Speed Racer
aka "mach5driver"
#54 BH Motorsports, which this season hoped to be the first black-owned Winston Cup team to run a full-time schedule, has dissolved, team officials confirmed Friday. The team was co-owned by Sam Belnavis, a native New Yorker and former director of sports marketing with Miller Brewing Co., and Tinsley Hughes, a former co-owner of #85 Mansion Motorsports, which has fielded cars in Cup on a part-time basis. Hendrick Motorsports was planning to assist the team with chassis and engines. BH Motorsports had also started a driver diversity program. The team attempted three Cup races with driver Ron Hornaday in 2002, but inclement weather canceled qualifying twice and Hornaday failed to make the field in the other. Hornaday did compete in the ARCA event at Lowe's Motor Speedway with the team, finishing second. Belnavis will remain in the sport. Within the next few weeks, he is expected to announce the formation of a new team, BelCar Racing – a partnership between himself and longtime Winston Cup car owner Travis Carter, ThatsRacin.com has learned. The new team will have sponsorship from the National Guard, which was initially signed with BH Motorsports, and will field Fords with driver Todd Bodine, utilizing Carter's equipment. The car number has not been determined. Bodine drove Carter's #26 Ford in 2002, but his future with the team was in doubt after the sponsor left at the end of the season. The new team will likely continue the driver diversity program began by the National Guard and BH Motorsports, sources said.(ThatsRacin.com)(
