In 2001, Melling switched the car's number and manufacture to 92 and Dodge and had a new crew chief with Chad Knaus. Compton started the season by qualifying on the outside pole next to Bill Elliott in the Daytona 500 and went on to score a 10th-place finish. At the next restrictor-plate race at Talladega Superspeedway, he won his first career Cup pole position, but finished last due to mechanical issues. After winning a second career pole at Talladega, he was only able to improve his points position by five spots. At the end of the year, sponsorship problems at Melling forced him to look elsewhere for a job.