Special Section: NASCAR’S Big-Money World Leaves Some In The Cold

ABINGDON, Va. – Eric McClure can be excused for feeling a tad lonely on weekends.

The 29-year-old Abingdon resident is the sole resident from the Mountain Empire now competing on a full-time basis in one of the top three levels of NASCAR.

Up and down pit road, McClure is surrounded by a far-flung blend of teen and veteran drivers. Nearly all the teams are based in the Mooresville, N.C., area.

While several top NASCAR organizations still employ mechanics from Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, drivers such as Brad Teague of Johnson City and Coeburn’s Danny O’Quinn have been relegated to journeymen roles. O’Quinn won the 2006 Rookie of the Year award in what was then called the Busch Series.

“There is a great deal of racing history in our region,” McClure said. “Teams like Morgan-McClure Motor sports of Abingdon and Ed Whitaker Racing of Bristol had a lot of success, and numerous drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Sr., Alan Kulwicki and Rusty Wallace raced at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn.

“To be one of a couple of guys in the region still having the opportunity to compete in a national series is a bit surreal.  I put enough pressure on myself as it is to try and be as competitive as we can be.”
THE UNDERDOG

McClure drives the No.  24 Hefty Brand Chevrolet for the Front Row Motorsports team based in Denver, N.C.

Though the Sprint Cup interlopers continue to steal the spotlight and earnings from the few Nationwide independents, McClure keeps charging.

“I think that I’ve got a decent amount of local support, which I really appreciate,” McClure said. “The thing about NASCAR is that the competitors are not based in separate cities, like your typical sports.

While people may support the local competitors, they still have their main drivers to pull for.”

In fact, McClure was booed at Bristol Motor Speedway one week after wrecking with NASCAR fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Like many old-guard members of the extended NASCAR family, McClure feels that many of the new fans fail to understand or appreciate the efforts of successful teams such as Morgan-McClure or pioneer drivers such as Teague.

McClure’s father, Jerry, is one of the co-owners of Morgan-McClure Motorsports. Despite being based well more than two hours away from the NASCAR power base in North Carolina, MMM won 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races from 1983 until 2006 with various drivers. 

After several seasons of lackluster finishes, the Morgan-McClure team shut down last year over lack of money.

“What’s unfortunate is that the way NASCAR is marketed to their newer fan base, the casual fan doesn’t know, nor appreciate, what teams like MMM or Whitaker have done for the sport,” McClure said.

Whitaker, whose team was based in Bristol, Va., once held the record for most Nationwide wins by an owner with 27.  Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd and Dale Earnhardt all won in Whitaker cars, with Gant earning 20 victories.

PULLING UP ROOTS

Many NASCAR teams, such as Wood Brothers Racing, have relocated their shops to be closer to the stock car racing hub of Mooresville. The Wood Brothers team brought national fame to the tiny community of Stuart, Va., for decades.

McClure is aware of the magnetic pull of Mooresville, which has earned the moniker of “Race City USA.”

“The sport has changed so fast that, at this time, teams away from the Charlotte area have had a more difficult time keeping up,” McClure said. “With the major teams, suppliers and outsourced service companies being in the Charlotte area, most of the personnel stay in that area.”

And if an ownership group does resist the temptation to move, it must battle to keep its employees from the shark-like environment of Mooresville, where shrewd mechanics often simply take their toolboxes across the street for better pay.

“The job market is more competitive in the Charlotte area,” McClure said. “Then there is the sponsorship situations.  At the end of the day, a smaller team can’t outspend these teams.

“You are at the mercy of your funding.  And, when the sponsorship pool dries up, you can’t go anymore. Without necessary finances, it’s more profitable for a smaller team to start-and-park anymore at the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck level than try to compete.”

The start-and-park practice, controversial but profitable, involves a team simply racing for a few laps before pulling off the track and collecting the prize money.

BUDGET RACING

For some teams and drivers facing the nearly impossible odds at the elite levels of NASCAR, it only makes sense to compete in a regional touring series.

In fact, the popular Hooters Pro Cup Series features two owners from Abingdon in Charlie Henderson and Wade Lopez. Henderson’s Food Country USA Henderson Motorsports group was one of the pioneer organizations in the old NASCAR Busch Series, winning three races with drivers Rick Wilson and Teague.

“You can compete in Hooters Pro Cup for about one-third of what it would take to run the same number of Nationwide series races – to race, not to start and park,” Lopez said.

“The tire rules alone are so ridiculous in the Nationwide Series you have to wonder if NASCAR has a clue or if they just want it to be filled with the [Sprint] Cup teams for brand recognition,” he said.

For Lopez, who runs his own financial services business, it’s a matter of simple economics.

“Goodyear has got to be making a killing with the way the tire rules are and the cost of a set of tires in NASCAR,” he said. “In this series, we can purchase a set of BFG radial tires for $600 and we get to keep them. The purses are much better in the Nationwide series, but that is easily offset by the cost. “

Entering the Aug. 20 Pro Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elizabethton’s Wade Day ranked third in series points in the Lopez Wealth Management Ford. Abingdon’s Caleb Holman, who formerly competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, ranked eighth in the Food Country Chevrolet.

“The Pro Cup Series is as competitive than when I grew up watching Jack Ingram, Sam Ard, Harry Gant, Bobby Allison, LD Ottinger, in the old late model series,” said Lopez, a former Late Model track champion at Coeburn’s Lonesome Pine Raceway.

“This is real short-track racing. I just hope the Pro Cup series sticks to its roots and leaves tracks like the Milwaukee Mile alone next year.”

McClure has a unique lens on the big picture in motorsports. In addition to his family background, he has been racing for eight years. He made his Nationwide Series debut in 2003, then ran his first Sprint Cup event in 2004. 

“I had a great opportunity with MMM in the ARCA and Nationwide series with solid equipment,” McClure said. “We ran pretty well and I was able to test their Cup cars for them before the funding went away.

“Then at age 25 and virtually no experience at the higher levels, you can’t afford to sit around and wait or hold out for something, so you start taking any situation or opportunity that becomes available.”

NASCAR REALITY

While the national media rarely bothers to look, the weekly struggles of the independent Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series teams are compelling.

After skipping the Aug. 9 road course event at Watkins Glen, N.Y., McClure ranked 21st in Nationwide Series points. McClure has not finished among the 10, but he has driven safe and smart races.

“Our season has been up and down,” McClure said. “I probably had some unrealistic expectations going in, but we are some better than we were in 2007.

“We’re finishing most of the races, running a bit better at times, and locked into the races, but we’re nowhere near where we need or want to be.”

McClure’s goal is different than for the Nationwide elite.

“A 15th- or 20th-place finish for a very small, independent team is like a top 10 for a mega-team.  I guarantee it,” McClure said.

Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, is one of the smaller operations in the Nationwide Series, so the emphasis is on being resourceful.

“We really can’t afford to tear up cars as it takes us longer to replace them, but we’ve got a great bunch of guys on our team that work very hard and we’re making some progress,” McClure said.

“For a team that didn’t have any employees until just before testing, we are hanging in there with other Nationwide teams in our position.”

With up to 17 Sprint Cup drivers crossing over to compete in some companion events, the odds against the Nationwide Series regulars are huge.

Drivers such as Bobby Hamilton Jr. and owners like Nashville’s Gary Baker have complained loudly about the imbalance in their series. NASCAR officials have yet to devise a remedy, however.

McClure describes the task of trying to compete against the Sprint Cup titans and their well-funded affiliates in stark terms.

“Impossible is not the word for it,” McClure said. “There is no way to run consistently against the resources and talent these teams have. It’s been the same way in our sport for years, although now it’s really prevalent.

“The smaller teams, like ours, do not have the manpower or resources they have. We have no manufacturer support; we have seven guys and three cars. While other teams are testing, or developing through tie-ins with Cup organizations, small teams are doing all they can to get cars turned around to get through the track.”

It’s a losing battle, yet McClure keeps playing.

“Everything from the number of races we have to use an engine or parts, to engineering, to personnel, to shop equipment, the smaller teams just don’t have it,” McClure said.

“There’s nothing wrong with it.  This is a democratic sport … get all you can get. It’s just the way it is and always has been.”

HOMETOWN BOY

Though nearly all of his competitors now live and work in the Mooresville area, McClure prefers the slower pace and more reasonable traffic of Southwest Virginia.

“I like Abingdon just fine,” McClure said. “At one time I was willing to move to North Carolina if it would have helped me, but with the way things are and the fact that a racing career will not last forever, I didn’t feel that I was being led to uproot my wife to go try to drive cars.

“I love to race, and I love to visit my team’s shop, but it’s far more important to have our family in an environment we feel we need to be in. We’re just local people. Some guys grow up and want to go away, not me.”

In recent years, the driving opportunities in NASCAR have been limited to talented and telegenic teens along with open-wheel stars and second-generation drivers.

From the race shop to the track, who you know is just as important as what you can do.

“Racing is a big network,” McClure said. “I have a good relationship with people I’ve met through the last few years, and I have a couple of really good friends that are drivers, as well as other drivers I know that I respect a lot.

“ However, I’m a relative newcomer to the series. I don’t live in North Carolina, so I don’t go to the hangouts or whatever. I don’t have a motorhome and, until the last couple of years when I started having a lot of sponsor obligations, I would be at the track when it opens and until it closes. “

McClure has found a niche in his fast-paced world.

“I just like to kind of do my own deal and have different priorities, so that’s fine. I do think that, for the most part, everyone would help anyone out if they need help. It is a big family.”

MONEY TALKS

There are few things fair at the top levels of NASCAR. Big money and flashy personalities often trump raw talent and desire.

McClure understands the game and his role in it.

“Were fortunate to have the sponsorship from Hefty brand, which allows mostly a full-time ride,” McClure said. “But you only get one chance anymore and have to be careful not to be labeled.

“In years past, you didn’t get the first opportunity until you were around 30. Now, at 29 years old and the way the trends have changed, the reality is when my sponsorship ends, so does my full-time job.

“… The more well-funded independent teams will often go for a veteran driver or a [Sprint] Cup driver. It’s getting to where the only way to break in as a driver is to come with sponsorship or have a very wealthy parent. The amount of money will determine what opportunity you get.” 

NASCAR was once fueled by wild-eyed Southern boys who developed car control and courage on rootsy asphalt and dirt tracks. The star search long since has shifted far from the gritty Southern Late Model ace.

“It’s getting harder and harder for drivers to get opportunities,” McClure said. “As such, the Sprint Cup teams will develop someone occasionally, but usually put their Cup drivers in the Nationwide cars in order to get the amount of sponsorship dollars they command.”

MOUNTAIN TRADITION

Along with many fans, McClure was encouraged to see Lonesome Pine Raceway reopen this season with stable owners from racing backgrounds.

Along with several NASCAR drivers, the list of drivers who have competed at the scenic Coeburn track has included O’Quinn, McClure and regional touring star Jeff Agnew.

“Our area needs to support LPR better because it’s our last link to good, old-fashioned racing,” McClure said. “NASCAR has gotten away from that as the gap between teams continue to grow.

“We have lots of capable competitors at LPR and in the area. Unfortunately, it all goes back to opportunity.”

Fair or not, McClure said he understands how modern-day NASCAR functions.

“Most car owners, as a means of survival, want to know how much money you can bring them,” McClure said. “It’s a complete reversal from the ’80s when my dad, Larry [McClure], and everybody started.

“I worked hard and used my education from Emory & Henry to sell and attract a great sponsor that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, and that provided me an opportunity to continue my racing dream. The Lord has blessed my family greatly for us to continue to have this opportunity, and we enjoy every second of it.” 

While McClure might be the region’s sole regular competitor in NASCAR, motorsports fans in the Mountain Empire can feed their racing needs.

“You still have Brad, Caleb, Wade and others doing a good job in different national series,” McClure said. “It’s important to the area for those guys to have success and have the community get behind them.

“And we have LPR, Wythe Raceway and Volunteer Speedway, so we still have great racing around. Maybe it’s not the higher levels of NASCAR, but that really doesn’t mean all that much. It’s still great racing and great talent. There is also Bristol Motor Speedway, which is a huge deal in our sport and area.”

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