Marriage made in heaven

Creation of BelCar Racing pairs tradition with transition

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The melding of NASCAR’s latest Winston Cup team may seem like a marriage of convenience, but both principals say it’s more than just a necessary union.

Travis Carter’s and Sam Belnavis’s Tuesday announcement that they’re joining forces as BelCar Racing pairs tradition with transition. Carter is a veteran Winston Cup owner and former crew chief with more than 32 years in the sport. Belnavis is a veteran sports marketing guru whose NASCAR promotional roots date to the early 1980s.

Each has rescued the other with the creation of BelCar Racing; Carter struggled to keep his shop doors open last season after losing primary sponsor Kmart in mid-January. Belnavis’ initial foray into Winston Cup ownership, as a part of BH Motorsports with partner Tinsley Hughes, was equally bleak. BH Motorsports failed to qualify for three Cup races last season with driver Ron Hornaday, and last week Belnavis and Hughes dissolved their partnership.

Now, Belnavis and Carter will field the No. 54 Ford in 2003.

“The situation came down to where we needed a sponsor,” said Carter, “and he needed an organization to help field his efforts that he has worked so diligently to develop and provide, and we just felt it would be a natural fit.”

Carter has the shop, the parts and the pieces -- even the driver, Todd Bodine. Belnavis has the sponsor, the Army National Guard, and crucial business acumen.

“Travis is not your typical owner, so that makes a tremendous difference,” said Belnavis. “He's a racer, and he has that mentality. Not to say that anybody else doesn't, but I want to align myself with someone that has some goals down the road.”

One goal, intentional or not, is already fulfilled.

Tuesday’s announcement -- during NASCAR’s second three-day Cup test at Daytona International Speedway -- means Belnavis, an African-American, becomes the first minority owner to run a full schedule in NASCAR’s top series.

History is nice, Belnavis admits, but not all-encompassing. He’s blazed trails before -- as the first African-American hired in a managerial position for Sears Roebuck & Company, in 1968, and as the creator and developer of Miller Brewing Company’s sports marketing department.

And he’s a marketer, still. Now a Charlotte, N.C., resident, Belnavis owns his namesake agency, Belnavis & Associates. But it’s the love of stock-car racing that’s propelled him into the NASCAR ownership ranks, not a sense of history. One of his earliest deeds at Miller was securing former Cup champion Bobby Allison to drive the Miller High Life Buick, and Belnavis’ passion for the sport has never waned.

“At some point in time, I made a decision,” said Belnavis. “I can't tell you when, that ultimately I wanted to be more intimately involved in NASCAR from a competitive standpoint.”

“He wants to be a part of Winston Cup racing, and he wants to enjoy the adventure of doing it,” said Carter. “That’s a good approach to it.”

Belnavis, who as BelCar Racing’s majority shareholder wants to continue the diversity program that he began at BH Motorsports, says he prefers to concentrate on opportunity, not headlines.

“Back then, 'diversity' wasn’t a word even being expressed,” he said of his early career efforts, “but I never looked at it that way. I looked at it as though I was doing my job.”

He and Carter aren’t strangers. They’ve known each other since Belnavis’ 1980s work at Miller, and were encouraged by common friends to seek each other out following the 2002 season.

“It was somebody I knew, somebody who has a good reputation, somebody who was actually encouraged by mutual acquaintances to try to do business together,” said Carter of Belnavis.

Denise N. Maloof covers NASCAR for CNNSI.com.

 

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