Sirius at The Glen - Ken Schrader/BAM Notes

BAM RACING - Watkins Glen

Car owner Beth Ann Morgenthau Discusses Search For Sponsorship, AT&T plans

While this week’s NASCAR Winston Cup stock car race at the famed 2.45-mile Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International road course is a big one to BAM Racing, the off-track activities and the team’s search for 2004 sponsorship is also playing a major role.

The past several weeks have been busy ones for the BAM team, which is working to establish primary sponsorship for the #49 car and Ken Schrader. Beth Ann Morgenthau, who owns the team with her husband Tony, is the only female owner in motorsports who is not involved because of previous family ties. The successful Coral Gables, Fla., investors, who have fully funded the team for the complete 2003 season run, have built the BAM (Beth Ann Morgenthau’s initials) team from the ground up.

Forty-eight-year-old Ken Schrader, a native of Fenton, Mo., is driver of the #49 BAM Racing Dodge, and is one of the top veterans in stock car racing today. The busiest driver in major league motorsports, Schrader is looking for a “100-night” season this year, and will continue a winning Winston Cup career that has seen him win over $20 million.

General manager Eddie Jones is a veteran of the NASCAR Winston Cup wars, enjoying a championship career as a crew chief, mechanic and team leader. Crew chief Scott Eggleston is one of the few active crew chiefs in the business to have won a Daytona 500.

The thoughts of #49 BAM Racing owner Beth Ann Morgenthau heading into Watkins Glen:

“We’ve worked hard to build this race team, and we’re heading in the right direction. We’ve had our good days and our bad just like everybody else, but the general direction has been a good one.

“We’re here to stay. BAM Racing plans on being a part of this sport - and a major part of this sport - for a long, long time. We’ve been able to move forward some on the sponsorship front this year, and we’re putting things together for next season too. We’ve been able to progress a lot on the competitive side, and we are going to continue that progress in 2004 too.

“We’re looking for sponsorship right now, and talking to a lot of people. We feel BAM Racing brings some things to the table that no other race team can, especially at the Cup level.

“For one thing, because we are an up-and-coming team, we can offer a better economical value to a sponsor than anyone else. We have some funding in place, and that can help a sponsor come into racing at the Cup level at a better price than maybe they can find anywhere else.

“For another, you can have the top team at BAM Racing. Talking to different owners, they seem to have more trouble convincing sponsors to be a part of their second and third teams. The people we are talking with now realize we want them to be a part of our top team, and that will pay off for them in terms of exposure and in terms of what they can do in marketing and promotions.

“It looks like AT&T will be with us in some form in 2004, and this offers another tremendous opportunity for a sponsor. They appear to be very willing to work with our 2004 sponsors, develop cross-promotions and marketing opportunities, and help whoever comes in with BAM Racing to have a top motorsports marketing program. There could be tremendous opportunities available through our race team with AT&T, and a sponsor could pretty well let its imagination go wild in seeing all of the positive possibilities.

“There are so many good things going on at BAM Racing, and things are only going to get better.

“I’m excited. This team is going places. Eddie (Jones, general manager) and Scott (Eggleston, crew chief) are working hard to make things work the way they should. The guys and girls on the team do everything they can to make things right, and they work hard.

“We’re looking to bring a quality corporate sponsor in who wants to be a part of that process, and grow right along with us.”

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