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Former NASCAR team owner William “Bill” Lewis Baumgardner Jr passed away on January 13, 2025, leaving behind a legacy in NASCAR and motorsports. He was 77.
Bill Baumgardner was known as the founder and owner of BACE Motorsports, a (Winston) Cup Series and (Busch) Xfinity Series team that was operational between 1993 and 2005. They were a championship-winning crew, who brought home 16 race victories, and three Busch Series championships.
Johnny Benson brought the team their first Busch Series championship in 1995. They then witnessed another two consecutive seasons of victory with Randy LaJoie.
The later years were not filled with much success for the team, as they began to lack resources. In 2005, they announced a temporary shutdown until they found sponsors to return with, but they did not. They later sold their equipment to Kevin Harvick Incorporated.
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Despite the tough time that the team faced in NASCAR in the later years, Bill Baumgardner left a legacy behind with three championships. He is survived by his wife Bobbie, son Brian, and daughters Anna and Emily.
Looking back at the peak of Bill Baumgardner's NASCAR years with three consecutive championships
Building a championship-winning team in NASCAR can be a challenge even for those with a strong financial background.
In the years when teams like Dale Earnhardt, Inc, and Petty Enterprises raced on the Busch (Xfinity) Series grid, Baumgardner's BACE Motorsports emerged to clinch the title with just one driver in their full-time lineup. This went on for two consecutive years in 1995 and 1996. The team won the title in 1997 as well. However, they had two drivers on the field in the #33 and #74 Chevys.
Looking back at their first championship victory in the NASCAR Busch Series, Johnny Benson had an extremely consistent campaign in the #74 Chevy. The 1995 season had 26 races, and he managed to remain within the top 10 in 19 of them, asserting dominance over the other drivers just through his consistent finishes.
The team then signed Randy LaJoie in the following season after Benson moved to the Cup Series to race with Bahari Racing.
LaJoie kept the momentum up and had a whopping 20 top-ten finishes along with five victories, to win the championship that year. This was followed by another campaign of success, with four victories in 30 races, marking the team's third and final championship win in 1997.
The team also had a stint running the NASCAR Winston Cup Series full-time in 2003 with Tony Raines. However, they mostly finished at the back of the field. While they showed signs of improvement at the end of the season, they did not race in the series again as they lacked resources in their final years on the field.
