Sterling Marlin in victory lane at Daytona

GONE 4-EVER?

Exclusive: Last Virginia-based cup team is still determined to go racing

JW MARTIN

Three different manufacturers. Five different primary sponsors. Twenty-eight different drivers. The one number that remained constant at Morgan-McClure Motorsports during its 25 year tenure at the pinnacle of stock car racing- the number on the doors, the bumpers and the roof of their racecar: the number 4.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports has been a testament to tradition in NASCAR. The Abingdon, Va., based race team personified NASCAR’s do-it-yourself image, the idea that anyone with enough heart and an equal amount of cash can compete at the most esteemed level of organized auto racing.

That maverick mentality never left co-owners Tim Morgan and Larry McClure. While their competition continued to congregate in Charlotte, N.C. - the now undisputed epicenter of NASCAR- team number 4 remained true to its roots, moving and expanding only miles away from the original shop in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

“We didn’t see any reason to move,” explains Tim Morgan, president and co-founder of Morgan-McClure Motorsports. “We didn’t see any particular reason to move then, and I wouldn’t see any particular reason to move now. [Moving] probably didn’t have much to do with our success or our failure.”

Now, after claiming 14 wins –including three Daytona 500 titles- the famous number 4 sits idle inside a vacant complex 28 miles northeast of Bristol Motor Speedway.

The cup series returned to the “world’s fastest half mile” this past month, but Morgan-McClure Motorsports didn’t. Larry McClure had vowed the team would be back in motion by mid-July, yet the hometown team wasn’t represented at Bristol.

Why?

While the team owners still have the heart to compete, they no longer have the cash.

It didn’t use to be that way, however.

In 1986, Morgan-McClure Motorsports formed an affiliation with Eastman Kodak, birthing one of the longest running partnerships in NASCAR. For 18 years, a simple paint scheme- a red number four beaming off a solid orange background- promoted a single product: Kodak Film.

“They were pleased with the team, pleased with what we did for them and pleased with what we had, and it developed into a long-term contract,” says Morgan.

Kodak Film was the primary sponsor of the number 4 Chevrolet when Morgan- McClure Motorsports won their maiden trophy in front of a hometown crowd at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1990. In ‘92, MMM, driver Ernie Irvan and Kodak celebrated with heavy hearts following their first road course win and the death of J.D. McDuffie at Watkins Glen. And Kodak Film graced the hood of the orange Chevrolet that went to victory lane in two consecutive Daytona 500’s in 1994 and ’95, wheeled by the son of racing legend Coo Coo Marlin.

But despite the historic success, Eastman Kodak severed its ties with the Morgan-McClure team in 2003. Things haven’t been the same at the Abingdon shop since. Today, the only logo painted on the Morgan-McClure machines is a simple number 4.

“Where we fell behind and where we made our mistake in terms of not having sponsorship today is because we were Johnny-come-lately on developing marketing,” explains Morgan. “And that’s become more important now than the ability to field a competitive racecar.”

The team still has the ability to field a competitive racecar. Inside the facility-built in 1998- the team has a caravan of them, all outfitted with the new COT body. This is one of few teams left that have the resources to build its own motors, although the team recently acquired a fleet of new Chevrolet RO7 engines from Joe Gibbs Racing that will certainly give its cars substantial speed. In fact, Morgan-McClure Motorsports has every amenity needed to win races, right down to an upstairs gym for the personnel.

“We have the equipment and the facility…we’re not giving up anything to anybody in terms of quality,” Morgan states.

But despite what MMM is capable of, Morgan says the one thing the team can no longer afford to do is run on a shoestring budget. For all its amenities, the single biggest necessity that has plagued the otherwise sufficient, stand-alone organization has been money.

“I’d say there are 15 Busch teams spending more money than we’ve spent in the last five years,” Morgan says.

Now, more than ever, the team needs an adequate sponsor, or possibly, an investor.

Whether it’s a fledging one car operation or a historic multi-car team, pooling resources with investors have become the trend in the NASCAR. Roush Racing, The Wood Brothers and most recently Petty Enterprises –among others- have all turned to outside influences to help offset the growing costs it takes to compete.

The theory is nothing new. Expanding on traditional sponsorship opportunities, investors help alleviate concerns and lessen the otherwise overwhelming commitment sponsors must sometimes make in the sport. Coupled with sponsors, investors bring a potent combination to the competitive edge of a race team.

The business plan has become an option under consideration, according to Morgan.

“One of the things we’re looking at right now is bringing the right investor or investors into the relationship. We are looking for people who would like to get involved with the sport that have the capital to afford that involvement,” explains Morgan.

It’s got to be the right marriage; it needs to be somebody that has a passion for the sport. Obviously the sport is a good investment for the right people.”

Morgan still feels that garnering sponsorships in NASCAR has not gravitated too far away from the days of the chat and the hand shake. Likewise, he still feels there is room for a single car team in the sport’s biggest touring division.

“We could probably take a $10 million dollar sponsor today, and do what most people are doing with a $20 to 25 million dollar sponsorship,” Morgan estimates. “When we can go and make races and still go and be fairly competitive on that kind of money that tells you what we’re capable of doing.”

But Tim Morgan and Larry McClure no longer want to be a mid-pack race team. Their mindset is the same as it was during their span of success, and they still foresee a two car stable sometime in the near future. They have a winning vision, and with a qualified investor –an option that the team is considering- the team will return to its prior prominence. Regardless of their current struggles, Morgan is confident the team will return to racing.

A trophy case lines the wall at the entrance of Morgan-McClure Motorsports.

Full of first place mementos, the case spans the length of the main room. Space has been reserved for the next trophy, and although a return to victory lane may be a long way off, the team’s return the sport is almost a guarantee.

“We started this team on a shoestring, and we were told we couldn’t do it, just like people are saying we can’t do it now. That doesn’t bother us,” says Morgan.

While most have assumed their destiny was a foregone conclusion, Morgan- McClure Motorsports is choosing not to be forgotten.