Eric McClure

Eric McClure
McClure at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015
Born	Eric Wayne McClure (1978-12-11)December 11, 1978 Chilhowie, Virginia
Died	May 2, 2021(2021-05-02) (aged 42) Abingdon, Virginia[1]
NASCAR Cup Series career
3 races run over 3 years
2014 position	74th
Best finish	67th (2006)
First race	2004 Aaron's 499 (Talladega)
Last race	2006 UAW-Ford 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
288 races run over 14 years
2016 position	73rd
Best finish	16th (2012)
First race	2003 Target House 200 (Rockingham)
Last race	2016 PowerShares QQQ 300 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of February 20, 2016.

Eric Wayne McClure^[2] (December 11, 1978 – May 2, 2021) was an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 0 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports.

Racing career[]

Sprint Cup Series[]

McClure made three career starts in NASCAR's Cup Series. His debut came at Talladega, driving the No. 04 I Can Learn Chevy in 2004. He made the field in 35th position, and went on to finish 26th. McClure then attempted to make the July race at Daytona, but did not qualify.

McClure then landed a ride with the No. 73 Raabe Racing Enterprises Chevy for 2005. McClure did not qualify for the first two races, but did make the race at Las Vegas, starting 41st. His engine blew midway through the race and relegated McClure to 32nd. McClure left the team that week and did not run until August, when he attempted three races with Front Row Motorsports. However, McClure did not make any of those races. In 2006 he attempted and made the UAW-Ford 500, where handling issues relegated him to a 32nd-place finish in the No. 04 Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevy, with a sponsorship from Hefty. In 2008, McClure attempted the Daytona 500 in the No. 37 Front Row Motorsports Chevy sponsored by Hefty, but failed to qualify.

On April 11, 2009, Morgan-McClure Motorsports announced they would be attempting the Talladega race in April, after a year and a half absence from the sport. Eric McClure attempted to qualify the Hefty-sponsored No. 4 Chevrolet but did not make the field.

In January 2014, McClure announced that he would attempt to compete in the 2014 Daytona 500 driving the No. 35 Ford for Front Row Motorsports;^[3] he failed to qualify for the race. In May 2014, McClure returned to the No. 35 car for Front Row Motorsports at Talladega, but failed to make the race.

Xfinity Series[]

McClure made his Busch Series debut in 2003, running at Rockingham Speedway. He qualified the No. 05 I Can Learn Chevy in 22nd and finished 26th despite an accident.

McClure made four starts in 2004, running two races for his family team (MMM) and two more for . His best run was at Memphis, where he finished 22nd. He also finished three of his four starts.

McClure added eight starts in 2005, seven for Means Racing, but only managed a best finish of 30th at Texas. McClure did attract the eye of James Finch and ran one race for that team at Daytona. However, he finished 32nd with a blown engine and did not follow that run up with any starts, returning to Means. McClure did not qualify for two races. At Bristol, McClure was sent home because of a rainout of qualifying, and at Memphis, McClure missed the field by one spot.

For the 2007 season, McClure teamed up with Davis Motorsports for a 32 race schedule. McClure brought sponsor Hefty to the team with him.

He drove for Front Row Motorsports in the Busch Series in 2008, with Hefty sponsoring the car for all the races in the No. 24 Chevrolet. He scored his best career finish of 15th in the Aaron's 312 at Talladega.

In 2009, he and sponsor Hefty moved to Rensi/Hamilton Racing, where he drove the No. 24 Ford Fusion. This proved to be a good move; he qualified for every race and finished a career best 17th in the final points standings. McClure stuck with the team, now Team Rensi Motorsports, for 2010. However, performance slipped and the economic downturn forced McClure to be cautious with the team's equipment, with Rensi bringing a second team over for COT races that was raced by Kelly Bires. Despite this, McClure finished 24th in points but announced his departure from Rensi on November 30. According to McClure, Rensi's budget was so low to the point that they would rarely have full tire allotments for the races after Las Vegas, with most of the allotments going to the races run with Bires. McClure announced on December 1 that he and Hefty would move to TriStar Motorsports for 2011 alongside veterans Mike Bliss and Jeff Green. It was further announced in January that TriStar Motorsports will change their car numbers, with McClure piloting the No. 14.

During the 2012 Aaron's 312, McClure was involved in a 16-car pile up on lap 117, when cars spun in front of him and he slammed the inside wall head on. McClure was extracted from his car. He was airlifted to the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama for further evaluation. NASCAR stated that McClure was talking to the rescue crew while he was being extracted from his car.^[4][5][6][7] After staying two nights in the hospital, TriStar Motorsports team spokesperson Emily Brandt announced on May 6, 2012 that McClure had suffered a concussion and internal bruises from the accident.^[8][9] On May 9, TriStar announced that McClure would sit out the Nationwide race at Darlington due to his concussion, and that start and park driver Jeff Green would drive the No. 14 while Tony Raines and Kevin Lepage would start and park the No. 10.^[10] McClure would sit out the next 4 races before being cleared by NASCAR to drive in time for the race at Road America.^[11] In spite of starting only 28 races, McClure finished the 2012 season with a career best points finish of 16th.

On January 9, 2013, TriStar announced that McClure would return to their team for the 2013 season.^[12] McClure started his season on a high note by taking his best career finish of 7th at Daytona. In August, however, he was hospitalized with what was determined to be acute renal failure; he was forced to step out of the No. 14 car for four races while he recovered, being substituted for by Jeff Green.^[13] McClure returned to competition in September at Chicagoland Speedway.^[14] He missed a race later in the year at Texas Motor Speedway due to medical issues, before being hospitalized again prior to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.^[15]

Before the 2014 season McClure announced that he would only be running a partial schedule in the Nationwide Series.^[3]

In 2015, McClure and his sponsors moved to JGL Racing, where he drove the No. 24 Toyota Camry at all 33 races.^[16] After 9 races however, both he and JGL parted ways and McClure returned to TriStar Motorsports for the rest of the season, with JGL allowing him to continue to run the 24 car for that team.

In 2016, McClure joined JD Motorsports for the season opener at Daytona, driving the No. 0 Chevrolet Camaro.^[17]

Team ownership[]

On July 28, 2015, McClure and former Nationwide driver Hal Martin formed Martin-McClure Racing, a K&N Pro Series East team. Among the team's drivers were Chad Finchum and Austin Cindric.^[18][19]

McClure stepped away from the team in 2018 after his domestic violence arrest.^[20]

Personal life[]

McClure was born in Chilhowie, Virginia, and was a graduate of Emory and Henry College. He was married to Miranda from 2004 until their divorce in 2018, and had seven daughters.^[21]

McClure's home in Abingdon, Virginia suffered major damage in an April 27, 2011 tornado. However, McClure and his family sat out the storm in their basement and were uninjured.^[22]

On February 11, 2018, McClure was arrested for domestic violence.^[23]

Death[]

McClure died at the age of 42 on May 2, 2021 after suffering from serious health issues, including diagnosis of a severe musculoskeletal disorder in the summer of 2019.^[24] He was engaged to Keira Brinegar Tibbs at the time of his death.

Motorsports career results[]

NASCAR[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series[]

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts
2004	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	04	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL 26	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY DNQ	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM	78th	90
2005	Raabe Racing Enterprises	73	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAL DNQ	LVS 32	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC																							80th	67
	Front Row Motorsports	92	Chevy															MCH DNQ	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH DNQ	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL
	Mach 1 Motorsports	34	Chevy																														KAN DNQ	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM
2006	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	04	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL 31	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	67th	70
2007				DAY DNQ	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY DNQ	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	NA	-
2008	Front Row Motorsports	37	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	82nd	0
2009	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL DNQ	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	73rd	0
2014	Front Row Motorsports	35	Ford	DAY DNQ	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL DNQ	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	74th	01

Daytona 500[]

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2005	Raabe Racing Enterprises	Chevrolet	DNQ
2007	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	DNQ
2008	Front Row Motorsports	Chevrolet	DNQ
2014	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	DNQ

Xfinity Series[]

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NXSC	Pts
2003	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	05	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL	RCH	GTY	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	CAR 26	HOM		130th	85
2004		04		DAY	CAR	LVS 30	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP				RCH DNQ	DOV	KAN	CLT DNQ	MEM 22	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM DNQ		82nd	268
		56	Chevy																							MCH 33	BRI 43	CAL
2005	Jimmy Means Racing	52	Ford	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	NSH 41		TEX 30	PHO 38	TAL	DAR DNQ	RCH DNQ	CLT DNQ	DOV	NSH 31	KEN	MLW 34		CHI DNQ	NHA DNQ	PPR 40	GTY DNQ	IRP	GLN	MCH DNQ		CAL 39	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT					72nd	440
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	04	Chevy							BRI DNQ																			BRI DNQ						MEM DNQ		PHO DNQ	HOM
	Phoenix Racing	09	Dodge																		DAY 32
	Davis Motorsports	0	Chevy																																	TEX DNQ
2006	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	04	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT DNQ	DOV	NSH		MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	MAR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI 41	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT DNQ	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	125th	74
	MacDonald Motorsports	72	Chevy																KEN 43
2007	D.D.L. Motorsports	0	Chevy	DAY 35	CAL 40	MXC	LVS 26	ATL 37	BRI 24	NSH 26	TEX 29	PHO 30	TAL 18	RCH DNQ	DAR 40	CLT DNQ	DOV 28	NSH 35	KEN 32	MLW 31	NHA 37	DAY 36	CHI 41	GTY 37	IRP 29	CGV	GLN	MCH DNQ	BRI 42	CAL 37	RCH 42	DOV 26	KAN 42	CLT DNQ	MEM 28	TEX 40	PHO DNQ	HOM DNQ	38th	1639
2008	Front Row Motorsports	24	Chevy	DAY 34	CAL 28	LVS 22	ATL 33	BRI 30	NSH 31	TEX 36	PHO 29	MXC	TAL 15	RCH 32	DAR 33	CLT 29	DOV 26	NSH 28	KEN 28	MLW 29	NHA 27	DAY 38	CHI 32	GTY 21	IRP 27	CGV	GLN	MCH 27	BRI 31	CAL 32	RCH 29	DOV 24	KAN 33	CLT 22	MEM 27	TEX 32	PHO 32	HOM 32	21st	2429
2009	Rensi-Hamilton Racing		Ford	DAY 26	CAL 30	LVS 16	BRI 26	TEX 34	NSH 26	PHO 22	TAL 25	RCH 39	DAR 28	CLT 19	DOV 23	NSH 22	KEN 30		NHA 33	DAY 28	CHI 31	GTY 23	IRP 23	IOW 20	GLN 30	MCH 28	BRI 25	CGV 22	ATL 26	RCH 29	DOV 24	KAN 25	CAL 28	CLT 18	MEM 30	TEX 19	PHO 28	HOM 28	17th	2962
			Chevy															MLW 32
2010			Ford	DAY 17	CAL 35	LVS 21	BRI 24	NSH 29	PHO 27	TEX 28	TAL 22	RCH 31	DAR 27	DOV 24	CLT 29	NSH 26	KEN 29	ROA 27	NHA 29	DAY 36	CHI 29	GTY 26	IRP 26	IOW DNQ	GLN 31	MCH 30	BRI DNQ	CGV	ATL 30	RCH 30	DOV 29	KAN 33	CAL DNQ	CLT 23	GTY DNQ	TEX 26	PHO DNQ	HOM 37	24th	2304
2011	TriStar Motorsports	14	Chevy	DAY 33	PHO 25	LVS 20	BRI 25	CAL 21	TEX 31	TAL 26	NSH 32	RCH 32	DAR 36		IOW 23	CLT 28	CHI 18	MCH 29	ROA 27	DAY 37	KEN 27	NHA 20	NSH 23	IRP 21	IOW 26	GLN 35	CGV 36	BRI 27	ATL 28	RCH 30	CHI 25	DOV 24	KAN 31	CLT 31	TEX 24	PHO 19	HOM 29		19th	572
		19												DOV 25
2012		14	Toyota	DAY 22	PHO 28	LVS 25	BRI 27	CAL 26	TEX 24	RCH 31	TAL 27	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA 21	KEN 26	DAY 18	NHA 22	CHI 24	IND 24	IOW 31	GLN 26	CGV 19	BRI 27	ATL 21	RCH 26	CHI 25	KEN 22	DOV 26	CLT 22	KAN 15	TEX 21	PHO 20	HOM 27			16th	559
2013				DAY 8	PHO 29	LVS 40	BRI 21	CAL 27	TEX 30	RCH 26	TAL 23	DAR 26	CLT 30	DOV 24	IOW 18	MCH 28	ROA 27	KEN 23	DAY 24	NHA 31	CHI 28	IND 31	IOW 23	GLN 28	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI 25	KEN 24	DOV 26	KAN 27	CLT 33	TEX	PHO 27	HOM			20th	482
2014				DAY 35	PHO 23	LVS 27	BRI 27	CAL 25	TEX 24	DAR 21	RCH 29	TAL 17	IOW 24	CLT 29	DOV	MCH	ROA 20	KEN 24	DAY 22	NHA 26	CHI 25	IND 36	IOW 23	GLN 24	MOH	BRI 20	ATL 24	RCH	CHI 26	KEN 31	DOV	KAN 19	CLT 32	TEX 26	PHO 26	HOM 26			19th	521
2015	JGL Racing	24	Toyota	DAY 17	ATL 28	LVS 23	PHO 29	CAL 34	TEX 29	BRI 26	RCH 36	TAL 21																											19th	565
	TriStar Motorsports												IOW 33	CLT 30	DOV 24	MCH 23	CHI 26	DAY 24	KEN 27	NHA 18	IND 29	IOW 26	GLN 24	MOH 35	BRI 33	ROA 23	DAR 28	RCH 26	CHI 27	KEN 29	DOV 22	CLT 28	KAN 26	TEX 28	PHO 26	HOM 29
2016	JD Motorsports	0	Chevy	DAY 30	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM			73rd	11

Craftsman Truck Series[]

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCTC	Pts
2004		27	Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP DNQ	NSH											NA	-
		72																	BRI DNQ	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX	MAR	PHO	DAR	HOM

^* Season still in progress.
¹ Ineligible for series championship points.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eric McClure.

• Eric McClure driver statistics at Racing-Reference