Bahari Racing
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Bahari Racing was a
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
and Busch team that operated from 1981 to 2001.The Busch team ran from 1989-1996 with Ronnie Sliver and Michael Waltrip driving, and one race with Johnny Benson at Homestead. The team's history of drivers include
Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Eli Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is an American former motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He raced at the NASCAR Cup Series from 1979 to 2011, earning 18 wins and a best season finish of third in 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1990. ...
,
Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASC ...
,
Johnny Benson Jonathan Thomas Benson Jr. (born June 27, 1963) is an American retired stock car racing driver and the son of former Michigan modified racing, modified driver John Benson Sr. Benson has raced across NASCAR's three national series (Nextel Cup Seri ...
,
Kenny Wallace Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for '' Fox NASCAR''. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning 25 years in NASCAR, Wallace had ...
, Jeff Fuller,
Rick Mast Richard Kenneth Mast (born March 4, 1957) is an American former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series, retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College. Early career M ...
, and
Mike Bliss Michael Duane Bliss (born April 5, 1965) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A journeyman NASCAR competitor and the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, he has run in all three national series. Racing career Bliss ...
, among others. The team mainly ran
Pontiac Grand Prix The Grand Prix is a line of automobiles produced by the Pontiac (automobile), Pontiac Division of General Motors from 1962 until 2002 as coupes and from 1989 through 2008 model years as four-door sedans. First introduced as a full-size car, full ...
s, although they did run other manufacturers as well. The team was also known as Bahre Racing and Bahari Racing prior to its purchase by Jack Birmingham in 1999, who renamed the team Eel River Racing. It was under that name that the team ceased operating in 2001.


Team history


Beginnings

The team originally started as the Bahre Racing No. 23 Pontiac owned by Dick Bahre in 1981. The team ran part-time until 1986. Chuck Rider entered the fold in 1987. The team at that point was renamed Bahari Racing, using the first two letters of each of the three principal owners' surnames (Dick BAhre, Lowrance HArry, & Chuck RIder). Waltrip, who ran a few races in late 1985 for the team, ran for Rookie of the Year in 1986 in a car sponsored by
Hawaiian Punch Hawaiian Punch is an American brand of juice currently manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally invented in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yeats, and Ralph Harrison as a topping for ice cream. It was started from an original syrup flavor titled Leo's H ...
. 1987 saw the team switch numbers from 23 to 30 and manufacturers from Pontiac to
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...
. Hawaiian Punch left the team, resulting in a revolving door of sponsors before All Pro Auto Parts came on for the rest of the season. 1988 saw the team switch back to Pontiac and acquire sponsorship from Country Time Lemonade. Waltrip then proceeded to miss the field for the 1988 Daytona 500. The team bought the Mueller Brothers' No. 89 entry and ran that car in the race to a 22nd-place finish. The June race at Pocono saw Waltrip bring the No. 30 home in 2nd place, in addition to two other top-10 finishes that season. 1989 saw an additional five top-10s for the team, while 1990 (which saw
Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the Ma ...
join the team as a co-sponsor to Country Time) saw Waltrip pick up five top 5s and five more top-10s in addition. However, at the end of the season, both Country Time and Maxwell House left the No. 30 for full-time sponsorships on other cars (the No. 68 for
Tri-Star Motorsports TriStar Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that used to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The team competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series primarily during the early to mid 1990s, suspending racing oper ...
and the new No. 22 for Junior Johnson Motorsports, respectively).


The Pennzoil Years

1991 saw
Pennzoil Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...
brought in as the new sponsor for the team, and Waltrip responded with his best season to that point. The No. 30 won poles at Dover and Michigan in June, the team's first two poles. Waltrip also earned four top-5s and 12 top-10s for the team on his way to a 15th-place finish in points. 1992 began with Waltrip as one of three cars that had a chance to win the
Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
, but a blown engine in the last 10 laps relegated him to a disappointing 18th. The rest of the year was disappointing as well, dropping to 23rd in points and recording a 4th at Rockingham as his best finish of the year. 1994 and 1995 were, based on the points standings, Michael Waltrip's two best seasons in the Cup series. Waltrip drove the No. 30 to 12th in points (best among the Pontiacs) both years with nearly identical results. However, after the season, Waltrip left the team to drive the No. 21 for the Wood Brothers. For 1996, the team hired
Johnny Benson Jonathan Thomas Benson Jr. (born June 27, 1963) is an American retired stock car racing driver and the son of former Michigan modified racing, modified driver John Benson Sr. Benson has raced across NASCAR's three national series (Nextel Cup Seri ...
, the 1995
Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
Champion to take over the No. 30. Benson won the pole for the Purolator 500 at Atlanta in March, but struggled early on, even failing to qualify for the
Food City 500 The Food City 500 is an annual 500-lap, NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is one of two NASCAR races held at Bristol, the other being the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. It was the first ven ...
at Bristol. Later on in the season, Benson's performances improved. Benson had the lead late at Richmond in September before fading to 10th. Benson ended the year 21st in points with a best finish of 5th at Pocono in July, in addition to winning the Rookie of the Year award. 1997 was the team's best season in the Winston Cup Series. Benson finished 11th in points, just 1 point behind 10th place
Ken Schrader Kenneth William Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford Motor ...
. During the season, Benson won the pole at Michigan and had 8 top-10 finishes. However, Benson left the team to drive the new No. 26 for
Roush Racing Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, doing business as RFK Racing, is an American professional stock car organization that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. One of NASCAR's largest racing teams in the 2000s and early 2010s, Roush formerly ...
at the end of the season and Pennzoil left to sponsor the new No. 1 for Dale Earnhardt Inc.


Decline

For 1998, Derrike Cope was brought in to replace Benson behind the wheel. Gumout, a division of Pennzoil, provided the sponsorship for the team. However, the season was a big letdown. The team failed to score a top 10 finish for the first time since 1986 and failed to qualify for four races. Cope also missed Martinsville due to injury and was replaced briefly by Jeff Green. The high point for the team was the pole Cope won at Charlotte in October. The best finish for the No. 30 was an 11th at Talladega. In addition, the team fell all the way from 11th in 1997 to 40th in the owners' points standings. Gumout left the team at the end of the season. 1999 saw the team acquire sponsorship from the
Sara Lee Corporation The Sara Lee Corporation was an American consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois. The Sara Lee name was used of a number of frozen and packaged foods, often known for the long-running slogan "Everybody doesn't like something, b ...
. Primary sponsorship would be split between four divisions- Jimmy Dean Sausages, Bryan Meats, State Fair Corn Dogs, and Rudy's Farm. Each division had its own paint scheme. The season was a complete disaster. Cope failed to qualify for half of the first 22 races before the team was sold to Jack Birmingham and renamed Eel River Racing. He renamed it to Eel River Racing because of his native Massachusetts roots where the Eel River is in Plymouth, where Birmingham is from. Birmingham fired Cope and replaced him with
Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and is curre ...
. Mike Bliss also ran two races in the No. 30 before the end of the season.


Eel River Racing

In 2000, the car number was changed from No. 30 to No. 27, and after Birmingham's purchase of the team, the team's best finish was a ninth-place run at Talladega on October 15, 2000 with Bliss. The team's only full season was in 2000, when Fuller and Bliss raced for the team. That year the team had 10 DNFs, and would struggle to reach the top-40 in points. After a long season, the team would end up 38th in driver's points. After running the previous two seasons with sponsorship from
Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...
and its
Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Ray ...
brand, Eel River Racing began the 2001 season with Kenny Wallace driving a largely unsponsored car. After running with one-off sponsorships for most of the early season races, the team eventually was able to secure sponsorship from C.F. Sauer, who joined the team for the
Coca-Cola 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the firs ...
. The No. 27 was painted yellow and carried the logo of Sauer's Duke's Mayonnaise division.


Demise

The team failed to qualify for a race again until the Pennsylvania 500. Wallace had departed after missing the field at Sonoma, replaced by a returning Mike Bliss. Bliss failed to qualify at all and was replaced by
Rick Mast Richard Kenneth Mast (born March 4, 1957) is an American former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series, retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College. Early career M ...
at Pocono. After missing the
Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the ...
, Mast qualified for the next five races after that, ending with the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400. Mast attempted to qualify for the remaining races in September, through the inaugural Winston Cup race at Kansas, but did not qualify there or at Dover (New Hampshire was postponed to November due to the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in New York). Sauer's and Mast left to prepared for the
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
with
Donlavey Racing Donlavey Racing was a stock car racing team that competed from 1950 until 2004 in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was owned by Junie Donlavey and ran a total of 863 races in NASCAR. Donlavey Racing used a number of makes and numbers, but for ye ...
, leaving Birmingham with no sponsor, no driver, and no choice but to suspend operations. The team officially closed their doors on October 2, 2001,Jayski - 2001 Team Chart
, Retrieved June 29, 2012 2 days after the race at Kansas.


Team Results


Car No. 27 results


References


External links

* * * {{Bahari Racing Defunct NASCAR teams American auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 1981 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2001