Bingham seals Busch/Cup deal.

Versatile racer Chris Bingham will contest the full 2003 Busch Grand National schedule for Jay Robinson Racing and will also take his bow in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series for Derrike Cope's Quest Motorsports team.

Bingham, whose single seater aspirations have been put on hold recently, has spent the last couple of years muscling the mighty Park Place Racing Saleen S7R to GTS Championship glory in the Grand-Am Series. The 31 year-old Washington born driver will benefit from the advice of 1990 Daytona 500 winner Cope throughout his rookie Busch campaign and for his five projected outings with the #37 Quest Motorsports Chevrolet in Winston Cup.

Bingham convinced Robinson that he was the man to pilot the #49 Ford in next year's Busch Series during a recent ARCA test session at the Daytona International Speedway. The 2.5-mile Superspeedway will serve as the site of Bingham's 2003 Busch debut in the Koolerz 300 on February 15th.

In a team press release team owner Jay Robinson said of Bingham: "Chris adapted to the car and track very well. It was a pleasure to work with him this past weekend and I was impressed with his feel for the car."

Bingham continued: "I'm looking forward to driving for Jay Robinson in 2003. We worked well together during the Daytona test, and I believe his program has all of the elements necessary to be competitive."

Although the extent of his Winston Cup partnership with Quest still hinges on sponsorship dollars, the two road course events on the calendar, Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen, have been locked down.

"It's a natural fit to put Chris in one of my cars for the two Winston Cup road races," said Cope. "Additionally we plan to run him in three or more events over and above the road courses."

A Seattle based investment group led by Vernon Horton Smith will support Bingham's entry into NASCAR. Sponsorship for the Jay Robinson Racing No. 49 BGN Ford and the additional Winston Cup events is being pursued.