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Chat Transcript: Bud Moore

Bud Moore Engineering

Chat Transcript: Bud Moore

Bud Moore, one of the most successful team owners in NASCAR history, will joins fans to chat on Tuesday at 3 p.m. EST. Moore, who has fielded cars for legends like Joe Weatherly, Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt, has 63 wins to his credit in 922 career races. In fact, in 1962, Moore and Weatherly captured the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship with nine wins, 39 top-fives and seven poles in 52 races.

 


BUD MOORE at 3:12pm ET
I’d like to say hello to all the Bud Moore fans, I’d like to thank you all for having me here to answer any questions on our racing situation or NASCAR in general.


SCOTT LITTLE from netrax.net at 3:13pm ET
BUD,WHAT’S THE BIGGEST THING YOU ACCOMPLISHED IN NASCAR?


BUD MOORE at 3:14pm ET
The biggest thing I’ve accomplished? Well, I think I’ve accomplished a lot. Winning the championships with Joe Weatherly in ’62 and ’63 and coming close a number of other times. And winning the Trans-Am championship with Ford Motor Company. And one of the biggest things was winning the Daytona 500 in 1978 with Bobby Allison.


Tommy Gill from annex5.radix.net at 3:15pm ET
Considering all your past drivers, who did you enjoy working with the most? And why?


BUD MOORE at 3:16pm ET
Well, that’s sort of a hard one to answer. I had a lot of good drivers, and I enjoyed every one of them. I’d say a couple stood out a little more. Bobby Allison really did well for me. I really like Dale Earnhardt, because he’s such a hard-charger. Out of all the drivers it’s hard to pick one, they all were good.


Tim from oswego.org at 3:16pm ET
Are you and your Cup team planning to run the rest of the season after Charllotte and how is your sponsor search coming?


BUD MOORE at 3:17pm ET
We’re planning on starting by Charlotte, and hopefully run 10 races the rest of this year. Hopefully, then we can get squared away and run the full season in 1999.


Mike from detroit.mi.ameritech.net at 3:17pm ET
When will Tim Steele return?


BUD MOORE at 3:18pm ET
Well, as you know, we had a pretty bad crash at Atlanta in a test session. He’s coming along real well now, I talked to his father last week. His headaches are diminishing. The doctors want to reevaluate him in a few weeks, but they know he’ll be alright. But it will probably be around July 4th before he can return to racing.


jallen from ns2.ezonline.com at 3:19pm ET
Who do you think is the top driver in Winston Cup today?


BUD MOORE at 3:20pm ET
Now, that’s going to be alittl hard to answer. You’ve got a lot of good drivers out there right now, and there are a lot of talented young drivers too. The only way to find out who’s the best would be to have them in identical cars with the same crews. I think Jeff Gordon has done a great job, and Jeff Burton is coming up. And Dale Earnhardt is the best to ever sit behind the wheel, in my opinion.


SCOTT LITTLE from netrax.net at 3:20pm ET
BUD,IS IT DISSAPPOINTING NOT HAVING A CAR IN THE FIELD REGULARLY?


BUD MOORE at 3:21pm ET
Yes, it’s hard to sit and watch on TV in my living room, when I know I should be there in the pits and the garage. But I will be back, and it’s not going to be too long before I am.


Sean Reen from [170.222.200.11] at 3:22pm ET
If you had to choose, would you rather be involved with NASCAR today or thirty years ago when it was a weekend hobby?


BUD MOORE at 3:23pm ET
I saw NASCAR when it started in 1947 and it’s come a long way. I think the racing today is more sophisticated and little better than back then. We’ve got more speedways and such. Back then, we didn’t get too much prize money, but nowadays, the prize money is in the millions. That allows you to put better race cars on the track. So, all in all, I’d say today is the best time for NASCAR.


Jasper from citysearch.com at 3:23pm ET
Which other team owner do you respect most?


BUD MOORE at 3:24pm ET
I really like all the team owners, I got along with all of them. Over all the years, we got along the best with the Wood Brothers. Len and Glen Wood, and Leonard and Eddie Wood, we got along well and worked together good. So, I’d say the Wood Brothers.


SCOTT LITTLE from netrax.net at 3:25pm ET
BUD,WHAT DO THINK ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT JR. IS HE COMPARED TO HIS FATHER IN HIS EARLY RACING YEARS?


BUD MOORE at 3:26pm ET
I think Dale Earnhardt Jr. is doing an excellent job. He’s got an awful good teacher. With his dad coaching him, he’s going to be good. He’s been using his head and really making good moves. I think he’s going to be one of the superstars of the future.


Mike Ashmore from hcrhs.hunterdon.k12.nj.us at 3:26pm ET
How many race ready Tauruses do you have in the shop?


BUD MOORE at 3:27pm ET
Well, right now, we’ve got one superspeedway car, made for Daytona and Talladega, and we’ve got another one right behind it about two-thirds done. Then we’ve got a few more Tauruses almost ready to go. We could be racing if we had the sponsorhip. We could be racing in about two weeks.


Mike Ashmore from hcrhs.hunterdon.k12.nj.us at 3:27pm ET
Have you ever wanted to sell your team?


BUD MOORE at 3:28pm ET
Well, yes, we’ve though about selling — at least selling part of them team. We would probably sell an interest in the team if we could get sponsorship and get back racing. My goal is to get back to racing, and if it takes selling part of the team, then yes I would.


Chris Chatman from icia.com at 3:29pm ET
Which race is the most memorable for you?


BUD MOORE at 3:30pm ET
It’s like Dale Earnhardt, he went all this way without winning Daytona until this year. And until Indianapolis came along, Daytona paid the most, and it’s the most prestigious. So, I think it’s the biggest goal for drivers today. So, I’d have to say that winning the Daytona 500 was my biggest race.


Brad from analog.com at 3:31pm ET
Congratulations on your sucessful nascar career as a team owner. Did you know, at those times, just how great the drivers and the teams that you had, were? How did you get Earnhardt in a ford?


BUD MOORE at 3:33pm ET
Like I said, over my career we had a lot of good drivers. I really got along well with all of those drivers and they ran great for me.

How did I get Earnhardt in a Ford? Well, he started with us in 1980 and he liked the Ford. The only thing was we had a 300-mile engine, that’s about all it would take, and Earnhardt was pretty hard on equipment. I know this, if we’d had some good valve springs and valve trains we’d have won 10 or 12 races those years. And we probably would have won the championship too. If we had the valve springs and valve trains we have today, we’d probably have won more than that.


Sean Reen from [170.222.200.11] at 3:34pm ET
What is your all time favorite track, and not necesarily a NASCAR one.


BUD MOORE at 3:35pm ET
I’d say my favoiorite race track probably was Talladega. I like Talladega real well. We won a lot of races there, especially with Buddy Baker. Most any good driver, if he has a good car, can race Talladega. We raced at 205 mph then, before restrictor plates. I don’t like the restrictor plate racing at all, but maybe 210 mph would be too fast, for safety. But it’s a fast race track, and I love speed, put it that way.


Debbie from spotsylvania.k12.va.us at 3:35pm ET
In short,compare racing yesterday and today.


BUD MOORE at 3:37pm ET
Well, as you know, NASCAR racing was started back in 1947. We ran mostly in the dirt race tracks in 1948 and ’49. Then when Darlington came in 1950, and that was something else to race on a paved race track. So, NASCAR has grown quite a bit to move from the short dirt tracks to the superspeedways. Those big speedways are taking over, and I hate to see some of those short tracks go, but progress is progress. And I think NASCAR racing is the best racing in the world.


Racer from ummu.umich.edu at 3:37pm ET
With all the sponsorship issues, is racing still fun for you?


BUD MOORE at 3:38pm ET
With all the big money and the sponsorship, yes, racing is still fun for me. The reason I liked racing, is that I’ve raced all my life. We probably had more fun back then. And today’s big business is a lot different than years ago, but I still love it either way.


Paul Foresta from [209.27.69.200] at 3:39pm ET
Off the track what do you do for relaxaton?


BUD MOORE at 3:40pm ET
I have a cattle farm here in Spartanburg, S.C., and I raise beef cattle. And when I’m not racing, it’s kind of fun to get on one of those tractors and keep after my cattle. I still think about racing then, too. I guess that’s one of my biggest sources of fun, besides playing golf.


Jim Taylor from proxy.aol.com at 3:41pm ET
Is the NASCAR family as close as it was? I mean with all the new owners and teams involved today?


BUD MOORE at 3:42pm ET
I think that NASCAR family is still a close-knit bunch, and with all the newcomers that have come into NASCAR, it feels good to be part of a great sport. There can’t be anything better than being involved in the world’s great sport.


BUD MOORE at 3:42pm ET
Well, I’d like to thank all the fans for the questions. I look forward to doing this again. I appreciate it. And I hope to get back racing real quick, thanks!

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