Bahari Racing

Bahari Racing was a NASCAR Winston Cup 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, Michael Waltrip, Johnny Benson, Kenny Wallace, Jeff Fuller, Rick Mast, and Mike Bliss, among others. The team mainly ran Pontiac Grand Prixs, 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.

Eel River Racing

Owner(s)	Dick Bahre / Chuck Rider (Bahari) Jack Birmingham (Eel River)
Series	Winston Cup Series Busch Series
Race drivers	Geoff Bodine, Michael Waltrip, Johnny Benson Jr., Kenny Wallace, Jeff Fuller, Rick Mast, Mike Bliss
Manufacturer	Pontiac
Opened	1981 (Bahari) 1999 (Eel River)
Closed	1999 (Bahari) 2001 (Eel River)
Career
Debut	1981 Daytona 500 (Daytona) (Bahari) 1999 NAPA Autocare 500 (Martinsville) (Eel River)
Latest race	1999 Checker Auto Parts 500 (Phoenix) (Bahari) 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 (Richmond) (Eel River)
Races competed	Bahari: 426 (Cup) 81 (Busch) Eel River: 58 (Eel River)
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	5 (Bahari)

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.

1987 saw the team switch numbers from 23 to 30 and manufacturers from Pontiac to Chevrolet. 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 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 and the new No. 22 for Junior Johnson Motorsports, respectively).

The Pennzoil Years

1991 saw Pennzoil 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, 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, the 1995 Busch Series 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 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. 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 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. 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. 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 and its Viagra 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 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 at Pocono. After missing the Brickyard 400, 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 in New York). Sauer's and Mast left to prepared for the 2002 with Donlavey Racing, leaving Birmingham with no sponsor, no driver, and no choice but to suspend operations. The team officially closed their doors on October 2, 2001, 2 days after the race at Kansas.

Team Results

Car No. 27 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
1981	Geoff Bodine	23	Pontiac	RSD	DAY 22	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	NWS	DAR 30	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	RSD						49th	210
	Charlie Glotzbach		Buick																												CLT 26	CAR	ATL	RSD
1982	Geoff Bodine			DAY 42	RCH	BRI	ATL	CAR	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL 29	NSV	DOV	CLT	POC	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	CLT	MAR	CAR	ATL	RSD							79th	37
1983	Elliott Forbes-Robinson			DAY 40	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	BRI	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	RSD							81st	43
1984	Sterling Marlin			DAY	RCH	CAR 35																																		44th	874
	Don Hume						ATL 26	BRI	NWS
	Morgan Shepherd									DAR 26	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV 36	CLT 17	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY 40	NSV
	Gene Coyle																				POC 18	TAL	MCH	BRI			DOV 21	MAR
	Connie Saylor																								DAR 31	RCH			CLT 34	NWS	CAR	ATL	RSD
1985	Morgan Shepherd		Chevy	DAY	RCH	CAR 38	ATL	BRI	DAR																															52nd	308
	Dick May		Buick							NWS 25	MAR	TAL	DOV
	Michael Waltrip		Pontiac											CLT 28	RSD	POC					MCH 18	BRI	DAR 24	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 31	CAR	ATL 39	RSD
	Jim Hull		Chevy														MCH 32
	Eldon Dotson																	DAY 38	POC	TAL
1986	Michael Waltrip		Pontiac	DAY DNQ	RCH 25	CAR 21	ATL 19		DAR 13	NWS 26	MAR 11	TAL 35	DOV 12	CLT 26	RSD 25	POC 39	MCH 22	DAY 18	POC 11	TAL 14	GLN 17	MCH 32	BRI 13	DAR 16	RCH 14	DOV 16	MAR 14	NWS 23	CLT 19	CAR 13	ATL 20	RSD 31								19th	2853
			Buick					BRI 32
1987		30	Chevy	DAY 22	CAR 17	RCH 12	ATL 39	DAR 19	NWS 24		MAR 10	TAL 25	CLT 11	DOV 21	POC 16	RSD 32	MCH 39	DAY 19	POC 37	TAL 17	GLN 16	MCH 20	BRI 14	DAR 19	RCH 19	DOV 18	MAR 18	NWS 16	CLT 35	CAR 19	RSD 26	ATL 38								20th	2840
			Pontiac							BRI 13
1988				DAY DNQ	RCH 31		ATL 12	DAR 21	BRI 12	NWS 32	MAR 22	TAL 33	CLT 23	DOV 36	RSD 11	POC 2	MCH 28	DAY 21	POC 17	TAL 20	GLN 33	MCH 7	BRI 31	DAR 25	RCH 12	DOV 12	MAR 25	CLT 23	NWS 25	CAR 19	PHO 28	ATL 7								18th	2949
			Chevy			CAR 13
1989			Pontiac	DAY 21	CAR 12	ATL 20	RCH 13	DAR 9	BRI 11	NWS 29	MAR 25	TAL 21	CLT 27	DOV 22	SON 10	POC 14	MCH 16	DAY 34	POC 28	TAL 36	GLN 10	MCH 31	BRI 32	DAR 13	RCH 23	DOV 6	MAR 12	CLT 17	NWS 23	CAR 17	PHO 9	ATL 26								19th	3057
1990				DAY 8	RCH 27	CAR 28	ATL 38	DAR 9	BRI 20	NWS 27	MAR 8	TAL 5	CLT 4	DOV 26	SON 9	POC 19	MCH 21	DAY 16	POC 23	TAL 21	GLN 4	MCH 30	BRI 9	DAR 26	RCH 14	DOV 5	MAR 30	NWS 15	CLT 3	CAR 15	PHO 43	ATL 14								18th	3251
1991				DAY 38	RCH 17	CAR 7	ATL 5	DAR 3*	BRI 23	NWS 7	MAR 7	TAL 5	CLT 15	DOV 32	SON 10	POC 18	MCH 34	DAY 6	POC 38	TAL 7	GLN 21	MCH 9	BRI 25	DAR 27	RCH 30	DOV 5	MAR 25	NWS 27	CLT 7	CAR 19	PHO 24	ATL 40								15th	3254
1992				DAY 18	CAR 4	RCH 34	ATL 28	DAR 14	BRI 17	NWS 29	MAR 27	TAL 38	CLT 25	DOV 15	SON 20	POC 15	MCH 27	DAY 27	POC 26	TAL 7	GLN 35	MCH 22	BRI 14	DAR 35	RCH 33	DOV 17	MAR 29	NWS 16	CLT 23	CAR 20	PHO 11	ATL 14								23rd	2825
1993				DAY 16	CAR 26	RCH 23	ATL 14	DAR 33	BRI 14	NWS 20	MAR 16	TAL 10	SON 23	CLT 13	DOV 27	POC 21	MCH 37	DAY 22	NHA 23	POC 14	TAL 20	GLN 12	MCH 16	BRI 10	DAR 13	RCH 19	DOV 23	MAR 8	NWS 14	CLT 27	CAR 18	PHO 9	ATL 6							17th	3291
1994				DAY 31	CAR 10	RCH 31	ATL 23	DAR 15	BRI 5	NWS 11	MAR 17	TAL 3	SON 16	CLT 10	DOV 7	POC 11	MCH 8	DAY 13	NHA 37	POC 14	TAL 11	IND 8	GLN 20	MCH 14	BRI 7	DAR 31	RCH 26	DOV 33	MAR 19	NWS 21	CLT 10	CAR 26	PHO 36	ATL 10						13th	3512
1995				DAY 6	CAR 17	RCH 23	ATL 35	DAR 7	BRI 22	NWS 22	MAR 15	TAL 12	SON 10	CLT 3	DOV 8	POC 9	MCH 12	DAY 15	NHA 14	POC 21	TAL 9	IND 14	GLN 14	MCH 11	BRI 15	DAR 5	RCH 28	DOV 29	MAR 25	NWS 12	CLT 17	CAR 38	PHO 34	ATL 12						12th	3601
1996	Johnny Benson			DAY 23	CAR 20	RCH 37	ATL 38	DAR 24	BRI DNQ	NWS 24	MAR 25	TAL 10	SON 18	CLT 38	DOV 17	POC 25	MCH 37	DAY 25	NHA 9	POC 5	TAL 18	IND 8*	GLN 15	MCH 7	BRI 28	DAR 11	RCH 10	DOV 24	MAR 17	NWS 17	CLT 14	CAR 40	PHO 32	ATL 27						21st	3004
1997				DAY 28	CAR 27	RCH 9	ATL 11	DAR 10	TEX 28	BRI 31	MAR 17	SON 21	TAL 9	CLT 15	DOV 21	POC 27	MCH 10	CAL 13	DAY 16	NHA 18	POC 13	IND 7	GLN 11	MCH 24	BRI 18	DAR 19	RCH 13	NHA 19	DOV 28	MAR 19	CLT 10	TAL 19	CAR 36	PHO 7	ATL 10					11th	3575
1998	Derrike Cope			DAY 37	CAR 15	LVS 31	ATL 38	DAR 40	BRI 26	TEX DNQ		TAL 22	CAL 39	CLT 33	DOV 35	RCH 34	MCH DNQ	POC 26	SON 38	NHA 16	POC 23	IND DNQ	GLN 39	MCH 43	BRI 36	NHA DNQ	DAR 27	RCH 24	DOV 35	MAR 30	CLT 14	TAL 11	DAY 38	PHO 33	CAR 25	ATL 30				37th	2065
	Jeff Green										MAR 17
1999	Derrike Cope			DAY 18	CAR DNQ	LVS 34	ATL 41	DAR DNQ	TEX 22	BRI DNQ	MAR 34	TAL DNQ	CAL 42	RCH 42	CLT DNQ	DOV 36	MCH 32	POC DNQ	SON 37	DAY DNQ	NHA DNQ	POC DNQ	IND 32	GLN DNQ	MCH DNQ															44th	1678
	Todd Bodine																									BRI 15	DAR DNQ	RCH 19	NHA 39	DOV DNQ		CLT 36			PHO 25	HOM 27	ATL 43
	Mike Bliss																														MAR 32			CAR 42
	Buckshot Jones																																TAL 27
2000	Jeff Fuller	27		DAY DNQ	CAR 42	LVS 36	ATL 22	DAR 36	BRI 37	TEX 38																														36th	2048
	Mike Bliss										MAR 35	TAL 24	CAL 35	RCH 41	CLT 32	DOV 35	MCH 37	POC 33	SON 22	DAY 28	NHA 32	POC 24	IND 31	GLN 39	MCH 28	BRI DNQ	DAR 28	RCH DNQ	NHA 19	DOV 43	MAR 28	CLT 43	TAL 9	CAR 21	PHO 38	HOM 40	ATL DNQ
2001	Kenny Wallace			DAY 25	CAR 42	LVS 31	ATL 29	DAR 31	BRI 38	TEX 25	MAR 37	TAL DNQ	CAL 37	RCH 40	CLT 40	DOV 27	MCH DNQ	POC DNQ	SON DNQ																					42nd	1782
	Mike Bliss																			DAY DNQ	CHI DNQ	NHA DNQ
	Rick Mast																						POC 35	IND DNQ	GLN 27	MCH 39	BRI 41	DAR 30	RCH 34	DOV DNQ	KAN DNQ	CLT	MAR	TAL	PHO	CAR	HOM	ATL	NHA

External links

• Dick Bahre owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Chuck Rider owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Jack Birmingham owner statistics at Racing-Reference