BUSCH: Stacy Compton, shining star in single car struggle

After the No. 92 Melling team lost their sponsorship at the end of 2001, Stacy Compton was minus a ride. That's when his phone began to ring off the hook. Compton got offers from all three of NASCAR's top divisions. He decided on two; AJ Foyt's No. 14 Pontiac in the Winston Cup Series and the ST Motorsports No. 59 Chevy in the Busch Series.

On the Busch side of things, Compton currently has four top-10s and after the race at Dover, is 10th in the points.

The Cup side however, has been somewhat of a struggle. Compton's highest finish to date, is an 18th place run at Martinsville. And he's 36th in driver's points. "We're not pleased by no means, but we've run really well. I think everything is being put in place right now to make this a very competitive race team. We're in a transition and I feel like we're getting closer and closer to making this a competitive race team week in and week out."

Compton doesn't see any point in placing blame on the team or driver performance. It's simply lack of resources. "We're still a single car team and that's pretty tough sometimes to run against multi-car teams. AJ has given us what we need and Conseco has certainly stepped in doing what they've agreed to."

"The resources that the multi-car teams got right now, are what's winning races. Hopefully Larry [Foyt] will be able to move up. We've talked about it. He's talked about maybe moving up, running some Winston Cup races next year. Or maybe running a full season of Winston Cup next year. It all depends on what sponsorship does."

As for now, Compton and team will continue to struggle with the fact they are a single car team. Although for Compton, it isn't much of a problem and he sees only bright things ahead. "I really enjoy working with Mike [Hillman]. He's probably one of the sharpest crew chiefs I've worked with. The guys rally around him. These guys are working 14-16 hours a day right now and none of them are complaining. When you've got a crew chief that the team will rally around that hard, good things are in the future."