Words: Nathan Chadwick | Photography: Petersen Automotive Museum/BMW

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, US is to celebrate 50 years of racing BMW 3-Series models with a special display in the James H Frank Family Vault, in association with BMW.

The Ultimate Racing Machine: 50 Years of the BMW 3 Series in Motorsports exhibition traces the path the 3-Series has taken during the past five decades, racing around the world at the highest level. Visitors can expect to see such legendary machines as the 1978 Group 5 320i, a 1990 Group A/DTM M3, a 2001 M3 GTR and a one-of three M3 GTR Straßenversion.

One of the brand’s most successful cars in motor sport takes pride of place in the Petersen exhibition; the E30 M3 won the World Touring Car Championship, the European Touring Car Championship twice, the DTM twice, the British Touring Car Championship twice and the Italian Superturismo Championship twice. It even proved its worth in Tarmac rallying, winning the Tour de Corse in 1987.

However, The Ultimate Racing Machine: 50 Years of the BMW 3 Series in Motorsports also pays tribute to the M3’s further victories, such as the phenomenally successful E36 M3 GTs that did battle in the IMSA GT Championship in the late 1990s, and then the American Le Mans Series GT category-winning but controversial M3 GTR. The story is brought up to date via the car’s evolution into GT racing across the globe, and its new moniker, the M4.

The original BMW 3-Series and now the 3-Series and its ‘fraternal twin’ the 4-Series are the core of the BMW brand

The original BMW 3-Series and now the 3-Series and its ‘fraternal twin’ the 4-Series are the core of the BMW brand

“We are excited to celebrate 50 years of BMW 3-Series in partnership with the Petersen Automotive Museum with this special exhibit,” said Thomas Plucinsky, Head of BMW Group Classic USA. “The original BMW 3-Series and now the 3-Series and its ‘fraternal twin’ the 4-Series are the core of the BMW brand. The Ultimate Racing Machine exhibit brings together seven of the most successful and important race cars – one from each generation combined with a couple of wonderfully preserved street examples, including one of the three remaining V8-powered M3 GTR Straßenversions.”

The list of cars on display in The Ultimate Racing Machine: 50 Years of the BMW 3 Series in Motorsports includes a 1978 BMW 320i Group 5,1983 BMW 320i, 1990 BMW M3 Group A/DTM, 1990 BMW M3 GTM, 1996 BMW M3 GT2, 2001 BMW M3 GTR, 2001 BMW M3 GTR Straßenversion, 2011 BMW M3 GT, 2020 BMW M4 DTM Class 1, 2023 BMW M4 GT4 and 2024 BMW M4 GT4 EVO.

More details on The Ultimate Racing Machine: 50 Years of the BMW 3 Series in Motorsports can be found at the Petersen Automotive Museum here.

Larry McClure, a Southwest Virginia businessman who won three Daytona 500s as the co-owner of a highly successful NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s, died Wednesday morning at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Va. He was 81.

McClure was the co-owner of Morgan-McClure Motorsports alongside business partners Tim Morgan and Jerry McClure, which entered NASCAR in 1983 after purchasing the equipment of longtime independent driver G.C. Spencer. The team would establish themselves over the next few seasons, going through multiple drivers including a young Mark Martin, before truly gaining their identity when they gained sponsorship from the Eastman Kodak Company in 1986.

Morgan-McClure’s No. 4 Kodak Oldsmobile (later Chevrolet) quickly became one of the most recognizable cars on the Winston Cup tour, and the team grew gradually over the next several years before earning its first win at Bristol in 1990 with Ernie Irvan behind the wheel. However, Morgan-McClure’s greatest success would come at NASCAR’s biggest and fastest tracks, especially in the sport’s biggest race.

Between 1991 and 1995, Morgan-McClure won the Daytona 500 three times, first with Ernie Irvan in ’91 and then again with Sterling Marlin, who won The Great American Race back-to-back in 1994 and 1995. Morgan-McClure also won Daytona’s summertime race twice in 1992 and 1996, and won four times at Talladega as well. Morgan-McClure earned a total of 14 Cup wins between 1990 and 1998, with nine of them coming between Daytona and Talladega.

Following their final win with Bobby Hamilton at Martinsville in 1998, the Morgan-McClure team gradually declined, which hastened when Kodak left the team following the 2003 season. The team continued to race full-time until the end of the 2007 season, but with little success. The team sporadically attempted several races between 2008 and 2010, finishing 29th in their final start at Bristol in 2009 with Scott Wimmer behind the wheel.

McClure himself faced legal problems in the team’s final years, as in 2008 he pled guilty to federal income tax fraud for not reporting $269,000 he spent on cars raced in ARCA. McClure served an 18 month prison sentence stemming from those charges.

McClure is preceded in death by his nephew and former NASCAR driver Eric McClure, who made his way into the sport through the Morgan-McClure team and made 288 starts in a long Xfinity Series career. Eric McClure, who struggled with concussions throughout his career including after a terrible crash at Talladega in 2012, died in May 2021.

The passing of McClure also marks more sorrow for the racing community of Southern Virginia, as it comes just a week and a half after longtime NASCAR car owner Charlie Henderson died on June 14 at the age of 88. Henderson was the second-longest tenured team owner in NASCAR as owner of Henderson Motorsports, which continues to field a winning part-time team in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Denny Hamlin (11) leads the field into Turn 1 to start the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Long Pond, Pa. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Attorneys for 12 of NASCAR’s 15 race teams told a federal judge that disclosing their financial records to the stock car series would be “catastrophic” to competitive balance. NASCAR wants the details as part of its court fight with two other teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, which contend NASCAR is a monopoly and needs to change its charter system. The other teams don’t want their financial records to become part of the legal battle, saying they are private.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Attorneys for 12 of NASCAR’s 15 race teams argued in federal court Tuesday that disclosing their financial records to the stock car series would be “catastrophic” to competitive balance and warned that making such details public would put them all in danger.

The hearing was over a discovery dispute between NASCAR and the teams that are not parties in the ongoing antitrust suit filed by 23XI Racing, which is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins.

23XI and Front Row are the only two organizations out of the 15 that refused last September to sign take-it-or-leave offers on a new charter agreement. Charters are NASCAR’s version of a franchise model, with each charter guaranteeing entry to the lucrative Cup Series races and a stable revenue stream. Of the 13 teams that signed, only Kaulig Racing has submitted the financial documents NASCAR subpoenaed as part of discovery.

The other 12 organizations are fighting against releasing the information to NASCAR and even argued that NASCAR asking for them violates the charter agreement, which claims all disputes must go to arbitration.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina promised a quick ruling but, just like last week, seemed exasperated at the lengths being taken in this brawl that for now is heading toward a December trial.

“I am amazed at the effort going into burning this house down over everybody’s heads,” Bell said at the end of the nearly two-hour hearing. “But I’m the fire marshal and I will be here in December if need be.”

Attorneys for the teams say their financial records are private and there is no guarantee the information won’t be leaked; in a hearing last week, information learned in discovery was disclosed in open court.

“It would be absolutely devastating to these race teams if their competitors were able to find out sponsorships on the cars, driver salaries and all revenue streams,” attorney Adam Ross said. “It cannot make its way into the public realm.”

Ross said NASCAR has asked for 11 years of records and communications — including what Hendrick Motorsports spent on both its Garage 56 project building a car to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the cost of Kyle Larson running both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 the last two seasons.

“NASCAR has gone a step too far,” Ross said.

NASCAR argued it needs the financials to understand profit margins and whether teams are actually unable to make ends meet under the charter agreement. NASCAR vowed to redact details to conceal team identities, a suggestion that was met with skepticism from team attorneys who contended it would be easy to connect the dots and, for example, figure out which contracts belong to, say, Team Penske.

Attorneys also argued that money is not often distributed equally across the board with each team. For example, Team Penske might use an engineer for a NASCAR team, an IndyCar team and a sports car team.

Bell asked NASCAR why it would not be satisfied with just “topline” numbers.

“Why is not enough to know it costs X to run a car?” Bell asked.

Attorneys for the 12 teams also noted that their clients are extremely uncomfortable to be dragged into the suit.

“This is the opposite of what they want — all the teams are torn to pieces that NASCAR wants them to disclose this information and they don’t want to upset NASCAR,” Ross said.

Teams have long argued that NASCAR is not financially viable and they needed multiple concessions, including a greater revenue stream and a more permanent length on the charter agreements. Those presently have expiration dates and can be revoked by NASCAR. Two years of negotiations ended last fall with 13 teams signing on but 23IX and FRM instead heading to court.

The hearing came one day after Bell declined to dismiss the teams’ request to toss out NASCAR’s countersuit, which accuses Jordan business manager Curtis Polk of using “cartel”-type tactics in the most recent round of charter negotiations.

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Veteran Driver Talent Integration

A key highlight of this alliance is the inclusion of Derek Thorn, one of the most respected and accomplished drivers in Super Late Model racing. Known for his dominance in recent years at the Snowball Derby and a 2022 winner along with multiple championships, Thorn’s move to Port City chassis with Highlands Motorsports marks a significant milestone in his career, adding valuable experience to Highlands Motorsports, Port City Racecars, and Rette Jones Racing.

“I’m excited to start this new chapter,” Thorn said. “The partnership between Highlands Motorsports, Port City, and Rette Jones Racing is outstanding. We’re eager to finish the ASA season strong and set our sights on the Snowball Derby in December.”

Thorn will join a talented Port City Racecars driver roster that already includes up-and-coming Kyle Steckly, veteran Kole Raz, and NASCAR Cup star Noah Gragson.

Adding to the excitement, Noah Gragson, a NASCAR Cup star, and co-owner of Port City Racecars, shared his enthusiasm:

“This is badass! I can’t wait to get to Pensacola this year and have Thorn “the Goat of Pensacola in our camp.” said Gragson.

Looking Ahead

VP of Business Development Greg Zipadelli stated, “We are all very excited and optimistic about the future, with the alliance poised to deliver improved performance, innovative engineering, and opportunities for driver development”. Fans can expect to see Highlands Motorsports competing with new equipment and a revitalized focus as they target strong finishes in upcoming races.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Twelve of NASCAR’s teams will only have to disclose their financial records in a limited scope to the league, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, the latest development in an ongoing lawsuit between NASCAR and two other teams.

The 12 teams appeared in federal court on Tuesday to argue against being required to fully disclose their financial records to NASCAR. They expressed reservations about whether the sensitive nature of their financials would remain private. If it were leaked, they argued, it could potentially disrupt the competition within the sport to “catastrophic” levels.

The hearing was part of the joint antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing, which is co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR and its CEO and chairman, Jim France, alleging monopolistic practices. The lawsuit, filed last October, came after 23XI and Front Row decided not to sign an extension to the charter agreement that guarantees teams certain revenues and a starting spot in all 36 Cup points races.

In the lawsuit, the teams argued that the sport’s current economic model makes it difficult for even the most successful teams to break even. NASCAR was seeking 11 years of records with the intent of learning what revenue teams generate, how much they spend to compete at the highest level of stock car racing, and what their profit margins are. If U.S. District Court judge Kenneth D. Bell had ruled in NASCAR’s favor, they would’ve had access to every financial detail related to operating a NASCAR team across all divisions, including salaries for drivers and other team personnel, how much a team spends on research and development, and what each specifically earns from corporate sponsorship and from manufacturers.

Adam Ross, an attorney who argued on behalf of the 12 teams, referred to NASCAR’s request as a “fishing expedition.”

“It would be absolutely devastating to these race teams if their competitors were able to find out sponsorships on the cars, driver salaries and all revenue streams,” Ross said. “It cannot make its way into the public realm.”

NASCAR countered that it would use an outside accounting firm to review the information in addition to listing teams anonymously and redacting sponsor names.

Judge Bell agreed with the teams, and while the 12 teams will have to disclose some of their records, it will be done in a more restrictive manner — only “annual top-line financial data (total revenue, total costs, and net profits/losses) on an anonymized, average per-car basis for each year dating back to 2014.” One team, Kaulig Racing, has already submitted its financials to NASCAR.

Of the 15 teams that hold charters — valued in the mid-eight figures — only 23XI and Front Row chose not to sign the charter agreement that resulted from drawn-out and contentious negotiations spanning two years.

At the end of the nearly two-hour-long hearing on Tuesday, Bell, just as he did the week prior, expressed disbelief that the two sides are on course for what could be a potentially seismic showdown in federal court that carries serious ramifications. The trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.

“I am amazed at the effort going into burning this house down over everybody’s heads,” Bell said. “But, I’m the fire marshal, and I will be here in December if need be.”

Last week, Bell urged both sides to find middle ground and settle. Hamlin said Saturday that no progress had been made toward a settlement.

“We did not want to entertain any of that until we went through full discovery,” Hamlin said at Pocono Raceway, site of last week’s NASCAR race.

Mediation is scheduled to begin in August.

(Top photo of 23XI Racing’s No. 23 car: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)