PERSONAL PROFILE
	Hometown: Hurt, VA Birthdate: May 26, 1967

Stacy Compton may have gotten a lesser amount of attention of his higher profile cohorts in the 2000 Winston Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year class, but the driver of the No. 9 Kodiak Ford proved he's got the talent to change that.

With team owner Mark Melling allowing his family's No. 9 to revert to the driver who made it famous, Bill Elliott, in 2001; Compton will get noticed for more than his new No. 92 this season. Melling has also switched to the Dodge Intrepid while reorganizing the structure of his team behind new crew chief Chad Knaus.

After making the first 21 races of the season, Compton struggled in the stretch as a series of personnel changes hurt his team's performance. A 16th at New Hampshire was his best performance of the year but his chemistry with Knaus at season's end made the entire team optimistic.

Compton managed to lead three races in his rookie season and had a best start of eight at California, proving the team was a potentially good qualifier. He ended up fifth in the rookie race.

In two full seasons in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Compton progressed from an unknown short-tracker -- who did make a startling Winston Cup debut by qualifying ninth at Martinsville Speedway in 1996 -- to a legitimate championship threat and the circuit's best qualifier.

He won two truck races in 1998, finished seventh in the championship and was named the series most popular driver. Compton competed in three of the final four Winston Cup races of 1999 with the Melling team after completing his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season with Impact Motorsports, in which he finished fourth after compiling 17 top-10s in 25 starts.

The native of Hurt, Va., built a strong foundation in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, logging 36 victories and 39 poles in seven years of Late Model Stock Car competition. He also had more than 100 victories and 10 championships in nine years of kart racing.