Biagi-DenBeste Racing
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) |
| Owner(s) | Fred Biagi DenBeste Transportation |
|---|---|
| Base | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Series | Busch Series |
| Notable car numbers |
|
| Notable drivers | Mark Green Auggie Vidovich Mike Wallace |
| Notable sponsors | Geico |
| Manufacturer | Chevrolet Dodge Ford Pontiac |
| Opened | 2001 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Career | |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 1 |
Biagi-DenBeste Racing is a defunct NASCAR Busch Series team. It fielded the #4 entry owned by Fred Biagi and the DenBeste Transportation company, which came on board as a partner in 2006. The team's shop was located in Mooresville, North Carolina.
The team debuted in 2001 at the Auto Club 300, qualifying 41st and finishing 31st with Mike Wallace driving their Chevrolet. Wallace made eight starts total that season, his best finish a tenth at Richmond International Raceway. Wallace returned in 2002, running seventeen races. He finished in the top-twenty seven times, including two fourteenth-place finishes.
In 2003, Biagi moved up to the Busch Series full-time with Wallace. They opened the season with a fourth-place finish at the Koolerz 300. Despite missing a race where Rick Carelli filled in, Wallace finished thirteenth in points that year, one position shy of matching his career-best. The following season, Biagi switched from Chevrolets to Fords, and at the Winn-Dixie 250, Wallace took the lead on the last lap to score Biagi's first career Busch victory. He led eighteen laps the following week at Chicagoland Speedway, but ran out of fuel on the last lap, costing him the victory. After posting three more top-tens, Wallace finished seventeenth in points.
After Wallace departed in 2005, Biagi formed a partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing and hired Ganassi development driver Ryan Hemphill. After he failed to qualify for two consecutive races, Hemphill was briefly replaced by Jeff Green, who finished sixth at Richmond. Hemphill returned for three races and had a twelfth-place run at Nashville Superspeedway before he was permanately removed from the ride. Green took over for three races, before Kevin Hamlin took over for the balance of the season. In fourteen starts, his best finish was fourteenth at Memphis Motorsports Park.
For 2006, Mark Green was selected as the team's new driver, and had an eighteenth place run at Richmond, before he was released in favor of Auggie Vidovich. In addition to Green and Vidovich, Hamlin, Boris Said, and Paul Tracy have driven the car during the 2006 season.
In 2007, BDBR had announced it would switch to Toyota and run with sponsorship from Kibbles 'n Bits, but the team shut down in January due to a lack of funding. Its assets and owners points were acquired by Braun Racing, and the team's number, 4, assigned to Ginn Racing. The #4 is now a part of Kevin Harvick Incorporated's Nationwide Series team, with Fred Biagi listed as its owner.
