Stacy Compton
Encyclopedia
Stacy Compton is a NASCAR
team owner and former driver. He currently owns Turn One Racing. He is a former co-owner of Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia in the Craftsman Truck Series
, and is a former racing analyst for ESPN
full-time. Before he ran in NASCAR, Compton was a successful short track racer in Virginia.
, and won 36 races in seven years of late model competition. During this time, Compton also hosted a TV show dedicated to covering Virginia races. In 1996, Compton made his debut in a major NASCAR series when he qualified in 9th place for the Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Martinsville Speedway
in the Winston Cup series. He finished 33rd that day after suffering brakeing failure. He ran one other race during his rookie season, the fall Martinsville event. He finished 33rd in that race as well.
, to run the #86 Valvoline Ford F-150 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year Award. During his initial Truck Series season, Compton had three top-five finishes and a 13th place finish in points, but fell well short of the top rookie award. For 1998, R.C. Cola
replaced Valvoline as sponsor. In the third race of the season, at Phoenix International Raceway
, Compton captured his first career pole position, and finished in third place during the race event. The next week at Portland Speedway
, Compton led all but two laps and won his first Craftsman Truck Series race. He got another win later that year at Heartland Park Topeka
. He finished seventh in points that year and was named the Most Popular Driver. Compton had high hopes for 1999 as Impact switched to Dodge Ram
s and getting a teammate in Randy Tolsma
, but he was unable to visit victory lane that year, although he did improve to 4th in points. Late that season, Compton began running some Winston Cup races for Melling Racing
. Soon afterwards, Melling announced that Compton would pilot their #9 Kodiak
Ford Taurus
in the Winston Cup Series in 2000.
. That summer Michigan
race, he crashed during qualifying and suffered minor injuries. He was replaced by Bobby Hillin Jr. at the following event. Compton ended the year 38th in points.
In 2001, Melling switched to #92 and Dodge
. Compton started the season by qualifing on the outside pole at the Daytona 500
, and went on to score a 10th-place finish. At the next restrictor-plate race at Talladega Superspeedway
, he won his first Cup pole position, but finished last due to mechanical issues. After winning another pole at Talladega, he was only able to improve his points position by five spots. At the end of the year, sponsorship problems at Melling forced him to look elsewhere for a job.
In 2002, Compton signed with A.J. Foyt Racing to drive the #14 Conseco
Pontiac
. He had a best finish of eighteenth when Conseco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He was let go after the New England 300. He returned to Melling for one race before running two races for BAM Racing
at the end of the year. His last Cup start came at the 2003 Pepsi 400 for Morgan-McClure Motorsports
.
, then known as ST Motorsports. He qualified 12th and finished 10th. For four consecutive seasons, Compton ran every Busch Series race with JTG. Although he did not win a Busch Series race, he has 33 career top-ten finishes and one pole position. His best points finish was a 9th in 2002.
Following the conclusion of the 2006 season, Compton was replaced by Marcos Ambrose
and returned to the Truck Series, sharing the #09 Ford with Joey Clanton
for nine races. In 2006, Compton founded Turn One Racing, LLC, as a way of promoting talented young drivers in the southeastern United States. He made a total of fourteen starts that season, ten for Wood Brothers/JTG, as well as one for Key Motorsports
and three for Xpress Motorsports
. He bought into Bobby Hamilton Racing in 2008, and was named driver of the #4 Dodge for the team during the season. After the race at Bristol Motor Speedway
the #4 team shut down, leaving Compton out of a job. He drove the #60 Toyota for Wyler Racing
in 2009 mostly unsponsored until sponsorship came from Safe Auto Insurance Company
late in the season, finishing with 8 top-tens and finishing 11th in points. Despite the new sponsorship, Jeff Wyler was unsure if the team would continue into 2010, so Compton and Turn One Racing bought the #60 from Wyler, though the team continued into 2010 under the Wyler Racing banner. Comptom would split the #60 Truck with former Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan
and Red Bull
development driver Cole Whitt
, while also changing manufacturers to Chevrolet. Compton later took sole ownership of the team and renamed it Turn One Racing. Compton scored only five top tens and finished 20th in points. Karthikeyan left at the end of the year to drive for Hispania Racing in F1, while Safe Auto left the team to sponsor ThorSport Racing
's #13 Truck.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
team owner and former driver. He currently owns Turn One Racing. He is a former co-owner of Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia in the Craftsman Truck Series
Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing...
, and is a former racing analyst for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
full-time. Before he ran in NASCAR, Compton was a successful short track racer in Virginia.
Early career
Compton grew up racing in Virginia, and began to focus on racing late models in local racing divisions. Eventually, he moved up to the NASCAR Winston Racing SeriesWhelen All-American Series
The Whelen All-American Series is a points championship for NASCAR sanctioned local racetracks around the United States and Canada....
, and won 36 races in seven years of late model competition. During this time, Compton also hosted a TV show dedicated to covering Virginia races. In 1996, Compton made his debut in a major NASCAR series when he qualified in 9th place for the Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, near Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved...
in the Winston Cup series. He finished 33rd that day after suffering brakeing failure. He ran one other race during his rookie season, the fall Martinsville event. He finished 33rd in that race as well.
1997-1999
In 1997, Compton signed up with a new team, Impact MotorsportsImpact Motorsports
Impact Motorsports is a former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. It was owned by David Hodson and Russell Kersh from 1997 until 2001, when it was sold to Phil Bonifield....
, to run the #86 Valvoline Ford F-150 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year Award. During his initial Truck Series season, Compton had three top-five finishes and a 13th place finish in points, but fell well short of the top rookie award. For 1998, R.C. Cola
R.C. Cola
RC Cola is a soft drink developed in 1905 by Claude A. Hatcher, a pharmacist in Columbus, Georgia, United States.- History :...
replaced Valvoline as sponsor. In the third race of the season, at Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix International Raceway, also known as PIR, is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. The track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the Indycar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series...
, Compton captured his first career pole position, and finished in third place during the race event. The next week at Portland Speedway
Portland Speedway
Portland Speedway was a half-mile race track for auto racing in Portland, Oregon, U.S. It was in existence from 1924 until mid-2000.The track began as a five-eighths-mile clay oval in 1924 on the site of a field in north Portland...
, Compton led all but two laps and won his first Craftsman Truck Series race. He got another win later that year at Heartland Park Topeka
Heartland Park Topeka
Heartland Park Topeka is a multi-purpose motorsports facility located south of Topeka, Kansas.When it opened in 1989, it was the first brand-new auto racing facility to be built in the United States for 20 years. Its facilities include a road-race course with 4 possible configurations , a ⅜ mile...
. He finished seventh in points that year and was named the Most Popular Driver. Compton had high hopes for 1999 as Impact switched to Dodge Ram
Dodge Ram
The Dodge Ram is a full-size pickup truck manufactured by the Chrysler Group LLC. As of late 2010, it has been sold under the Ram Trucks brand. Previously, Ram was part of the Dodge lineup of light trucks...
s and getting a teammate in Randy Tolsma
Randy Tolsma
Randy Tolsma is a former race car driver. Tolsma began his racing career in go-karts at the age of nine, before moving into sprint cars, running as high as USAC, where he won four track championships...
, but he was unable to visit victory lane that year, although he did improve to 4th in points. Late that season, Compton began running some Winston Cup races for Melling Racing
Melling Racing
Melling Racing was a NASCAR team that ran from 1982 to 2002. The team won the 1988 championship with driver Bill Elliott.-History:Owner Harry Melling first became involved in NASCAR when his company Melling Tool sponsored Benny Parsons in 1979. The team began in 1982 with driver Bill Elliott by...
. Soon afterwards, Melling announced that Compton would pilot their #9 Kodiak
Kodiak tobacco
Kodiak is a brand of dipping tobacco manufactured by American Snuff Company, a U.S. smokeless tobacco manufacturer that also produces the Grizzly tobacco and Levi Garrett brands...
Ford Taurus
Ford Taurus
The Ford Taurus is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States. Originally introduced in the 1986 model year, it has remained in near-continuous production for more than two decades, making it the fourth oldest nameplate that is currently sold in the North American...
in the Winston Cup Series in 2000.
2000-2002
Compton struggled during his first year in Cup, as his best finish was 16th at New Hampshire International SpeedwayNew Hampshire International Speedway
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic...
. That summer Michigan
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile moderate-banked D-shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than in Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas...
race, he crashed during qualifying and suffered minor injuries. He was replaced by Bobby Hillin Jr. at the following event. Compton ended the year 38th in points.
In 2001, Melling switched to #92 and Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....
. Compton started the season by qualifing on the outside pole at the Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
, and went on to score a 10th-place finish. At the next restrictor-plate race at Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, United States. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base just outside the small city of Lincoln. It was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in...
, he won his first Cup pole position, but finished last due to mechanical issues. After winning another pole at Talladega, he was only able to improve his points position by five spots. At the end of the year, sponsorship problems at Melling forced him to look elsewhere for a job.
In 2002, Compton signed with A.J. Foyt Racing to drive the #14 Conseco
Conseco
Conseco , originally Security Life of Indiana, is a financial services organization based in Carmel, Indiana. Conseco's insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supplemental health insurance products to more than 4 million customers in the United States...
Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
. He had a best finish of eighteenth when Conseco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He was let go after the New England 300. He returned to Melling for one race before running two races for BAM Racing
BAM Racing
BAM Racing is a NASCAR racing team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, owned by Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau. The team began in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2000, moving to NASCAR in 2001 to 2008 before sitting out 2009 due to the economy...
at the end of the year. His last Cup start came at the 2003 Pepsi 400 for Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Morgan-McClure Motorsports is an American auto racing team that competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full time until 2007 and now occasionally attempts races. It has been in operation for 27 years, starting in 1982. The team is most notable for running the #4 from 1983 to 2009.-Starting...
.
Busch Series-Present
In 2001 at the GNC Live Well 300, Compton made his Busch Series debut with JTG Daugherty RacingJTG Daugherty Racing
JTG Daugherty Racing is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owned by former advertising executive Tad Geschickter and his wife Jodi, along with current ESPN analyst Brad Daugherty...
, then known as ST Motorsports. He qualified 12th and finished 10th. For four consecutive seasons, Compton ran every Busch Series race with JTG. Although he did not win a Busch Series race, he has 33 career top-ten finishes and one pole position. His best points finish was a 9th in 2002.
Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose is a championship winning Australian racing car driver. He currently drives the #9 Stanley Black & Decker Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...
and returned to the Truck Series, sharing the #09 Ford with Joey Clanton
Joey Clanton
Joseph Clanton is an American race car driver and businessman. He was the 2002 champion in the now-defunct American Speed Association stock car series. He is also the owner of two Zaxby's franchises.-Busch Series:...
for nine races. In 2006, Compton founded Turn One Racing, LLC, as a way of promoting talented young drivers in the southeastern United States. He made a total of fourteen starts that season, ten for Wood Brothers/JTG, as well as one for Key Motorsports
Key Motorsports
Key Motorsports is a NASCAR team owned by Curtis Key. The team currently fields the #40 Chevrolet Impala driven by Charles Lewandoski, the #42 Chevrolet Impala drien by Tim Andrews, the #46 Chevrolet Impala driven by Chase Miller, and the #47 Chevrolet Impala driven by Danny Efland / Scott Wimmer...
and three for Xpress Motorsports
Xpress Motorsports
Xpress Motrsports was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. The team won the Truck Series championship in 2002 and 2003 with Mike Bliss and Travis Kvapil, respectively. The team was owned by Steve Coulter until 2004, when he sold the team to then team manager Dave Fuge, who owned the team until...
. He bought into Bobby Hamilton Racing in 2008, and was named driver of the #4 Dodge for the team during the season. After the race at Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961...
the #4 team shut down, leaving Compton out of a job. He drove the #60 Toyota for Wyler Racing
Wyler Racing
Turn One Racing is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. They currently field the #60 Red Bull/Fuel Doctor USA Chevrolet Silverado for Red Bull development driver Cole Whitt and the #66 GoPro Chevrolet Silverado for Justin Marks...
in 2009 mostly unsponsored until sponsorship came from Safe Auto Insurance Company
Safe Auto Insurance Company
Safe Auto Insurance Company is an auto insurance company based in Columbus, Ohio, though the company did consider moving to Phoenix, Arizona, in 2005. The company was founded in 1993 by Jon Diamond & Ari Deshe...
late in the season, finishing with 8 top-tens and finishing 11th in points. Despite the new sponsorship, Jeff Wyler was unsure if the team would continue into 2010, so Compton and Turn One Racing bought the #60 from Wyler, though the team continued into 2010 under the Wyler Racing banner. Comptom would split the #60 Truck with former Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan
Narain Karthikeyan
Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan , is the first Formula One motor racing driver from India. He has previously competed in A1GP, and the Le Mans Series. He made his Formula One debut in with the Jordan team, and was a WilliamsF1 test driver in and...
and Red Bull
Red Bull
Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...
development driver Cole Whitt
Cole Whitt
Cole Whitt is a American stock car driver and development driver for Red Bull Racing Team. After advancing his way through Kart racing, Whitt moved up to sprint cars and became a development driver for Red Bull. After running in the Camping World Series East, Whitt made his NASCAR debut in 2010...
, while also changing manufacturers to Chevrolet. Compton later took sole ownership of the team and renamed it Turn One Racing. Compton scored only five top tens and finished 20th in points. Karthikeyan left at the end of the year to drive for Hispania Racing in F1, while Safe Auto left the team to sponsor ThorSport Racing
ThorSport Racing
ThorSport Racing is a Sandusky, Ohio based NASCAR racing team that competes in the Camping World Truck Series. Owned by Duke Thorson and his wife Rhonda, the team currently fields the #13 Safe Auto Insurance Company/Curb Records Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Sauter through an alliance with Mike...
's #13 Truck.