they ran the ARCA RE/MAX Series with Andy Hillenburg. They attempted their first cup race at the Pepsi 400 with Hillenburg, but failed to qualify. They also attempted the 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 made its first Cup race in 2002 with Shawna Robinson as its driver. It was announced that she would compete in 24 races, but 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 #49 1-800-CALL-ATT Dodge. This sponsorship was only for a quarter of the season and again the team had to run without sponsorship for multiple races. 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. The team also ran a second car for Klaus Graf at Infineon and he brought the #59 SEM/Color Horizons Dodge home in 17th place.

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 be 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 #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 #83 Team Red Bull Toyota were disqualified after failing post-qualifying inspection. 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.^[1] Schrader drove in the Budweiser Shootout, but failed to qualify for the first two races of the season.^[2].

the #49 car in 2008.

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 ^[3]. 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 1 Race Sponsorship at Pocono, through BAM spokesman Rhett Vandiver. However, Obama spokesman Bill Burton told Yahoo! Sports on the 11th that the sponsorship would not happen.^[4]

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 will give WMN exclusive promotional opportunities with the NASCAR Sprint Cup racing team. Under the agreement, WMN artists will have the opportunity to participate in branding and promotional programs at NASCAR events, including artist tie-ins, sponsorships and promotional appearances, as well as exclusive positioning for their images and branding on BAM's #49 racecar, show cars, transporter and pit equipment. The first BAM promotional event with WMN artists is scheduled to take place on February 6, 2010 at the Daytona International Speedway. The team will attempt a full schedule in 2010 with the new partnership and will run Toyotas. Former crew chief David Hyder will also return to the team, coming over from Wood Brothers Racing^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BAM Racing Homepage
• BAM Racing's Ownership Statistics
• [3]
• [4]