Bud Moore Engineering

Bud Moore Engineering

Owner(s)	Bud Moore Robert, Sue and Randy Fenley
Base	Spartanburg, South Carolina
Series	Grand National/Winston Cup
Race drivers	Joe Weatherly, Buddy Baker, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Benny Parsons, Ricky Rudd, Lake Speed, Geoff Bodine
Sponsors	R.C. Cola / Motorcraft / Wrangler
Manufacturer	Ford/Mercury/Pontiac
Opened	1961
Closed	2001
Career
Drivers' Championships	2
Race victories	63

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.

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 to 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] Years later a fire broke out in the building and burned most of the old shop down. ^[2]

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				12th	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.
2. Snipes, Anisa (2024-04-30). "Fire destroys former Bud Moore Engineering building in Spartanburg". www.foxcarolina.com. Retrieved 2024-04-30.

External links

• Bud Moore Engineering owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Official Bud Moore Engineering site