Little, BACE make Winston Cup move

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- BACE Motorsports, which withdrew a 2001 top-10 NASCAR Busch Series team from the series this week, will move driver Chad Little’s operation to the Winston Cup Series next month for the first race of a program that may include as many as 15 races this season.

BACE, which also operates the No. 33 Chevrolets that Tony Raines drove to sixth place in the Busch Series last season, will move Little’s No. 74 Chevrolet program to the Winston Cup Series beginning with the April 28 NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway.

The team’s limited schedule will initially focus on intermediate tracks. Little plans to run the Winston Open and Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on consecutive weekends in May, then the June events at Dover International Speedway and Michigan International Speedway.

The team may add additional races up to a possible total of as many as 15, if sponsorship is not secured for this season.

“We’re excited to make the transition to the Winston Cup level with the No. 74 team,” team owner Bill Baumgardner said. “We’ve made a strategic change in plan for the No. 74 and are now dedicating 100 percent of the focus of this team to our Winston Cup effort.”

Between now and the California debut team manager Terry Wooten will announce a crew chief for the Winston Cup team as well as a strategic alliance with another Winston Cup program that will supply engines to the new venture.

Operations of the No. 74 Busch Series team will cease immediately. The team did not enter Saturday’s darlingtonraceway.com 200 at the South Carolina oval. Crew chief Eddie Pardue will remain with the team, BACE’s spokesperson said.

Last season, Little drove the No. 74 Chevrolets carrying signage from the team owner’s own company, Staff America to ninth place in the Busch Series. His car was unsponsored for the first three races of this season.

At that point, Baumgardner decided to abruptly move his 74 program en masse to the Winston Cup Series -- which has drastically higher purses. Little was 19th in Busch points after three races.

“Since BACE was formed in 1990, we’ve been committed to a standard of excellence that has led our team to success,” said Baumgardner, whose team won three consecutive Busch Series championships, in 1995 with Johnny Benson and 1996-97 with Randy LaJoie. “With the elements we currently have in place, we believe that this is the appropriate time to make the move to Winston Cup.”

BACE is actively seeking sponsorship for both Little’s No. 74 Winston Cup team -- which will do its planned races with or without a sponsor, according to a team spokesperson -- and Raines’ Busch team, which has backing from Bayer Consumer Products for only 16 of 34 NBS races.

Baumgardner would like to compete in a full Winston Cup season in 2003 with Little’s team.

BACE Motorsports has 16 Busch Series victories and won NBS Rookie of Year honors in 1994 with Benson and 1999 with Raines and has set 17 NASCAR Busch Series records.

Baumgardner’s decision sets up the return of Little, the 1987 NASCAR Winston West champion, to Winston Cup. Little joined BACE late in the 2000 Busch Series campaign and posted two top-five and six top-10 finishes en route to his ninth place in 2001.

“This is a great opportunity for me to return to Winston Cup with a team that understands how to build a winner,” Little said. “Their success in the Busch Series is undeniable and we have high expectations for Winston Cup.”