NASCAR has witnessed several golden teams come and go throughout its 76-year history. One such race team was the Bud Moore Engineering team, founded in 1961. This team was a springboard for legendary Cup drivers like Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison. Its owner, Bud Moore, and his son, Greg Moore, left a lasting legacy in motorsport.

However, the team began to crumble in the 1990s, and soon it was sold in 1999. Greg Moore and his brother Daryl stuck around as consultants for the love of racing. Now a piece of heartbreaking news surrounding this legendary team has left the NASCAR world in splits.

A big hole is burned in NASCAR history

Early this year, Greg Moore passed away tragically. But more sad news awaited BME fans. On Monday, news regarding a municipal mishap rang alarm bells across the NASCAR community. In Spartanburg, South Carolina, an overnight fire majorly damaged a former racing garage building. And it happened to be the old Bud Moore Engineering structure. 

William Smart, City of Spartanburg fire marshal, outlined the situation. “Several units arrived and found a third of the building involved in heavy fire and smoke. (Firefighters) ensured there were no residents, citizens in the structure, the building was found unsecured, there was no power to the structure and no gas to the structure, no natural gas being fed to the structure. The structure was not being used at the time of the fire, it was empty.”

Though no one was harmed, this fire has burned big holes in race fans’ hearts. One fan shared his condolences on Reddit about the Moore family’s piling losses. “Shame that a piece of Nascar history is gone, a lot of big names raced out of that shop. Tough year for the Moore family, first with Greg’s passing and now the former shop burns.”

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Another fan paid a fitting tribute to the Moore family’s legacy. “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. One fan set longing eyes on a Moore souvenir: “I’d kill to have the sign off that building. Someone has to have it in their basement.” 

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Between 1961 and 2000, Bud Moore’s stellar team accumulated 43 poles and 63 Cup Series races, mostly in Ford cars. His stable of drivers included stars such as Joe Weatherly, Buck and Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, and others.

Somebody also saluted Mitchell Stapleton, a YouTube NASCAR vlogger, for covering the BME garage before it met its end. “Truly tragic , so glad that the legendary story of the race shop was shared with nascar nation on YouTube. All thanks goes to Stapleton 42 for visiting this incredible piece of nascar history back in March of 2024”

Besides NASCAR fans, a Spartanburg resident and author also shared how invaluable the garage was.

Bud Moore left a diverse impact

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Five to six decades back, the old BME race garage was a lively place as famous drivers visited it. Residents of Spartanburg and South Carolina fondly cherish those memories. So when they saw a pile of rubble and ashes standing in Bud Moore’s old home, it shocked them.

Spartanburg resident and race car author, Perry Allen Wood said: “You can smell it, you can smell the charred ruins, when you used to come here and smell oil and gasoline.”

He also waxed nostalgic about the place. “In 1964 I was 12 and I used to come here with my father… I would sit the race cars and play and for me, it was better than Disney World or whatever. I would pretend I was Billy Wade, one of Bud’s drivers. It was a famous building for a long time and as far as I am concerned a big piece of Spartanburg and auto racing history in general is kind of ruined.”

The gathering of fans and residents in mourning BME’s loss acts as a fitting adieu to the team’s golden NASCAR legacy.