Bud Moore Engineering

Bud Moore Engineering, later Fenley-Moore Racing, was a championship-winning NASCAR team. It was owned and operated by mechanic Bud Moore and ran out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. While the team was a dominant force in the 1960s and 1980s, the final years were tumultuous due to lack of sponsorship and uncompetitive race cars.

Bud Moore Engineering
Owner(s)Bud Moore
Robert, Sue and Randy Fenley
BaseSpartanburg, South Carolina
SeriesGrand National/Winston Cup
Race driversJoe Weatherly, Buddy Baker, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Benny Parsons, Ricky Rudd, Lake Speed, Geoff Bodine
SponsorsR.C. Cola / Motorcraft / Wrangler
ManufacturerFord/Mercury/Pontiac
Opened1961
Closed2001
Career
Drivers' Championships2
Race victories63

History

1960s

Bud Moore Engineering debuted in 1961, at a qualifying race for the Daytona 500. The team won its debut with Joe Weatherly driving the No. 8 Pontiac. Weatherly drove for the team for most of the season, and won eight races. Bud Moore Engineering became one of the first multi-car teams in NASCAR history, fielding the No. 18 for five races. Bob Welborn, Fireball Roberts, Cotton Owens, and Tommy Irwin drove that car.

In 1962, Weatherly returned and had a phenomenal year, winning five races and that year's Grand National championship. David Pearson drove the second car(No. 08) at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finishing 11th.

1963 saw Weatherly and Moore repeating as champions, despite winning only three races and running just over half of the schedule. Welborn returned to the second car(No. 06) at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing 29th,

Weatherly was considering retirement going into 1964, and he drove only a couple of races for Moore, until tragedy struck. While racing Moore's No. 8 Mercury at Riverside International Raceway, Weatherly began setting up for Turn 6 when he lost control and struck the concrete barrier, then slid across the racetrack where his car came to a stop. Weatherly was dead when workers got to his car. He died when his car hit the barrier, as his head slid out the window and hit the wall, suffering major head injuries. Moore retired No. 8 and switched to No. 1, and hired Billy Wade, the 1963 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, to drive. Wade had a strong year, winning four consecutive races and finishing fourth in points. Bobby Johns, Johnny Rutherford, and Darel Dieringer also saw time in the car, with Dieringer winning at Augusta Speedway.

Wade himself died in a tire test at Daytona International Speedway. Moore retired No. 1 and fielded the Nos. 15 and 16 for Earl Balmer and Dieringer, respectively. Dieringer had another win and a third-place points finish, while Balmer had three top-fives. After that season, Moore cut down to Dieringer's car and ran a limited schedule, with Dieringer nailing down two more victories.

At the end of the season, Dieringer moved on and Moore had a rotation of drivers in his No. 16, Bobby Allison, Gordon Johncock, Sam McQuagg, Cale Yarborough, and LeeRoy Yarbrough all drove, most of whom finished in the top-ten one. In 1968, Cale returned for one race, and Tiny Lund drove for thirteen races, finishing in the top ten seven times. BME only ran one race in 1969, with Don Schissler finishing 36th at the inaugural Talladega 500.

1970s

Bud Moore Engineering took a three-year hiatus until 1972, when David Pearson piloted the No. 15 Ford to a 26th-place finish at Riverside. LeeRoy Yarbrough, Dick Brooks, and Donnie Allison also drove that year. In 1973, Bobby Isaac climbed on board with Sta-Power Industries sponsoring. Isaac had six top-ten finishes until the Talladega 500, when he radioed in to Moore and told him he was quitting. When he got out of the car, Isaac announced he was retiring. Some reports surfaced saying Isaac quit because voices in his head had told him to. His replacement was an unpolished rookie named Darrell Waltrip, who had a top-ten at Darlington Raceway.

In 1974, George Follmer drove the car with R.C. Cola as sponsor, but was released after Riverside, and Buddy Baker drove for the rest of the year, and won two poles. Baker stayed on for 1975, and won four races and finished 15th in the championship standings. Baker won one race in 1976 and finished seventh in the points, but did not visit victory lane in 1977. He left at the end of the year.

Baker's replacement was Bobby Allison. Allison won five races each over the next two seasons, including the 1978 Daytona 500, and finished second and third in the points, respectively. By the end of the 1970s, Bud Moore Engineering had returned to prominence.

1980s

Rudd in Moore's No. 15, from 1984

After Allison won four races in 1980 and finished sixth in points, he left for other opportunities. He was replaced by Benny Parsons, who won three races and finished tenth in points. He too, decided to move on after that season. Moore hit paydirt in 1982 by hiring a hotshot young superstar named Dale Earnhardt and signed Wrangler Jeans as primary sponsor. Earnhardt had one win in his first year, and finished 12th in points. After only improving slightly the next year, Earnhardt departed for Richard Childress Racing, and was replaced by Ricky Rudd (who was driving the No. 3 Childress car that Earnhardt was going to be driving, both with the same Wrangler sponsorship). After a demoralizing start that resulted in Rudd flipping over several times in a crash in the Bud Shootout, Rudd won at Richmond and finished seventh in points. Armed with new sponsor Motorcraft, Rudd won five more races from 1985-1987, and had a best points finish of fifth.

After 1987, Rudd departed for King Racing, rookie Brett Bodine replaced him. Compared to the teams' previous success, Bodine's performance was disappointing, and he left to replace Rudd at King.

1990s

Bud Moore's car, as driven by Brett Bodine in 1989

In 1990, Moore chose Morgan Shepherd to be his new driver. Shepherd had a strong year, winning the Atlanta Journal 500 and finishing a career-best fifth in points. When Shepherd dropped seven points in the standings in 1991, he left for Wood Brothers Racing, and Moore selected Geoff Bodine, older brother of Moore's former driver Brett, to be his new pilot. Despite two wins and eleven top-ten finishes, Bodine finished just 16th in points. Bodine won Moore's last race in 1993 at Sears Point, which was one of Bodine's last races for the team as he purchased the late Alan Kulwicki's AK Racing team five days prior to this victory and was going to become an owner-driver, and took over that car at Dover in September of that year. Lake Speed, who had been announced as the new driver for 1994 on September 3, 1993, took over for Bodine at that Dover race, and his best finish was an 11th at the Mello Yello 500.

Speed returned in 1994, this time with Ford as the sponsor. He had four top five finishes and an eleventh-place finish in points. At the end of the year, Speed departed for Melling Racing, and popular veteran Dick Trickle took over. After a dismal season that yielded just one top-ten, Trickle left the team. Wally Dallenbach Jr. signed on with Hayes Communications in 1996, but only had three top-ten finishes. He and Hayes left the team at the end of the year.

Final years

After the disappointment of 1996, Bud Moore Engineering did not make a race in 1997, when an attempt to make the Daytona 500 with Larry Pearson failed. In 1998, Moore began developing three-time ARCA champion Tim Steele for a run at Winston Cup with sponsorship from Nike and Sony. Steele had been recovering from injuries sustained in a crash at Atlanta, and with the help of his father and sponsor Rescue Engine Formula, Steele would seek Rookie of the Year honors in 1999. Soon though, the deal fell apart. Loy Allen Jr. attempted the Brickyard 400, but failed to qualify. The team did start two races with Ted Musgrave, both races resulting in DNF's.

After a failed attempt with Jeff Green to qualify for the 1999 Daytona 500, Moore was approached by a California family, Robert, Sue, and Randy Fenley, who were operating a successful NASCAR West Coast team and wanted to expand into Cup. Moore sold the operation to them but remained on board as a consultant. They attempted their first race at that year's Brickyard 400 as the No. 62 with Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce as sponsor. Jeff Davis and Lance Hooper shared the driving duties, but they did not qualify for the race. Nevertheless, the team began preparing for 2000. Late in the year, the team announced they would hire Derrike Cope would drive the No. 15 until the end of 2001. Although no sponsor was named, the team assured Cope that there was enough financial stability for him to run for the entirety of his contract. Cope qualified at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the team in 1999, finishing 35th. Things looked promising for 2000, as Cope had a strong Speedweeks. However, the team soon started to skip races because of financial difficulties. Things went from bad to worse as Moore left the team. Soon afterwards, Cope quit the team in disgust because he felt that he was lied to when he was told the organization was financially secure. Musgrave drove at Talladega and finished 35th. After that, the team moved to North Carolina and hoped to run the ARCA series until they could afford to compete in NASCAR again. That never came to be and the team soon shut down and sold its equipment. Moore's old shop in Spartanburg was purchased by Converse College as a storage facility.[1]

Car Results (Modern Era)

Car No. 15 Results

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Owners Pts
1972 David Pearson 15 Ford RSD
26
DAY RCH ONT CAR ATL
4
BRI [N 1]
LeeRoy Yarbrough DAR
26
NWS MAR TAL
Donnie Allison CLT
34
DOV MCH
33
RSD TWS DAY
8
BRI TRN ATL
32
TAL MCH NSV DAR
38
RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT
25
Dick Brooks CAR
34
TWS
1973 Bobby Isaac RSD
27
DAY
2
RCH
4
CAR
30
BRI
15
ATL
2
NWS
28
DAR
33
MAR
3
TAL
26
NSV
7
CLT
4
DOV
29
TWS
32
RSD
33
MCH DAY
39
BRI
22
ATL
35
TAL
13
NSV [N 1]
Darrell Waltrip DAR
8
RCH
26
DOV NWS
30
MAR CLT
38
CAR
27
1974 George Follmer RSD
18
DAY
20
RCH CAR
5
BRI
28
ATL
4
DAR
22
NWS
6
MAR
22
TAL
28
NSV
6
DOV
5
[N 1]
Buddy Baker CLT
22
RSD MCH
30
DAY
3
BRI
2
NSV
25
ATL
3
POC
2
TAL
6*
MCH
4
DAR
33
RCH DOV
2
NWS
3
MAR
2
CLT
37
CAR
34
ONT
5
1975 RSD DAY
20
RCH CAR
25
BRI
3
ATL
2
NWS
3
DAR
19
MAR
19
TAL
1*
NSV DOV
11
CLT
5
RSD MCH DAY
2*
NSV POC
3
TAL
1*
MCH
6
DAR
28
DOV
33
NWS
4
MAR
18
CLT
3
RCH CAR
28
BRI
24
ATL
1*
ONT
1*
15th 3050
1976 RSD
28
DAY
33
CAR
4
RCH
29
BRI
21
ATL
25
NWS
26
DAR
2*
MAR
27
TAL
1*
NSV
4
DOV
5
CLT
28
RSD
5
MCH
5
DAY
35
NSV
23*
POC
2
TAL
2*
MCH
31
BRI
5
DAR
31
RCH
5
DOV
5
MAR
3
NWS
4
CLT
4*
CAR
28
ATL
5
ONT
39
7th 3745
1977 RSD
12
DAY
3
RCH
9
CAR
4
ATL
5
NWS
4
DAR
7
BRI
29
MAR
24
TAL
33
NSV
6
DOV
9
CLT
5
RSD
5
MCH
6
DAY
7
NSV
6
POC
27
TAL
6
MCH
30
BRI
15
DAR
3
RCH
27
DOV
6
MAR
21
NWS
9
CLT
4
CAR
29
ATL
7
ONT
4
5th 3961
1978 Bobby Allison RSD
30
DAY
1
RCH
6
CAR
2
ATL
1*
BRI
21
DAR
14
NWS
6
MAR
6
TAL
38
DOV
8
CLT
3
NSV
21
RSD
3
MCH
24
DAY
27
NSV
7
POC
3
TAL
6
MCH
5
BRI
22
DAR
5
RCH
2
DOV
1*
MAR
7
NWS
3
CLT
1*
CAR
2
ATL
6
ONT
1*
2nd 4367
1979 RSD
19
DAY
11
CAR
1*
RCH
2*
ATL
2*
NWS
1
BRI
2
DAR
26
MAR
4
TAL
1
NSV
3
DOV
4
CLT
22
TWS
2
RSD
1
MCH
7
DAY
30
NSV
16
POC
9
TAL
28
MCH
23
BRI
3
DAR
10
RCH
1*
DOV
6
MAR
4
CLT
2
NWS
2*
CAR
19
ATL
4
ONT
2
3rd 4633
1980 RSD
18
RCH
2
CAR
7
ATL
3
BRI
3
DAR
30
NWS
3
MAR
25
NSV
5
DOV
1
TWS
3
RSD
15*
MCH
8
NSV
6
POC
34
BRI
6
DAR
6
RCH
1*
DOV
30
NWS
1*
MAR
22
CAR
26
ONT
4
6th 4019
Mercury DAY
2
TAL
40
CLT
26
DAY
1*
TAL
35
MCH
7
CLT
29
ATL
38
1981 Benny Parsons Ford RSD
16
DAY
31
RCH
5
CAR
24
ATL
5
BRI
5
NWS
21
DAR
5
MAR
23
TAL
36
NSV
1
DOV
32
CLT
37
TWS
1
RSD
20
MCH
3
DAY
39
NSV
3
POC
3
TAL
13
MCH
26
BRI
6
DAR
39
RCH
1
DOV
34
MAR
24
NWS
29
CLT
38
CAR
6
ATL
36
RSD
27
10th 3449
1982 Dale Earnhardt DAY
36
RCH
4
BRI
2*
ATL
28*
CAR
25
DAR
1*
NWS
3
MAR
23
TAL
8
NSV
10
DOV
3
CLT
30*
POC
34
RSD
4
MCH
7
DAY
29
NSV
9
POC
25
TAL
35
MCH
30
BRI
6
DAR
3
RCH
27
DOV
20
NWS
20
CLT
25
MAR
27
CAR
14
ATL
34
RSD
42
12th 3402
1983 DAY
35
RCH
2
CAR
33
ATL
33
DAR
13
NWS
29
MAR
26
TAL
24
NSV
24
DOV
8
BRI
9
CLT
5
RSD
4
POC
8
MCH
15
DAY
9
NSV
1*
POC
30
TAL
1*
MCH
7
BRI
2
DAR
11
RCH
22
DOV
35
MAR
4
NWS
2
CLT
14
CAR
17
ATL
33
RSD
4
8th 3732
1984 Ricky Rudd DAY
7
RCH
1
CAR
7
ATL
8
BRI
6
NWS
3*
DAR
9
MAR
18
TAL
22
NSV
4
DOV
8
CLT
11
RSD
9
POC
18
MCH
40
DAY
15
NSV
16
POC
39
TAL
14
MCH
12
BRI
16
DAR
5
RCH
2
DOV
3
MAR
27
CLT
8
NWS
6
CAR
23
ATL
3
RSD
15
7th 3918
1985 DAY
5
RCH
25
CAR
32
ATL
4
BRI
2
DAR
25
NWS
4
MAR
2
TAL
5
DOV
4
CLT
13
RSD
4
POC
7
MCH
7
DAY
7
POC
14
TAL
18
MCH
31
BRI
9
DAR
6
RCH
5
DOV
3
MAR
4
NWS
5
CLT
15
CAR
7
ATL
31
RSD
1
6th 3857
1986 DAY
11
RCH
30
CAR
28
ATL
26
BRI
2
DAR
26
NWS
2
MAR
1*
TAL
36
DOV
4
CLT
8
RSD
3
POC
4
MCH
10
DAY
6
POC
2
TAL
3
GLN
7
MCH
21
BRI
23
DAR
6
RCH
24*
DOV
1*
MAR
28
NWS
7
CLT
4
CAR
2
ATL
25
RSD
19
5th 3823
1987 DAY
9
CAR
2
RCH
28
ATL
1
DAR
30
NWS
5
BRI
3
MAR
16
TAL
30
CLT
25
DOV
12
POC
7
RSD
2
MCH
14
DAY
14
POC
26
TAL
15
GLN
4
MCH
25
BRI
3
DAR
7
RCH
3
DOV
1*
MAR
21
NWS
13
CLT
11
CAR
31
RSD
31
ATL
3
6th 3742
1988 Brett Bodine DAY
35
RCH
27
CAR
27
ATL
9
DAR
15
BRI
17
NWS
13
MAR
27
TAL
19
CLT
4
DOV
31
RSD
40
POC
35
MCH
27
DAY
42
POC
20
TAL
28
GLN
23
MCH
6
BRI
25
DAR
17
RCH
11
DOV
22
MAR
10
CLT
3
NWS
17
CAR
29
PHO
43
ATL
27
20th 2828
1989 DAY
29
CAR
34
ATL
33
RCH
28
DAR
14
BRI
30
NWS
28
MAR
27
TAL
19
CLT
8
DOV
15
SON
27
POC
10
MCH
5
DAY
11
POC
10
TAL
14
GLN
15
MCH
36
BRI
17
DAR
16
RCH
34
DOV
9
MAR
7
CLT
12
NWS
17
CAR
21
PHO
19
ATL
23
19th 3051
1990 Morgan Shepherd DAY
10
RCH
7
CAR
7
ATL
2
DAR
5
BRI
8
NWS
5
MAR
3
TAL
8
CLT
8
DOV
6
SON
29
POC
11
MCH
13
DAY
34
POC
36
TAL
26
GLN
6
MCH
9
BRI
31
DAR
21
RCH
30
DOV
25
MAR
25
NWS
12
CLT
2
CAR
12
PHO
3
ATL
1
5th 3689
1991 DAY
34
RCH
8
CAR
10
ATL
4
DAR
8
BRI
10
NWS
4
MAR
30
TAL
14
CLT
14
DOV
8
SON
42
POC
9
MCH
9
DAY
20
POC
34
TAL
14
GLN
36
MCH
26
BRI
6
DAR
19
RCH
23
DOV
3
MAR
11
NWS
3
CLT
28
CAR
17
PHO
10
ATL
6
12th 3438
1992 Geoff Bodine DAY
3
CAR
14
RCH
16
ATL
6
DAR
8
BRI
12
NWS
4
MAR
32
TAL
13
CLT
32
DOV
17
SON
10
POC
14
MCH
11
DAY
4
POC
30
TAL
38
GLN
27
MCH
40
BRI
11
DAR
19
RCH
5
DOV
14
MAR
1
NWS
1*
CLT
10
CAR
35
PHO
39
ATL
3
16th 3437
1993 DAY
3
CAR
9
RCH
12
ATL
6
DAR
8
BRI
18
NWS
28
MAR
6
TAL
27
SON
1
CLT
10
DOV
23
POC
24
MCH
17
DAY
37
NHA
12
POC
12
TAL
16
GLN
16
MCH
24
BRI
8
DAR
20
RCH
34
14th 3452
Lake Speed DOV
33
MAR
24
NWS
17
CLT
11
CAR
16
PHO
13
ATL
26
1994 DAY
14
CAR
21
RCH
14
ATL
6
DAR
5
BRI
3
NWS
12
MAR
30
TAL
7
SON
32
CLT
14
DOV
12
POC
23
MCH
40
DAY
10
NHA
15
POC
20
TAL
14
IND
15
GLN
13
MCH
13
BRI
25
DAR
40
RCH
21
DOV
9
MAR
34
NWS
25
CLT
5
CAR
10
PHO
14
ATL
4
11th 3565
1995 Dick Trickle DAY
11
CAR
22
RCH
12
ATL
22
DAR
28
BRI
30
NWS
32
MAR
24
TAL
38
SON
24
CLT
16
DOV
32
POC
22
MCH
16
DAY
12
NHA
34
POC
10
TAL
38
IND
18
GLN
28
MCH
13
BRI
35
DAR
36
RCH
18
DOV
23
MAR
15
NWS
19
CLT
32
CAR
16
PHO
29
ATL
23
25th 2875
1996 Wally Dallenbach Jr. DAY
6
CAR
23
RCH
40
ATL
20
DAR
37
BRI
24
NWS
28
MAR
DNQ
TAL
12
SON
3
CLT
19
DOV
22
POC
12
MCH
13
DAY
12
NHA
18
POC
33
TAL
32
IND
17
GLN
10
MCH
34
BRI
25
DAR
25
RCH
33
DOV
29
MAR
22
NWS
34
CLT
33
CAR
36
PHO
15
ATL
40
25th 2786
1997 Larry Pearson DAY
DNQ
CAR RCH ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR 60th 56
Greg Sacks CLT
DNQ
TAL CAR PHO ATL
1998 Loy Allen Jr. DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL CLT DOV RCH MCH POC SON NHA POC IND
DNQ
GLN 58th 99
Ted Musgrave MCH
39
BRI NHA DAR
43
RCH DOV MAR CLT TAL DAY PHO CAR ATL
1999 Jeff Green DAY
DNQ
CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR 56th 93
Derrike Cope CLT
35
TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL
DNQ
2000 DAY
41
CAR LVS
37
ATL
19
DAR
DNQ
BRI TEX MAR 49th 318
Ted Musgrave TAL
35
CAL RCH CLT
DNQ
DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL
Footnotes
  1. unknown

References

  1. Caraviello, David (April 29, 2009). "In former hub of NASCAR, now only memories remain". NASCAR. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
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