Morgan-McClure Motorsports out of Daytona 500
Morgan-McClure Motorsports announced that it has "essentially" pulled out of competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after 25 years in NASCAR's top division.
The one-car Virginia-based operation, which was supposed to enter the No. 4 Chevrolet in the Daytona 500, will not field a team in 2008 unless it can find funding or sponsorship for the team. With Larry McClure as owner of the team, he won three Daytona 500s, twice with driver Sterling Marlin and once with Ernie Irvan. McClure's last Daytona 500 win came in 1995 with Marlin.
The following is the release distributed by the team:
Morgan-McClure Motorsports President Tim Morgan announced today that operations will be scaled back until a sponsor or investor is found. Many employees were laid off but the organization still remains ready to head to Daytona if a sponsor signs up in time. Tim Morgan, President of Morgan-McClure Motorsports announced today at 3 p.m. (EST) that, “We are basically closing the doors on 25 years of NASCAR racing if we don’t find a sponsor. We have been searching for sponsorship for months and decided that if nothing materialized, we would have to cancel testing and release most of our employees.” Morgan continues, “We will continue our marketing efforts and still try to put something together but we cannot continue the way we are today.” Larry McClure, Team Manager said, “We will continue to search for sponsorship and if something becomes available, we have the cars ready to go to Daytona. This is a very hard day for me. I’ve had a lot of fun racing and it’s just hard to believe it might come to this. I would like to say thanks to all our fans who have remained loyal through all these years and to thank everyone who has ever supported us in any way, whether it be through this race team or our dealerships. We are still the best bargain in NASCAR if we could just find the right sponsor.” Morgan-McClure Motorsports was a force to be reckoned with in the 90s when they won three coveted Daytona 500s, two of them back-to-back. MMM completes 25 years of history that includes 14 wins, 63 top-fives, 146 top-10s and 13 poles.