Bud Moore Engineering debuted in 1961 at a qualifying race for the Daytona 500, immediately winning with Joe Weatherly behind the wheel of the No. 8 Pontiac. Weatherly drove the team through most of the season, claiming eight victories. The team also became one of NASCAR's first multi-car operations, fielding a second car numbered 18 for five events, driven by Bob Welborn, Fireball Roberts, Cotton Owens, and Tommy Irwin.
In 1962, Weatherly returned to deliver a phenomenal campaign: five wins and the Grand National championship. He and Moore repeated the feat in 1963, this time taking the title with three victories despite running only a partial schedule.
Tragedy overshadowed 1964. While racing Moore's No. 8 Mercury at Riverside International Raceway, Weatherly lost control entering Turn 6, struck the concrete barrier, and suffered fatal head injuries when his head slid out the window on impact. Moore retired the No. 8 and hired 1963 Rookie of the Year Billy Wade, who responded with four consecutive wins. Wade himself then died during a tire test at Daytona International Speedway, prompting Moore to retire the No. 1 as well.
For 1965 Moore fielded two cars, Nos. 15 and 16, for Earl Balmer and Darel Dieringer. Dieringer won and finished third in points, remaining the team's lead driver through a limited 1966–67 schedule that yielded two more victories. A rotating cast of drivers followed — Bobby Allison, Gordon Johncock, Sam McQuagg, Cale Yarborough, LeeRoy Yarbrough — before the team ran just one event in 1969.
After a three-year hiatus, Bud Moore Engineering returned in 1972 with David Pearson in the No. 15 Ford. A succession of drivers filled the seat before Bobby Isaac joined in 1973, sponsored by Sta-Power Industries. Isaac collected six top-ten finishes before famously radioing Moore during the Talladega 500 to say he was quitting, climbing from the car and announcing retirement, later citing voices telling him to stop. His mid-race replacement that day was a young Darrell Waltrip, who managed a top-ten at Darlington.
George Follmer drove in 1974 before being released, with Buddy Baker completing the year. Baker won four races in 1975 and added another victory in 1976. Bobby Allison then took over, winning five races in both 1978 and 1979, including the 1978 Daytona 500, and finishing second and third in points across those two seasons to restore the team's national prominence.
Bobby Allison won four races in 1980 and departed. Benny Parsons replaced him and delivered three wins in 1981 before also moving on. In 1982 Moore secured two assets that would define the decade: Dale Earnhardt as driver and Wrangler Jeans as primary sponsor. Earnhardt won once and finished 12th in points in his first season, improved modestly in 1983, then departed for Richard Childress Racing.
Ricky Rudd arrived from Childress's No. 3 car — notably with the same Wrangler sponsorship following Earnhardt — for 1984. After a frightening opening crash at the Bud Shootout in which he flipped multiple times, Rudd won at Richmond and finished seventh in points. Switching to Motorcraft sponsorship, Rudd added five more wins between 1985 and 1987, with a best championship finish of fifth. When Rudd departed for King Racing after 1987, rookie Brett Bodine replaced him but could not match the team's prior results and also left for King Racing.
Morgan Shepherd drove the team to a respectable 1990 season, winning the Atlanta Journal 500 and finishing fifth in the championship — a career-best result for Shepherd. His successor Geoff Bodine posted two wins and eleven top-tens in 1991 yet finished only 16th in points. Geoff Bodine secured what would prove to be the team's final race victory at Sears Point in 1993, just days before purchasing the late Alan Kulwicki's AK Racing team. Lake Speed completed Bodine's remaining events that year.
Speed returned full-time in 1994 with Ford as sponsor, recording four top-five finishes and eleventh in points. Dick Trickle drove an unproductive 1995 season, and Wally Dallenbach Jr. managed only three top-tens in 1996. By 1997, the team could not make the Daytona 500 field with Larry Pearson attempting to qualify. Sponsorship and competitive machinery had both dried up.
A planned 1998–1999 development program around three-time ARCA champion Tim Steele — backed by Nike and Sony — collapsed before it produced results. Several drivers attempted races for the team without success, including Loy Allen Jr. failing to qualify for the 1997 Brickyard 400 and Jeff Green failing to qualify for the 1999 Daytona 500.
Late in 1999, a California family — Robert, Sue, and Randy Fenley — purchased the operation and rebranded it Fenley-Moore Racing, retaining Bud Moore as a consultant. Derrike Cope was signed as driver through 2001, but the team began missing races due to financial difficulties. Moore eventually left the organization, and Cope quit shortly thereafter, stating he had been misled about the team's financial stability. After Ted Musgrave drove one final race at Talladega, the team relocated to North Carolina intending to compete in the ARCA Series before ultimately shutting down and liquidating its equipment. Moore's original Spartanburg shop was later sold to Converse College for use as a storage facility; a subsequent fire destroyed most of the building.
Bud Moore Engineering's two consecutive Grand National championships in 1962 and 1963 established it as one of early NASCAR's elite teams. Moore's ability to attract champions — Weatherly, Earnhardt, Allison, Rudd — across four decades reflects the organization's sustained competitiveness. The team's car numbers — including 1, 8, 15, 16, and 62 — appeared in NASCAR record books from the sport's formative years through the modern era.