Larry McClure, a longtime NASCAR Cup Series team owner of the Morgan-McClure Motorsports team, has passed away at the Age of 81. NBC’s WCYB News affiliate had the initial report of McClure’s passing on the morning of Wednesday, June 25.
In the NASCAR world, McClure’s claim to fame was his role as co-owner of the renowned Morgan-McClure Motorsports team, which he owned alongside Tim Morgan and Jerry McClure. The team fielded the No. 4 machine in the NASCAR Cup Series from the 1983 season through the 2007 season.
Connie Saylor made the first start in the NASCAR Cup Series for the organization in the 1983 Winston 500 at Talladega. Saylor would start that race from the 33rd position and would retire after an engine failure on Lap 23 to finish 40th.
The team would rack up 14 victories over 702 races in the NASCAR Cup Series ranks, including three Daytona 500 wins (one with Ernie Irvan in 1991, and two with Sterling Marlin in back-to-back seasons in 1994 and 1995).
Over the years, the team featured a lot of truly talented and legendary drivers behind the wheel of its race cars. including NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, who made six starts with the team in 1983. Martin scored the first top-10 finish for the team in the 1983 Talladega 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Other notable drivers that had a turn in the Morgan-McClure ride included A.J. Foyt, Lake Speed, Phil Parsons, Joe Nemechek, Bobby Hamilton, Robby Gordon, Mike Skinner, Johnny Sauter, Jimmy Spencer, John Andretti, and Ward Burton.
However, no driver had more success driving for Morgan-McClure Motorsports than Sterling Marlin. In a four-year run with the organization from 1994 to 1997, Marlin won six races (tied for the most in team history with Irvan), and he finished a team-best third in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings in 1995 behind Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt.
Morgan-McClure Motorsports also fielded a car in the NASCAR Xfinity Series one time in 1993 with Jimmy Hensley behind the wheel of the car, and the organization also had a part-time ARCA Menards Series operation through the 2000s, which won one race with Keith Segars behind the wheel in the 2002 Food World 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.
McClure was the uncle of former NASCAR racer Eric McClure, who passed away in 2021.
