Compton signs Busch Series deal for 2002
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
December 6, 2001
4:11 PM EST (2111 GMT)
LOCUST, N.C. -- Two-year NASCAR Winston Cup veteran Stacy Compton made good on his promise to race in 2002 when he signed to drive for ST Motorsports in the NASCAR Busch Series.
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Stacy Compton
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Compton, 34, spent the last two seasons driving the No. 92 Kodiak Dodge for Melling Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. His 2001 season included two Bud Pole Awards, one top-10 and five top-15 finishes.
However, the Conwood Corporation informed team owner Mark Melling partway through the season that it would not return in 2002. The owner, whose family has been involved in Winston Cup racing for some 20 years, laid off most of his team's employees last month.
Compton and Melling wanted to stay together, but by the end of the season the Hurt, Va., driver said he was ready to race in any of NASCAR's national touring series but he wanted to be in competitive equipment. Melling had given him clearance to seek his best deal.
Compton drove ST Motorsports' No. 59 Chevrolet Monte Carlo at the Busch season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and in his Busch debut finished 10th.
He also drove in four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in Dodges owned by Melling and James Harris and collected four top-10 finishes.
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Melling Racing lost its sponsor at the end of 2001.
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"I'm excited about joining ST Motorsports and having the opportunity to compete weekly in the Busch Series," Compton said. "I ran the last race of the season for the team and if what I saw is any indication of what I'll be working with, I think we will be a legitimate threat."
Melling and Compton have left the door open for him to possibly return to the No. 92, depending on the type of deal they are able to put together.
"They should be fired up because they've got a good driver," Melling spokesman Lake Speed Jr. said of Compton's deal with ST. "To us that's a great thing.
"What we see happening is if he does really well there, that we hope to put a deal together for him to drive our car as well."
Driving the Busch races will help Stacy develop as a driver in a way we couldn't do for him in our current situation," Melling said.
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Rich Bickle drove the No. 59 Chevrolet for most of the 2001 Busch Series season.
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Melling's operation is down to six employees - they spend their time preparing the equipment that sat on the front row of last year's Daytona 500 and both Talladega races. It has a number of promising sponsorship leads and is preparing a test plan to be ready to go when a deal is signed.
With sponsorship a concern for many operations and Michael Kranefuss' fifth-place Busch Series team having to shut down last month due to no sponsorship, Tad Geschickter's team is in no trouble.
"The team definitely has all the pieces to the puzzle, we just need to put them together," Compton said.
Geschickter, who thought he had secured a deal with Busch Series veteran Jeff Purvis before Purvis signed with Brewco Motorsports, which is located closer to his Tennessee home, claims Compton is a diamond in the rough.
"I've followed Stacy's racing career and I'm impressed with his accomplishments," Geschickter said of his new driver's two victories, 25 top-five and 43 top-10 finishes in 82 career Truck Series starts. "We think he will help us reach a higher level of success and establish the consistency we need week to week."
Compton won two Craftsman Truck Series races in 1998, finished seventh in the championship and was named the series' most popular driver.
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