Melling Racing

Melling Racing

Owner(s)	Harry Melling (1982–1999) Mark Melling (1999–2002)
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina
Series	Winston Cup
Race drivers	Bill Elliott, Jerry Nadeau, Lake Speed, Stacy Compton
Sponsors	Coors Brewing, Turner Broadcasting, Spam, Kodiak
Manufacturer	Ford, Dodge
Opened	1982
Closed	2003
Career
Debut	1982 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Latest race	2002 Pepsi 400 by Farmer Jack (Michigan International Speedway)
Drivers' Championships	1
Race victories	34

Melling Racing was a Championship-winning NASCAR Winston Cup Series race team owned by Harry Melling and his son Mark Melling. Harry Melling ran the team from its inception in 1982, to mid-1999. When Harry died after a heart attack in mid-1999, his son Mark then took over Melling Racing until the team closed in 2003. The team was most notable for fielding cars for Bill Elliott in the 1980s, where he won the 1985 Southern 500 at Darlington to claim the first ever Winston Million bonus, claiming the fastest qualifying lap in NASCAR history at Talladega Superspeedway with a lap of 212.809 mph in 1987, and winning the 1988 Winston Cup championship. Melling won 34 career NASCAR Winston Cup races, all of them with Bill Elliott.

History

Car Nos. 9 and 92 History

Bill Elliott and success (1982–1991)

In 1982 the team became Melling Racing after Harry Melling bought the team from George Elliott on December 1, 1981, Melling first became involved in NASCAR when his company Melling Tool sponsored Benny Parsons in 1979. Melling Racing ran 21 races with Bill Elliott in 1982 and had nine top-tens and won the pole for the Champion Spark Plug 400.

In 1983, Elliott won his first race in the season finale at Riverside International Raceway and finished third in points. The following season, Coors became the team's new sponsor and Melling Racing responded with three wins with Elliott and another third-place points finish. 1985 was a phenomenal year for Elliott and Melling, marking a season-and-career-high 11 poles and 11 wins, with 7 of those 11 wins coming from the pole, as well as over $2 million in earnings. During the 1984 Winston Cup Awards Ceremony, RJ Reynolds and Winston announced that starting in 1985, if a driver won 3 of the 4 crown jewel events in the same year, they would receive a million dollar bonus from the company. The 4 events are the Daytona 500, Winston 500, Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500. Most drivers thought it would be impossible to do so, but Bill Elliott would accomplish that feat in 1985. Elliott won the Daytona 500, Winston 500 (where he lost 2 laps, but made both laps up under green and eventually won the race), and the Southern 500. Elliott won the Winston Million in its very first year running, earning him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill". The only major of the four he did not win in 1985 was the Coca-Cola 600 (a driver needed only to win a "small slam" of the four majors to win the bonus; Elliott, since he retired in 2013, would not finish a Career Grand Slam). Elliott is one of only 2 drivers to win the bonus, with the other driver being Jeff Gordon, who won the Winston Million in its final running in 1997. The winning of the bonus was the rise of Bill Elliott being NASCAR's Most Popular Driver. With his win at Darlington, along with the Winston Million bonus, Elliott had 10 races won so far, but in the next 4 races after Darlington however, he would struggle and finish poorly. He did not finish in the top 10 since the Darlington win. Elliott was in jeopardy of not winning the championship. Elliott would finally overcome his slump, and he won his 11th and final race of the season in the November race at Atlanta, putting him back in the championship hunt. With the win at Atlanta, Bill Elliott would set a NASCAR modern era record for completing the season sweep at 4 different tracks in a season: Pocono, Michigan, Darlington, & Atlanta. The next race after the Atlanta win would be the final race of 1985. Elliott went into Riverside 2nd in points, only 20 points behind Darrell Waltrip, giving him a shot to rebound for the championship after a string of poor finishes in 4 of the last 5 races. During the race however, Elliott would suffer early transmission problems, and it would unfortunately cost him the championship. He finished the race in 31st. Waltrip finished in 7th, gaining 81 points on Elliott. Darrell Waltrip clinched his 3rd and final Winston Cup title, having won only 3 races to Bill Elliott's 11. Elliott would officially lose the championship by 101 points. This would be the 1st time in Bob Latford's Winston Cup points system that a driver winning 10 or more races in a season failed to win the championship due to poor finishes and lack of consistency in the final stretch of the season. The team would slip to 4th in points in 1986 and won only two races, both coming at Michigan. Even though both wins were at Michigan, Bill Elliott would become the 1st driver in NASCAR history to win 4 straight superspeedway races at one track, doing so at Michigan with season sweeps in 1985 and 1986. Elliott and Melling rallied back in 1987 by winning 6 races, and starting off the year by winning the Daytona 500 for the 2nd time. During the season in May, Bill Elliott would run the fastest qualifying lap in NASCAR history at Talladega Superspeedway for the Winston 500 with a lap of 212.809 mph. Due to NASCAR mandating restrictor plates the following year to keep the drivers from going over 200 mph, this record will never be matched. They would finish the year 2nd in points to Dale Earnhardt, who scored 11 wins, by 489 points. Bill Elliott and Melling Racing would finally win the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship in 1988 after winning 6 races for the 2nd straight season and scoring 22 top-ten finishes. Elliott won the title by only 24 points over Rusty Wallace, who also won 6 races.

Melling Racing car that set the record for the fastest recorded time in a stock car - 212.809 mph at Talladega Superspeedway

The team was unable to defend its championship in 1989 after Elliott was injured early in the season and Jody Ridley served as a substitute driver. Elliott still managed to win three races that year, but the defending Winston Cup champions fell to 6th in points. In 1990, Elliott had only one victory, winning at Dover, but rebounded to finish 4th in points. In 1991, there would be a bit of a change in the team's identity: the sponsorship would change from Coors to Coors Light, and the colors would also change from the team's iconic red to blue. They would only win one race that season, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Bill Elliott had a very rough year, and fell to a disappointing 11th in points, causing him and Coors to part ways with Melling at the end of the 1991 season. The 1991 Pepsi 400 at Daytona would be the only race in his career that Bill Elliott won in a car that was not painted red. The Pepsi 400 would also be the team's 34th and final career Winston Cup win. Overall, Melling Racing won 34 races in 9 seasons, along with winning the 1985 Winston Million, setting the fastest qualifying lap ever in 1987 at Talladega, and winning the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup championship, all of those accomplishments with only Bill Elliott. The prime years would unfortunately come to an end for the team. Elliott however, would still be successful in the years to come.

Struggles, Harry Melling's death, and closing (1992–2003)

Without sponsorship, Melling ran Phil Parsons for the first two races in the 1992 season and had a top-ten finish at the Daytona 500. After that, the team ran a part-time schedule with Dorsey Schroeder, Dave Mader III, and Bill Schmitt driving, before Chad Little finished the season. The team continued running a part-time schedule with Little and Greg Sacks driving at the beginning of the season, along with P. J. Jones in the second half of the season. After Joe Ruttman drove at Daytona, Rich Bickle drove for ten races and had only one top-20 finish, causing him to be replaced by Parsons later on. The team finally got a new sponsor in Spam when Lake Speed signed with the team in 1995. He had two top-ten finishes and finished 23rd in points running a full-time schedule. After only one top-ten in 1996, Spam left the team.

Nadeau in the Melling Racing No. 9 at Dover, 1998

Lake Speed in the Cartoon Network No. 9 Ford, about to qualify for the Pocono Raceway Winston Cup Race, June 1998.

Due to a lack of sponsorship, the team skipped races, and ran a total of 26 events with Speed driving 25 and Jeff Davis running at Sears Point. Melling was able to return full-time in 1998 when Cartoon Network became the team's new sponsor. While practicing at Sears Point, Speed was involved a wreck and had to be replaced by Butch Gilliland that weekend while he recuperated. After returning for a final race at New Hampshire, Speed retired from driving and was replaced immediately by rookie Jerry Nadeau, who had a best finish of 15th at Watkins Glen International. Nadeau returned for the 1999 season, with Turner Broadcasting taking a larger role in its sponsorship duties, advertising TBS, Dinner and a Movie, WCW, and the Atlanta Braves in addition to their Cartoon Network sponsorship. Midway through the season, Harry Melling died due to a heart attack, and his son Mark took over ownership of the team. At Watkins Glen that season, Nadeau gave Melling Racing its first top-five since 1991 with a fifth-place finish, but left after the following week to replace Ernie Irvan at MB2 Motorsports. For the rest of the season, Bickle, Steve Grissom, and Stacy Compton all shared the ride.

Compton was hired as the driver for 2000 with Kodiak/Tobacco replacing Cartoon and Turner as the sponsor. In his rookie season, Compton was unable to finish higher than 16th, had to miss the goracing.com 500 due to injuries, and was replaced by Bobby Hillin Jr. for that race. In 2001, Melling yielded the No. 9 to Evernham Motorsports, who would be fielding entries for, Bill Elliott. When Ray Evernham took possession of the number 9 from Melling, Elliott asked him for that number out of respect for his old team. In exchange, Melling Racing switched to the No. 92 and ran Dodge Intrepids with engine support from Evernham. Compton also received new crew chief Chad Knaus, leading to the departure of Jerry Pitts. Compton qualified on the outside pole at the season-opening Daytona 500, started on the front row with Elliott, who won the pole, and finished 10th in the race. Compton won 2 poles in 2001, both at Talladega. After finishing 33rd in points at the end of the season, Compton, Kodiak, and Knaus left Melling. In a twist of fate for the team, Elliott won at Homestead in November 2001, driving the number 9 car, but this time, with Evernham Motorsports. It was the 9 car's first since he and Melling Racing took the No. 9 to victory lane at the Pepsi 400 in 1991.

Melling began the 2002 season at Daytona with Robert Pressley driving, finishing 22nd in the Brand Source Dodge after a late race engine failure. The team did not run until the summer Michigan race with Compton finishing 30th. The team's final attempt came at Talladega with Pressley, but they did not qualify. In the team's final race, Stacy Compton led three laps.

At the end of the 2002 season, Melling Racing closed its doors for good and eventually sold its shop and equipment to Arnold Motorsports in 2003.

Team Results

Year	Driver	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	35	36	Owners	Pts
1982	Bill Elliott	9	Ford	DAY 5	RCH 12	BRI	ATL 21	CAR 23	DAR 3	NWS	MAR	TAL 26	NSV 11	DOV	CLT 2	POC 19	RSD	MCH 3	DAY 2	NSV 21	POC 30	TAL 6	MCH 27	BRI	DAR 4	RCH	DOV 3	NWS	CLT 2	MAR	CAR 12	ATL 24	RSD 25							25th	2558
1983				DAY 2	RCH 6	CAR 2	ATL 30	DAR 5	NWS 21	MAR 21	TAL 5	NSV 5	DOV 4	BRI 8	CLT 16	RSD 2	POC 6	MCH 25	DAY 7	NSV 7	POC 6	TAL 8	MCH 3	BRI 27	DAR 2	RCH 4	DOV 8	MAR 14	NWS 4	CLT 8	CAR 21	ATL 6	RSD 1							3rd	4279
1984				DAY 5	RCH 4	CAR 8	ATL 11	BRI 9	NWS 10	DAR 3	MAR 7	TAL 9	NSV 20	DOV 4	CLT 28	RSD 10	POC 4	MCH 1	DAY 6	NSV 7	POC 3	TAL 10	MCH 3	BRI 6	DAR 15	RCH 24	DOV 32	MAR 3	CLT 1	NWS 8	CAR 1	ATL 2	RSD 4							3rd	4377
1985				DAY 1*	RCH 22	CAR 29	ATL 1*	BRI 11	DAR 1*	NWS 6	MAR 13	TAL 1	DOV 1*	CLT 18	RSD 6	POC 1	MCH 1*	DAY 2*	POC 1	TAL 4*	MCH 1	BRI 5	DAR 1	RCH 12	DOV 20	MAR 17	NWS 30	CLT 2	CAR 4	ATL 1*	RSD 31									2nd	4191
1986				DAY 13	RCH 21	CAR 7	ATL 5	BRI 5	DAR 8	NWS 9	MAR 31	TAL 24*	DOV 7	CLT 6*	RSD 11	POC 5	MCH 1	DAY 16	POC 35	TAL 27	GLN 4	MCH 1*	BRI 19	DAR 3	RCH 9	DOV 27	MAR 11	NWS 16	CLT 7	CAR 7	ATL 3	RSD 23								4th	3844
1987				DAY 1*	CAR 4	RCH 4	ATL 28	DAR 2	NWS 10	BRI 4*	MAR 6	TAL 22	CLT 23*	DOV 2	POC 2	RSD 5	MCH 34	DAY 12	POC 32	TAL 1	GLN 28	MCH 1	BRI 9	DAR 8	RCH 4	DOV 4	MAR 11	NWS 3	CLT 1	CAR 1*	RSD 23	ATL 1*								2nd	4207
1988				DAY 12	RCH 12	CAR 6	ATL 19	DAR 4	BRI 1	NWS 10	MAR 11	TAL 7	CLT 19	DOV 1*	RSD 16	POC 10	MCH 2	DAY 1	POC 1*	TAL 8	GLN 3	MCH 3	BRI 2	DAR 1*	RCH 7	DOV 1*	MAR 6	CLT 4	NWS 5	CAR 4*	PHO 4	ATL 11								1st	4488
1989				DAY 35	CAR 19	ATL 11	RCH 10	DAR 6	BRI 9	NWS 22	MAR 20	TAL 11	CLT 5	DOV 8	SON 3	POC 21	MCH 1	DAY 4*	POC 1	TAL 12	GLN 18	MCH 39	BRI 24	DAR 7	RCH 18	DOV 4	MAR 15	CLT 4*	NWS 6	CAR 15	PHO 1	ATL 27								6th	3774
1990				DAY 3	RCH 4	CAR 33	ATL 12	DAR 7	BRI 17	NWS 18	MAR 10	TAL 22	CLT 2	DOV 8	SON 21	POC 16	MCH 25*	DAY 29	POC 2	TAL 2	GLN 12	MCH 4	BRI 13	DAR 4	RCH 4	DOV 1*	MAR 8	NWS 4	CLT 15*	CAR 2	PHO 5	ATL 15*								4th	3999
1991				DAY 28	RCH 30	CAR 5	ATL 2*	DAR 12	BRI 28	NWS 8	MAR 26	TAL 8	CLT 26	DOV 13	SON 20	POC 36	MCH 11	DAY 1	POC 9	TAL 2	GLN 7	MCH 5	BRI 21	DAR 18	RCH 9	DOV 11	MAR 27	NWS 24	CLT 11	CAR 10	PHO 25	ATL 3								11th	3535
1992	Phil Parsons			DAY 10	CAR 30	RCH																																		28th	2582
	Dorsey Schroeder						ATL 35
	Dave Mader III							DAR 34	BRI 16	NWS DNQ	MAR 21	TAL 18	CLT 39
	Chad Little													DOV 26	SON	POC 37	MCH 21	DAY 24	POC 17	TAL 8	GLN	MCH 17	BRI	DAR 34	RCH 27	DOV 29	MAR	NWS	CLT 33	CAR 24	PHO	ATL 17
1993				DAY 24	CAR	RCH								CLT 34																										38th	942
	Greg Sacks						ATL 23	DAR	BRI	NWS
	P. J. Jones										MAR DNQ	TAL DNQ	SON 25		DOV 34	POC	MCH 38	DAY 30	NHA	POC	TAL	GLN 8	MCH 26	BRI DNQ	DAR	RCH	DOV DNQ	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL DNQ
1994	Joe Ruttman			DAY 18																																				42nd	1103
	Rich Bickle				CAR 41	CAR	ATL 37	DAR 23	BRI	NWS DNQ	MAR	TAL DNQ	SON	CLT 34	DOV	POC 28	MCH 30	DAY 20	NHA 21	POC 34	TAL	IND 29	GLN
	Phil Parsons																							MCH 31	BRI	DAR 15	RCH DNQ	DOV	MAR	NWS 36	CLT DNQ	CAR	PHO	ATL
1995	Lake Speed			DAY 14	CAR 32	RCH 14	ATL 15	DAR 29	BRI 17	NWS 25	MAR 26	TAL 16	SON 40	CLT 8	DOV 34	POC 28	MCH 11	DAY 21	NHA 24	POC 22	TAL 35	IND 34	GLN 20	MCH 17	BRI 29	DAR 9	RCH 21	DOV 32	MAR 20	NWS 35	CLT 21	CAR 24	PHO 22	ATL 19						23rd	2921
1996				DAY 14	CAR 25	RCH 18	ATL 41	DAR 25	BRI 35	NWS 35	MAR 11	TAL 42	SON 16	CLT 35	DOV 26	POC 34	MCH 19	DAY 29	NHA 24	POC 8	TAL 30	IND 13	GLN 17	MCH 32	BRI 16	DAR 10	RCH 31	DOV 13	MAR 28	NWS 25	CLT 12	CAR 35	PHO 28	ATL 19						23rd	2834
1997				DAY 24	CAR 15	RCH 12	ATL 22	DAR 36	TEX 16	BRI 36	MAR 25	SON	TAL 21	CLT 24	DOV	POC	MCH 11	CAL 20	DAY 29	NHA	POC	IND 12	GLN	MCH 21	BRI 29	DAR 18	RCH 36	NHA 18	DOV	MAR 14	CLT 38	TAL 36	CAR 17	PHO 37	ATL 26					35th	2301
1998				DAY 17	CAR 27	LVS 32	ATL 28	DAR 25	BRI 31	TEX 20	MAR 20	TAL 25	CAL 32	CLT 27	DOV 36	RCH 26	MCH 25	POC 25		NHA 41																				34th	2130
	Butch Gilliland																		SON 24
	Jerry Nadeau																				POC 26	IND 26	GLN 15	MCH 30	BRI 32	NHA 29	DAR 32	RCH 23	DOV 36	MAR 35	CLT 35	TAL 42	DAY 19	PHO 39	CAR 24	ATL 37
1999				DAY 11	CAR 31	LVS 31	ATL 27	DAR 40	TEX 24	BRI 42	MAR 32	TAL 8	CAL 20	RCH 21	CLT 20	DOV 30	MCH 26	POC 23	SON 34	DAY 37	NHA 36	POC 38	IND 31	GLN 5	MCH 29															34th	2686
	Steve Grissom																									BRI 39	DAR 39	RCH 30
	Rich Bickle																												NHA 20	DOV 36	MAR 37	CLT 39	TAL 41
	Stacy Compton																																	CAR 36	PHO 39	HOM 30	ATL DNQ
2000				DAY 26	CAR 34	LVS 32	ATL 35	DAR 29	BRI 28	TEX 36	MAR 39	TAL 33	CAL 28	RCH 22	CLT 33	DOV 30	MCH 42	POC 37	SON 31	DAY 39	NHA 29	POC 35	IND 37	GLN 29	MCH DNQ		DAR DNQ	RCH 24	NHA 16	DOV 29	MAR 39	CLT DNQ	TAL 23	CAR DNQ	PHO DNQ	HOM 38	ATL DNQ			38th	1857
	Bobby Hillin Jr.																									BRI 40
2001	Stacy Compton	92	Dodge	DAY 10	CAR 41	LVS 27	ATL 24	DAR 43	BRI 11	TEX 15	MAR 15	TAL 43	CAL 38	RCH 29	CLT 34	DOV 32	MCH DNQ	POC 23	SON 24	DAY 32	CHI 26	NHA 31	POC 32	IND 33	GLN 20	MCH 21	BRI DNQ	DAR 42	RCH 22	DOV 24	KAN 34	CLT 32	MAR 16	TAL 11	PHO 21	CAR 36	HOM 43	ATL 18	NHA 34	33rd	2752
2002	Robert Pressley			DAY 22	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN								TAL DNQ	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM	67th	97
	Stacy Compton																									MCH 30	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN

External links

• Harry Melling's owners statistics at racing-reference.info
• Mark Melling's owners statistics at racing-reference.info