By the time he was just twenty, he had already been through what many would never see in a lifetime. Walter “Bud” Moore Jr. had survived some of the bloodiest fighting in World War II combat to return home with five Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars. Even so, the newly returned veteran had to find a way to forge a living in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Using his mechanical skills and initiative, he and a childhood friend forged a living immediately after the war by buying junk cars and refurbishing, repairing, and reselling them.
Three-time Grand National...
Three-time Grand National champ and 1970 Trans-Am champion Bud Moore was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011.
While that might have been the end for some people's stories, a window of opportunity opened up for a young Bud Moore who had a burgeoning interest in automobile racing. With an uncanny ability to squeeze the most performance out of an automobile, his skills were in demand. Local racers flocked to him for work in the evenings, while he ran his garage and car lot during the day. While the money in NASCAR appeared to be a better bet than with other fly-by-night race promoters, Bud Moore stayed involved only on a part time basis—even after being an instrumental factor in Buck Baker's 1957 Grand National championship. Yet by 1961, stock car racing had grown to the point that Moore was racing full time with factory support from Pontiac. With Joe Weatherly as his driver, he won consecutive NASCAR championships during 1962-1963 while switching from Pontiac to Mercury.
It was during this time that association with Mercury proved to be pivotal in Bud Moore's career. When Ford pulled out of NASCAR in 1966, Mercury upped the ante by having Moore build a Comet, which was considerably smaller and much more aerodynamic than the big fullsized Galaxies that Ford had been fielding. The car was instantly competitive and won some major races, which put Moore even more firmly on the radar screen of Lincoln-Mercury's corporate brass.
In one of the tightest battles...
In one of the tightest battles in Trans-Am racing history, Bud Moore’s Team Cougar finished just two points shy of Carroll Shelby’s fleet of Mustangs for 1967 in just its first season of racing. Factory funding for the Mercury Cougars was cut off the following year, which sent Bud Moore back to the NASCAR series for a short hiatus before he returned to Trans-Am during 1969-1971.
While this was going on, Lincoln-Mercury was determined to grab its share of the growing ponycar market with its then-new '67 Mercury Cougar. With Bud Moore already under contract, plans were quickly developed to have him spearhead Lincoln-Mercury's effort in SCCA Trans-Am racing, where it would go head-to-head against the Ford Mustangs of Carroll Shelby and the Chevrolet Camaros of Roger Penske. Moore had four cars done and was testing at Virginia International Raceway by the end of 1966 with Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones and Ed Leslie as his drivers.
As the 1967 season started, Moore's new Mercury Cougars weren't a factor right away, but as the season wore on, they gave everyone all they could handle, finishing just two points behind the Mustang in their championship year. It was an impressive showing for the rookie team, especially in light of the fact that Carroll Shelby's Mustangs already had several years' worth of development work behind them. Yet, as a reward for that, funding for the Mercury Cougar Trans-Am program was abruptly shut off. Ford was not going to have an in-house rival beat the Mustang.
When SCCA class rules mandated...
When SCCA class rules mandated a change to a single 4V carburetor on a production intake in 1970, Bud Moore introduced this ram air carburetor box, which took air in from the passenger side. Working with a unique “Mini-Plenum” intake arrangement, Bud Moore’s Trans-Am Mustangs cranked out a reported 485 horsepower.
In 1969, Parnelli Jones was...
In 1969, Parnelli Jones was already a household name having won both the 1963 Indy 500 and the USAC Stock Car championship the following year. Jones won the Manufacturer’s Championship for Ford in this Mustang while driving for Bud Moore in 1970 with George Follmer.
With one of the best pit crews...
With one of the best pit crews in all of racing providing an advantage for his team, Bud Moore brought fast-paced, NASCAR-style pit stops into Trans-Am road racing to stay.