Walter Maynard "Bud" Moore Jr. (May 25, 1925 – November 27, 2017) was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

car owner who operated the Bud Moore Engineering team. A decorated veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he described himself as "an old country mechanic who loved to make 'em run fast". Moore served in World War II as a member of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. A machine gunner, he participated in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

as part of the 4th Infantry Division, landing on Utah Beach. After Normandy, he went on to fight in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

and ended his military service as a sergeant. When he returned from the war, he began a career in

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

as a crew chief. In the 1960s, he opened Bud Moore Engineering, a team that went on to win two NASCAR

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (the top NASCAR series, known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 and 1970, then the NASCAR ...

championships and 63 races for 37 years until its shutdown in 1999. He was inducted into the

NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame and Museum located in Charlotte, North Carolina that honors NASCAR and its history. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs ...

in 2011.

Early and personal life

Moore was born on May 25, 1925, on a farm in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 11th ...

, to Walter M. "Dick" Moore Sr.; he was one of ten children, including six brothers and three sisters. After attending Jenkins and Cleveland Junior High, he started going to Spartanburg High School. After receiving his driver's license at the age of 14, he and friends Joe Eubanks and Cotton Owens raced their cars in the streets. He met his wife, Betty Clark, while in high school. The two dated until Moore departed for the military and got engaged prior to his service. When Moore returned, they married and had three sons, Greg, Daryl, and Brent. They also have five grandchildren. Greg and Daryl were also involved in NASCAR, serving as team consultants for Fenley-Moore Motorsports alongside their father; Daryl served as Chief Engine Builder; Greg had also worked as Bud Moore Engineering's team manager. When his NASCAR career ended, Moore returned to South Carolina and became a farmer, raising Santa Gertrudis cattle with Greg and Daryl. There is also a South Carolina-born NASCAR driver named Bud Moore who raced in the 1960s and 1970s. Nicknamed "Little Bud", the driver has no relation to the owner. Moore died on November 27, 2017, in Spartanburg at the age of 92.

Military career

On June 2, 1943, a day after graduating high school and a week after his 18th birthday, Moore was drafted into the United States military. Although he expressed interest in joining the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

as Eubanks, Owens, and Moore's brother Charles were also in the branch, he did not have a college education (which was required for those entering the Navy) and a naval officer attempted to place him in the

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

. Unhappy with this, Moore instead joined the Army. After training at Camp Van Dorn in Mississippi, he went to New Jersey's

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Fo ...

, where he was assigned to the

90th Infantry Division 90th Division may refer to: ;Infantry * 90th Division (1st Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1949–1950 * 90th Division (2nd Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1950–1952 * 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) * 90th Infantry Di ...

, D Company, 359th Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, 1st Platoon as a machine gunner. As a member of the 1st Platoon, Moore's machine gun was .30 caliber water-cooled, described as a heavy weapon. Moore and his group were not expecting to participate in the

in 1944. In March, they were told they would be involved in an amphibious assault off the English coast, with plans of a dry run upon completing training in

Knighton, Powys Knighton ( or ) is a market town and community on the River Teme, straddling the border between Powys, Wales and Shropshire, England. It lies in the traditional county of Radnorshire. Originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement, Knighton is located ...

. The group landed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

before going to an army camp in

Wales, South Yorkshire Wales is a village and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it borders to the south De ...

. On June 4, two days before the landings, Moore observed a map produced by officers and realized the land depicted was not England, but France, and that he would be involved in the invasion of Normandy. The regiment was reattached to the 4th Infantry Division for the operation. On June 6, Moore's division landed on Utah Beach, where they faced German resistance and other obstacles; at one point, as he waded through the water, Moore stepped in a shell hole and fell in, causing him to go underwater before recovering. Upon reaching land, he hid behind a sand dune before continuing. By nightfall, the division had reached half a mile inland and started settling into foxholes when the 82nd and

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

s arrived to divert German attention. There was also discussion among Moore's division about General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

recalling them due to the lack of progress made at nearby

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...

, though they stayed at Utah. After clearing the beach, Moore joined General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Alli ...

Périers, Manche Périers is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History Périers was liberated by the 2nd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Division, of the United States Army, on 27 July 1944. While he was near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Moore's group was assigned to capture the

Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its west lie the Gu ...

before returning to Patton. Instead of Moore's group, General

Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free France, Free-French general during World War II. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as or ju ...

's men liberated Paris. After leaving France, Moore's group crossed the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...

and reached the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

before being withdrawn to

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

, where they stayed for three weeks without supplies. As it turned out, the Germans had built their infantry along the Siegfried Line and had launched the

, which forced Moore's division to fight their way back to the line and losing approximately 12,000 men in the process. On one mission during the battle, Moore and a German-speaking Jeep driver entered a German-occupied town that also served as a

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

area regimental headquarters. The two began to inspect houses and spotted a German soldier running into a wooden hut. Moore attacked the hut, causing it to catch fire and prompting the soldier to surrender; he was tied onto the hood of the Jeep. As they continued through the town, they noticed more Germans hiding in a rock house, which Moore also fired upon. Although the Germans displayed a white flag of surrender, they did not exit the building. Moore's driver ordered the captured soldier to convince his comrades to surrender before Moore summoned artillery. When they left the house, Moore discovered 15 soldiers and four officers among the surrendering German troops. He was awarded the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for his work in the operation. As he continued through Germany into

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, Moore was promoted to sergeant, during which he earned a second Bronze Star after his involvement in a battle located in an abandoned hospital. He also received five

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

s, four for shrapnel damage and one for taking machine gun fire to the hip. In spite of his injuries, he was often sent back into battle after brief stays in the hospital; by February 1945, he and a lieutenant were the only men in the group to have fought in Normandy. At one point, Moore and the lieutenant were to receive a 90-day

furlough A furlough (; from , "leave of absence") is a temporary cessation of paid employment that is intended to address the special needs of a company or employer; these needs may be due to economic conditions that affect a specific employer, or to thos ...

and return to the United States in March, but Moore was injured and his reprieve papers were lost, forcing him to remain in Europe. In December 1944, Moore participated in the

Siege of Bastogne The siege of Bastogne () was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to re ...

, providing support for the besieged 101st Airborne Division. Two months later, Moore's division was replaced by the 5th, though he stayed at the Rhine. Germany surrendered in May, ending the war in Europe. At the time, Moore was in

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

, Czechoslovakia, learning of the German defeat from

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

soldiers. Despite the victory in Europe, Moore wondered about the possibility of fighting in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

against Japan, though the

atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. The aerial bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civili ...

in August ended speculation of such combat. To return troops home, the government instituted a points system in which the most decorated troops leaving first. With his medals and service time of nine months and fourteen days without a break, he was among the first to return to the United States, doing so aboard the USS ''Excelsior''; the ship was named after the Excelsior Mills in

Union, South Carolina The city of Union is the county seat of Union County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,393 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Union Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 28,961 a ...

, near Moore's hometown of Spartanburg. He was formally discharged on November 15, 1945. Despite his honors, Moore distanced himself from his allies. He received the information of his company members but did not contact them out of worry that doing so would lead to him finding out they were

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

. He also turned down offers to return to the beaches of Europe, saying he "left too many friends over there." In 1994, the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings, Moore was invited by

Unocal Corporation Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...

to follow his route during the war from Utah Beach to Czechoslovakia. He declined the offer, stating he "would have gone, but when racing is your livelihood and there's a race on the schedule for a certain weekend, you about have to be there."

NASCAR

Upon returning to the States, Moore reunited with Eubanks and opened a used car business, working on cars used in

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

running. The two traded a 1939 Ford for a race car and started competing in motorsports. After racing in smaller series, the two moved into

in 1950, debuting in the inaugural Southern 500 at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a egg-shaped oval track in Darlington, South Carolina. The track has hosted a variety of racing events since its inaugural season of racing in 1950; primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The venue has a capacity of 47,00 ...

; Eubanks drove the No. 4 car to a 19th-place finish with Moore serving as his crew chief. In 1956 and 1957, driver

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racing, stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his ...

won the

championships with Moore as crew chief. During his career as a crew chief, Moore won 49 races. His last race as a crew chief was the 1989 Atlanta Journal 500 at

Atlanta International Raceway Atlanta Motor Speedway (currently known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georg ...

, working with

Brett Bodine Brett Elias Bodine III (born January 11, 1959) is an American former stock car racing driver, former driver of the pace car in Cup Series events, and current NASCAR employee. Brett is the younger brother of 1986 Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine a ...

as he finished 23rd. During the 1960s, Moore opened his own NASCAR team, Bud Moore Engineering, operating in Spartanburg. In 1961, the team fielded cars for Owens,

Fireball Roberts Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer. Background Roberts was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. ...

, Tommy Irwin, and Joe Weatherly. In Moore's first race as an owner, Weatherly won the Daytona 500 Qualifying Race and followed it with a second-place finish at the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

. Weatherly would win eight of his 24 races driving Moore's Pontiacs. Weatherly also ended up winning the 1962 and 1963 NASCAR Grand National championships, again driving for Moore, with 12 combined wins. After the 1963 season, Moore switched from Pontiac to

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

's Mercury division. That year, Billy Wade managed to win five poles and four Grand National races in a row driving for Moore.

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 19 ...

won three straight

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...

races in 1975 and 1976, and in 1978,

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (December 3, 1937 – November 9, 2024) was an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant ...

won the

driving for Moore. Moore also worked with fellow Ford team

Wood Brothers Racing Wood Brothers Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was formed in 1950 by brothers Ray Lee, Clay, Delano, Glen Wood, Glen, and Leonard Wood (racing), Leonard Wood. To ...

, teaching team owners

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...

and Eddie Wood the use of the

slide rule A slide rule is a hand-operated mechanical calculator consisting of slidable rulers for conducting mathematical operations such as multiplication, division, exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is one of the simplest analog ...

to determine a car's horsepower on a

dynamometer A dynamometer or "dyno" is a device for simultaneously measuring the torque and rotational speed ( RPM) of an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover so that its instantaneous power may be calculated, and usually displayed by the dyna ...

. In a 2015 online chat with fans, Moore considered the Woods to be his closest colleagues among NASCAR owners. In 1965, Moore and Lincoln Mercury Performance supervisor Fran Hernandez partnered to build drag cars. Two years later, Moore and Hernandez joined

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of motorspo ...

in fielding

Mercury Cougar The Mercury Cougar is a series of automobiles that was sold by Mercury (automobile), Mercury from 1967 to 2002. The model line is a diverse series of vehicles; though the Cougar nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at va ...

s in the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...

Trans-Am Series The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of ...

. That year, the Bud Moore Cougar Team, with

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (August 12, 1933 – June 4, 2024) was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and ...

and Peter Revson driving, winning four races and just missing the series title by just two points, before Mercury left the series at the end of the season. In 1968, Tiny Lund won the newly-formed Grand American division championship driving a Cougar for Moore; over 1970 and 1971, Lund won 41 of the series' 109 races. Moore returned to the Trans-Am in 1969, with

and George Follmer driving a pair of Boss 302 Mustangs, combining to take 3 wins. In 1970 Jones and Follmer were back in Moore's Boss 302 Mustangs, with Jones dominating the series, handily winning the Trans-Am championship on the strength of his 5 wins. Adding Follmer's win at Loudon, NH would give the Moore Team an even 6 wins for the season. Other notable racers have driven for Moore, including Darel Dieringer, David Pearson,

Cale Yarborough William Caleb Yarborough (March 27, 1939 – December 31, 2023) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, farmer, and rancher. He was the first driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winn ...

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports Color analyst, analyst, author as well as a former national television broadcaster and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NAS ...

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the " Alabama Gang", and is the br ...

Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Eli Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is an American former motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He raced at the NASCAR Cup Series from 1979 to 2011, earning 18 wins and a best season finish of third in 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1990. ...

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "the Rooster", is an American former racing driver and racing team owner. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 ...

, and Morgan Shepherd. During his 37 years as a car owner, Moore recorded 63 wins, 43 poles and two NASCAR Grand National championships. By the time of his team's shutdown in 1999, the 63 wins made Moore the fourth owner with the most wins in NASCAR history. In the late 1990s, a lack of funding hindered the team's progress. After losing its primary sponsor during the 1996 season, the team attempted only five of 84 races, qualifying for two. BME received sponsorship requests from various groups, including a three-year contract with American Veterans, but the deals failed to materialize. With few options remaining, Moore sold the team's assets and Spartanburg shop to Winston West Series operation Fenley Motorsports, for whom he became a consultant as the team changed its name to Fenley-Moore Motorsports and retained Moore's No. 15. Derrike Cope signed with the team for the final two races of the year in preparation to run the full 2000 season, but the struggle to find sponsorship prompted Moore to leave his consultant role in February 2000. The team was unable to pay Cope, who sued Fenley for

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

. Moore's last race as an owner was the 2000 DieHard 500 at Talladega with

Ted Musgrave Theodore David Musgrave Sr. (born December 18, 1955) is an American former stock car racing driver. Pre-NASCAR Musgrave's father, Elmer, was a famous short-track racer in the Midwest who raced for over 25 years at Soldier Field, O'Hare, Waukega ...

; he finished 35th after being involved in a crash on lap 137. Fenley sold the team shop and planned to move operations near Interstate 85. The shop was sold to Ernie Elliott Inc. via public auction on April 1, 2002.

Converse College Converse University is a private university in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was established in 1889 by a group of Spartanburg residents and named after textile pioneer Dexter Edgar Converse. It was originally a women's college but now admits ...

currently owns the shop. Although he no longer owned a team, Moore remained in the sport, working on NASCAR's appeals committee. In 2002, he was inducted into the Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame; seven years later, he was enshrined in the

International Motorsports Hall of Fame The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, Alabama, Talladeg ...

. On May 23, 2011, he was named to the second class of the

. During his induction speech, Moore stated he would like to be remembered as "one who made many contributions to the sport. One who's firm handshake was as good as any contract. One who always gave a straight answer. Most of all, to be remembered as a man who loved his family, his country and the sport of racing." He was inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles ...

in 2013.Bud Moore
at the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Bud 1925 births 2017 deaths Racing drivers from Spartanburg, South Carolina NASCAR team owners NASCAR crew chiefs United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from South Carolina United States Army non-commissioned officers NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees

Early and personal life

Military career

NASCAR

References

Further reading

External links