Morgan-McClure Owners Not Happy Over Losing Their Number In NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

ABINGDON, Va. - The morning of Aug. 15 was not pleasant for the owners and fans of Morgan-McClure Motorsports.

Hundreds of miles from the hills of Southwest Virginia, a persistent rumor turned into a harsh reality.

In an orchestrated press conference at Michigan International Speedway, it was confirmed that Ryan Newman will drive the No. 4 Chevrolet next season for the new Stewart-Haas team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

For 25 years, that yellow No. 4 was closely intertwined with the Abingdon-based MMM Chevrolet.
Drivers such as Ernie Irvan, Sterling Marlin and Bobby Hamilton steered Southwest Virginia’s NASCAR team to 14 wins, including three victories in the famed Daytona 500.

“There’s some sweat and history in that number 4. We feel like it ours,” MMM co-owner Tim Morgan said.

According to Morgan and team general manager Larry McClure, the No. 4 is still registered under the name of the MMM team. NASCAR owns all the numbers that are used in the series, however.
McClure and Morgan, who assumed they had a right of refusal for any potential number switch, were clearly frustrated when contacted Friday.

“I talked with (NASCAR president) Mike Helton recently and he told me that he would call me if anything changed with the number,” Morgan said. “He never contacted me. I’m a little bit disappointed.
“It’s NASCAR’s call.”

Morgan said that his team owns the copyright to their unique No. 4 design, thus Newman would likely have to use a different version on the side of his car.
As of Friday, no representative from the Stewart-Haas team had contacted Morgan or McClure.

In one of the most compelling and longest-running sagas of the 2008 season, two-time NASCAR series champion Tony Stewart recently decided to leave the powerful Joe Gibbs Racing team to become part owner of long-suffering team Haas CNC Racing organization.

With his Indiana background and open-wheel heritage, Newman was the clear favorite to join Stewart when the deal was announced.

While the marriage of Stewart and Newman generated headlines, MMM officials were celebrating.
McClure spent Friday working at the Morgan-McClure car dealership in St. Paul, while Morgan oversaw operations at the Coeburn dealership.

“You’ll have to ask NASCAR for more details, but the number is registered in our name,” McClure said.

After several seasons of running with limited sponsorship, the Abingdon-based team ceased operations on Jan. 12.
Ironically, the team’s sponsor – State Water Heater - has adorned the No. 66 Haas CNC team with driver Scott Riggs this season.

Despite Friday’s announcement and the lackluster economic climate, the leaders of MMM are still holding out hope for a return to the track. In fact, select team members are still working at the expansive race shop in Abingdon.

“We can’t do anything without a sponsor, but we’ve got several groups looking for us and we’ve got some leads to work on,” McClure said. “If we could find a sponsor, we could be racing again in two weeks.
“If a sponsor doesn’t work out, I guess we will have to go out of business.”

While McClure declined to offer more details Friday, he admitted to his frustration.

“It don’t think this has been handled right,” McClure said. “It’s damaging my position.”

Morgan-McClure Motorsports was formed in 1983, when Larry McClure, Ed McClure, Jerry McClure, Teddy McClure and Tim Morgan bought the No. 4 car from the late Winston Cup veteran G.C. Spencer from Jonesborough, Tenn.

Though the odds seem dim for a revival, Morgan remains optimistic.

“We’ve got six race cars and 20 race-ready engines. We’ve also got a small group of people working for us, plus there are people ready to come to work.
“With the right sponsorship, I have no doubt that we can be a top-15 car within a year or two. And then we could be a top-five car within 2-3 years. We know what it takes to be successful.”

Morgan said his team will not return without the proper financial backing, however.

“We raced with less money than 80 percent of the [Nationwide] teams the last three or so years, but what we accomplished was phenomenal,” Morgan said. “Fans don’t realize what all goes on behind the scenes in this sport.”

The current trend among NASCAR Sprint Cup teams is to pairing with outside investor groups with diverse portfolios. Petty Enterprises, which partnered with Boston Ventures, recently followed that lead set by elite teams such as Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Gillett Evernham.

“That’s certainly an option,” said Morgan, referring to possibility of joining with an investor. “We’re working on some things and looking into different possibilities to see it’s feasible to come back.”
The support of the passionate NASCAR family has been encouraging, said Morgan.

“Everywhere I go, people ask me when they will see that Morgan-McClure Chevrolet back on the track.“We appreciate the support of our fans and we’re doing everything we can to back. Things sort of got out of joint the past three years, but it had nothing to do with our ability to compete.”

At least for now, it seems the MMM gang must deal with the prospect of Newman driving the familiar No. 4.
“It’s a sad day,” Morgan said.

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