BACE, Little to part ways

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Chad Little will remain under contract with BACE Motorsports for the remainder of 2002, but the team has decided not to exercise its option on Little for 2003, nor to field him in any more races this season.

Tony Raines, BACE's driver in the NASCAR Busch Series, will compete in a doubleheader this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, then test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next Monday in preparation for the Aug. 4 Brickyard 400.

	Chad Little

Raines will drive the No. 33 Bayer Chevrolet in Saturday's Tropicana Twister 300 presented by Sam's Club Busch Series race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, then attempt to make his second career Winston Cup start in Sunday's Tropicana 400 in a currently unsponsored No. 74 Chevrolet.

A team spokesman said Raines might compete in as many as seven more Winston Cup races this season, with BACE owner Bill Baumgardner having decided to forego a run at 2003 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, an award Raines previously won in both the Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series.

"Chad has done an excellent job representing BACE Motorsports over the past two seasons," Baumgardner said. "As a team, we have been unable to find the right chemistry and consistency on track that it takes to be consistently successful."

Little joined BACE late in the 2000 Busch Series campaign, posting two top-five six top-10 finishes en route to a ninth-place finish in the 2001 Busch Series championship race. Little drove the No. 74 in the first three Busch Series events of the 2002 season before the decision was made to make the jump to the Winston Cup level.

Little attempted to qualify for three Winston Cup races before finally earning a 36th-place start at Dover International Speedway, where he finished 33rd. Raines made his Winston Cup debut in the same race, finishing 31st in a No. 73 BACE car.