Melling Racing is a NASCAR Cup Series and ARCA Series raceteam who competed from 1982-2002. The team had a few notable drivers spend time behind wheel of one of the teams race cars, such as Bill Elliott, Lake Speed, Jerry Nadeau and Stacy Compton among others. Melling Racing would find almost all of their success in their 1980s with Bill Elliott driving the racecar and his brother Ernie building those powerful engines that took them to over 30 Nascar Cup Series victories.

Winning a couple Daytona 500s, 11 races in just 1985 alone, as well as the Winston Million promotion by winning 3 out of the 4 biggest races in the Cup Series called Crown Jewel events. Even setting the fastest ever qualifying lap at Talladega Superspeedway in 1987 at over 212 M.P.H. Then in 1988 winning the Nascar Cup Series championship. Though after all that success the team began to really fall off in the early 1990s. This would lead to Elliott parting ways with them at the conclusion of the 1991 season.

For the next 3 seasons from 1992-1994 there were a rotation of drivers behind the wheel of their #9 Fords finding little success. In 1995 Melling Racing was able to go back full-time Racing with the addition of SPAM as their new primary sponsor. Lake Speed would drive for them from 1995-the middle of the 1998 season also finding limited success. Jerry Nadeau would take over the #9 Cartoon Network Ford for a little over a season. Even scoring the teams first top 5 finish since 1991.

Team founder Harry Melling died of heart attack in the middle of the 1999 season leaving his son Mark Melling to take over ownership of the team. Once Nadeau left the team a couple different drivers made starts in the teams race cars until they would settle on Stacy Compton. Compton would drive for them full-time in both 2000 and 2001. Changing their number to 92, giving the 9 to Evernham Motorsports for Elliott to use in exchange for technical support.

That next season they would run there final 2 Nascar Cup Series races ever.

NASCAR'S Team of the 1980s: Melling Racing

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