It's just like the old saying: When it rains, it pours. The Dodge racing camp significantly grew its holdings in the space of about two weeks. Of course, both announcements were among the worst-kept secrets in racing this season.
First, Ray Evernham announced he finally had fitted the last piece to his driving puzzle. Casey Atwood, at just 19 years old, will be filling one of the most sought-after seats in Winston Cup next season as the driver of Evernham's #19 Dodge. Atwood is admittedly young for the job, but with teammate Bill Elliott available for guidance, the young man has a wealth of knowledge to pull from. Of course, Atwood has demonstrated he has the talent: He is the youngest winner ever in NASCAR's Busch Series.
The second announcement brought on board both a new driver and a new team. Mark Melling, owner of Melling Racing, announced that his longtime Ford team, along with driver Stacy Compton, would be moving to the Dodge nameplate in 2001. This move also had been suspected since Melling agreed to sign over the team's famous number (9) to Bill Elliott shortly after Elliott signed on to drive for Evernham next season. The single-car Melling team will campaign the #92 next season.
"The move to Dodge positions the Melling team nicely to excel and continue for the long term," said Melling. "This change demonstrates that we are working hard to improve our performance and get the team positioned for the future. As Dodge comes in and brings their resources to the table for us to lean on, it's going to accelerate our program that much faster.
"We're growing our program and Dodge is growing their program. It makes sense for us to grow together. For us to become a top-10 team in a year or two is not out of the question."
For his part, Compton was understandably enthusiastic about a return to Dodge. Last season Compton drove a Dodge Ram in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series with great success. He captured a record six poles in 25 races and finished fourth in the championship point standings.
"It's not going to be just Melling Racing anymore," he said. "We're going to be getting support from Dodge, as well as from (fellow Dodge teams) Petty Enterprises, Evernham Motorsports, and Bill Davis Racing. While we may be a single-car effort, being part of the dodge team is the equivalent of being part of a much larger program."