Robert Yates Racing, Morgan McClure Motorsports, D.E.I., Bud Moore Engineering, Melling Racing etc., all had some of the saddest fall from graces imaginable.
Yates needs to be included here. They were champions in 1999, and contenders from 2000-2002, and competitive from 2003-2005, but from 2006-2007 they were bad, and so bad in 2008 Doug Yates ran the team (actually quite well considering sponsorship was an issue) in 2009 they merged with Hall of Fame racing, and in 2010 were merged into RPM.
Many other teams can be talked about such as: Morgan-McClure Motorsports Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Yates Racing Bud Moore Engineering Michael Waltrip Racing Evernham Motorsports could count The teams in the video all definitely had falls not even from grace.
I think one that isn't QUITE like the rest here, but are Heros, to zeros, is Furniture row racing. From winning the cup in 2017, to closing its doors in 2018. We can point fingers all day (AHEM JOE GIBBS) but that doesn't change the fact furniture row left only a year after winning the championship
Rick decided that sticking his d*** in his driver was more important than running the team, and Ganassi never actually cared about his NASCAR program. It was simply there to make money for his IndyCar team and when Marks gave him an offer he couldn't refuse he had to take it.
Do a part 2 of championship winning teams like RCR, DiGard, Robert Yates Racing, Wood Brothers, Bud Moore Engineering, and a part 3 of Championship contending teams like Morgan-McClure, RahMoc, Stavola Brothers, Jackson Brothers, DEI, Evernham, MWR, Ganassi, and Rudd Performace
Here's a below-the-radar suggestion: Billy Hagan Racing. Won the championship in 1984 with Terry Labonte, then declined to the point where Labonte (in his second stint with the team) quit in the middle of a race in 1991. They somehow regrouped to finish 8th in points in 1992, then the bottom dropped out for good, and the team folded midway through 1994.
I’d have to disagree with Kiekhavet’s inclusion on this list. Based on what you said in the video, it sounds like they at least went out on top and didn’t undergo a period of struggling like the other teams on this list. That sounds more like Furniture Row racing, who was a Championship 4 team and only a year removed from a title when they closed up shop. And seeing some of the other comments, I have to agree. Robert Yates Racing should’ve been here.
Should talk about RCR. They went from 7 championships and being a 5 car organization at one point to having 2 cars that are even less competitive than Roush.
This honestly happens in motorsport in general no one team or driver is dominant forever it just takes a bad season or a bad car to put you on a downward spiral that you cannot recover from
Technically while the Petty's have ten driver's championships they only have nine owner's championships. Lee drove Blackie Pitt's usual car in one race in '54, and the difference in points was just enough to give Herb Thomas the title. In 1995 Melling was actually 22nd in owner points, as Ward Burton had more points than the #31 and #22 did. If memory serves those two cars were 28th and 29th in owner points, so everyone from Speed to Nemechek moved up one spot. Junior Johnson's #27 actually sank even lower to 39th in owner points, ahead of only SABCO's #40 and Dean Myers' #32 among full-time teams.
Melling is simple. They cheated their way through the 80s and then once the restrictor plates hit they could no longer soup up the motors at plate tracks. Yates would have been a much better inclusion, which actually would also have it's roots in ANOTHER team that went from contenders to nothing quick, DiGard. And Yates had so much tragedy involved as well, it actually could be it's own 20-30 minute video.
I always wonder what would have been there. It would be easy to see Alan continuing to run the team and be a threat into the late 90s considering what Ricky Rudd could do. Top 10 in points, win a race or 2 here and there, and be a team everyone knows is there. But with the big money and multi car teams becoming all the rage, I could have seen that fizzling out anyway, leaving 92 as an incredible memory either way.
Robert Yates Racing, D.E.I., Bud Moore, Stewart Haas Racing, Morgan McClure, Melling Racing, MWR, Petty Enterprises and former RFK are some fall offs, The best Petty Enterprises driver from 1992 to 2009 in my opinion was Bobby Hamilton, what do you think?
Robert Yates, Ranier, holoman moody, the 71 Bobby Issac drove, i forgot the name, bill Davis, l g Dewitt, blue max, m c Anderson Bud Moore, DEI, Evernham. Stavolla bros, wood brothers, hoss Ellington, Morgan McClure, DiGard. Bace for bgn and germain for trucks
I think the inclusion of Junior Johnson’s team is unfair: they were the strongest team in NASCAR for decades and won 6 driver’s championships, not just on the back of one singular talented driver. Junior had been involved with NASCAR since the 50’s and was ready to hang it up in the 90’s after a long and successful career. I mean, who closes a race shop when they’re on top? But the idea that Junior or his team was at any point a “zero” is absurd.
We can't close our eyes and act like the 1995 season didn't happen. Unfortunately, it did, and it was a major fall from grace from where they were as a team. The journey ended for the team the same as others on this list.
A lot of the assets with Junior Johnson’s team were in Flossie’s name because of Juniors criminal past. When the marriage broke up she did what she could to get back at him. That had a lot to do with it.
@@vanillawafer176 - No, you’re right, 1995 can’t be ignored and the entire premise of your video is interesting and a fun look at some of these huge teams and where they got to. Even so, Junior’s main car was always the “11” though Bill Elliott had it renumbered in his time there. That last season, the 11 car had sponsorship from Lowes and was driven to a 20th place finish in the points by Brett Bodine. That’s nearly exactly mid-pack among full-time rides, so while it’s a fall for Junior’s team, it’s not exactly dead-last and only last among the top teams. Just my view. Add to it the turmoil in the 12/27 car and of course the team in its totality underperformed.
Melling would have eventually been caught anyway, there was nothing legal about those engines in the 80s. Evernham's issues went WAAAAAY beyond drivers or anything else. He actually resurrected Mayfield's career for a short time and had Kasey Kahne a title contender post Elliott. His affair with Crocker really did him in. Johnson though....good question. I always found Elliott to be one of the more overrated "legends" in the sport so I'd interested what would have happened if they hired an up and comer or could have actually convinced Kulwicki to come over (this was a real possibility, but Alan decided to do things his own way). Although I'd say the bigger issue was hiring "talent" such as Bret Bodine and Jimmy Spencer lol. Plus I mean, he kinda had his own cheating scandal and divorce in there too. Maybe the question should be what was it about Bill Elliott that made his car owners want to cheat on their partners?
@@tommykeeran6776 thanks for the details, I had no idea about all this. I knew that Evernham had plenty of issues, but that's also a weird coincidence of what happened to his owners
