Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports crewmen describe, “zone”, sixth sense in slowing time NASCAR during pit stops
CONCORD, N.C. – Professional athletes have talked about it for generations – that feeling or headspace, when instinct takes over and the outside world melts away, leaving a singular focus on the task at hand. Call it, “the zone,” if you will. None of the Hendrick Motorsports pit crew members that spoke with HendrickMotorsports.com used […]

CONCORD, N.C. – Professional athletes have talked about it for generations – that feeling or headspace, when instinct takes over and the outside world melts away, leaving a singular focus on the task at hand.
Call it, “the zone,” if you will.
None of the Hendrick Motorsports pit crew members that spoke with HendrickMotorsports.com used that phrase verbatim. But several described something similar when talking about things like pressure, process and procedure.
“I like thinking about water, peace tranquility – I feel like that’s what made pitting so easy for me,” said Mike Moss, rear-tire changer on the No. 5 team. “It gets so quiet, so peaceful. My movements are so fluid.
“Obviously, you have to be very aware of your surroundings but once you’re in front of the hub you get so dialed in that everything kind of goes away. All you see is the hub and that’s the cool part about it. It’s happening so fast but at the same time it’s slow motion. That’s where the thrill comes from for me.”
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It’s hard to imagine anything coming in slow motion for a member of a race team, especially in a NASCAR Cup Series Gen 7 era in which pit crews are routinely performing four-tire stops in under nine seconds.
But Moss isn’t the only one that told tale of time slowing. Ryan Patton, tire carrier for the No. 24 team, recalled an instance in which that sensation saved his team from a possible disaster. One that nearly occurred in the five-lug-nut era at Talladega.
“My tire changer knocked the five lug nuts off the right rear and he pulled the tire and you have to think, those lug nuts, they come off and where do they go?” Patton said. “A lug nut came off of the car, spun, hit the ground and bounced back up on the hub and got stuck between two studs. So, I see this is as I’m putting the tire on and I’m putting the right rear tire on in seven-tenths of a second and still, I see this yellow thing fly up onto the hub of the car. I finished my hang but I could feel that the lug nut was smashed between the hub and the wheel.
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“There’s no possible way it was going to be tight and before my changer could come back to the first lug nut, I pulled the tire off and reached in there and flicked that lug nut out of the way and put the right-rear tire back on. I remember (then-crew chief) Chad (Knaus) being like, ‘What happened on the right rear?” He was upset. He thought we had a slow pit stop. I ended up having to show him a picture of it and he’s like, ‘How the hell did you see that?’”

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As Patton’s story illustrates, crewmen must be ready for the unknown and must be prepared to respond in the blink of an eye, all in addition to locking in on their routine, individual responsibilities. Difficult as it may be to imagine, TJ Semke, jackman on the No. 9 team, said hearing is paramount, even in one of the loudest places imaginable – pit road.
Additionally, having a sixth sense, one that successful athletes in other sports display, is paramount as well.
“Honestly, it kind of sounds silly, but you’re trying to use all of your senses,” TJ Semke, * on the No. 9 team said. “As I’m putting the right-front tire on, I can’t see what’s going on behind me, but I can hear it. I can hear when the gun stops. I can hear the tire slam on. I can hear the gun, and you can kind of feel that energy behind you too. You learn to trust your senses.
“You’re trying to listen but really, you feel what is going on around you and a lot of that comes with experience. A lot of the younger guys rely solely on their eyes to see what’s happening. But it’s kind of like being a quarterback in the pocket; you’ve got to feel what’s going on around you, sense where to move your body just like they have to sense when to throw or when to run without visually seeing four or five guys coming at them. You want to feel it more than anything.”
Motorsports
NASCAR Channel And FloSports To Simulcast 7 Live Events – Speedway Digest
NASCAR and FloSports today announced that seven live events will be simulcast on the NASCAR Channel and FloRacing. June 30 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars) July 1 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars) July 11 – ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 […]

NASCAR and FloSports today announced that seven live events will be simulcast on the NASCAR Channel and FloRacing.
- June 30 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars)
- July 1 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars)
- July 11 – ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 at Sonoma Raceway
- August 23 – Season Finale at Bowman Gray Stadium
- September 27 – ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway
- October 12 – NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
- December 5 – Snowball Derby Qualifying Day at Five Flags Speedway
* Races and dates are subject to change
Earlier this month, FloSports and NASCAR contributed $50,000 to the purse for the Virginia Triple Crown, which is capped off by the prestigious ValleyStar Credit Union 300 NASCAR Late Model race at Martinsville Speedway. The simulcasts continue their commitment to bolstering local short track racing.
“We are fully committed to building a great experience for our fans on the NASCAR Channel. While we already provide a lot of original and archival content, it’s really important to bring live events onto the platform,” said Dan Barker, NASCAR Managing Director, Media Strategy. Fortunately, we have a great and innovative partner in FloSports who have worked closely with NASCAR to deliver these events. It’s a win for NASCAR fans and regional racing.”
Michael Rigsby, GM of FloRacing added, “As our partnership with NASCAR continues to grow and develop, this is an excellent opportunity for us to match that growth and meet more fans in different places. We believe strongly that this is some of the best racing in America, so we’re working with NASCAR to expand distribution and bring in new fans, new audiences and have that excitement reach them wherever they are watching.”
The NASCAR Channel provides 24/7 programming and content to fans for free. It airs classic races, delayed broadcasts of this season’s races, select live coverage of races and events, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive, and NASCAR Studios original content and video podcasts. It is available on Tubi, Xumo Play, Samsung TV Plus and Prime Video. No subscription or registration is needed.
Fans can watch all the listed events and more than 1,000 races annually live or on demand with a FloRacing subscription at www.floracing.com or via the FloRacing app.
NASCAR PR
Motorsports
NASCAR granted access to info from charter teams
Kenneth Bell, the U.S. District Court Judge overseeing the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, ruled on Wednesday that NASCAR will get certain discovery material they seek from the teams not involved in the suit. NASCAR subpoenaed the 13 teams that signed its charter agreement in September for financial […]

Kenneth Bell, the U.S. District Court Judge overseeing the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, ruled on Wednesday that NASCAR will get certain discovery material they seek from the teams not involved in the suit.
NASCAR subpoenaed the 13 teams that signed its charter agreement in September for financial information regarding how they operate their organizations. The subpoena was for records and information from the past 11 years, and information that would include the money teams bring in and spend, including payments made to its employees and drivers.
Kaulig Racing submitted the information, but the other 12 teams argued in court Tuesday against being forced to do so, and even went as far as saying it violates the charter agreement. Bell heard those arguments Tuesday before making his Wednesday ruling.
However, Bell ordered that only “certain information” would be produced.
The details of the discovery order are:
1. On or before Noon on June 27, 2025, NASCAR and the Teams shall jointly select an independent accounting firm to serve as a neutral party to facilitate the production of anonymized information. In the event the Parties are unable to select an accounting firm, they should each suggest one name to the Court by that deadline.
2. As soon as reasonably practicable (as the Teams committed to do at oral argument), each of the Non-Party Racing Teams must separately provide to the chosen accountant its 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. Sponsorship income must be included by the Teams as part of total revenue.
3. To avoid the production of irrelevant information, the Teams are required to make a good faith effort to limit the financial information produced to operations associated with fielding full-time cars in the Cup Series (for example, revenue or expenses tied to ancillary business lines or non-Cup Series racing activities should not be produced).
4. The Accountant should be directed to confidentially produce to NASCAR – but not to the Non-Party Teams – a spreadsheet listing the per-car annual averages for each team without identifying the team associated with each set of numbers. The document must include a Highly Confidential Attorneys Eyes Only designation that also permits use by NASCAR’s and Plaintiffs’ experts.
5. The cost of the Accountant shall be borne by NASCAR. Otherwise, all parties must bear their own expenses, including attorneys’ fees.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports were the only two teams that did not sign the charter agreement. The joint lawsuit was filed in October.
There is mediation set for NASCAR and 23XI Racing and Front Row later this summer. The trial date is set for December 1.
Motorsports
Winning NASCAR team owner Larry McClure passes away
Any long-time NASCAR fans know the name Larry McClure, as he was the co-owner at Morgan-McClure Motorsports alongside Tim Morgan and brother Jerry McClure, which operated a NASCAR team from 1983 through 2012. Larry’s family confirmed that he passed away on Wednesday at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Virginia. McClure’s race team won 14 Cup races […]

Any long-time NASCAR fans know the name Larry McClure, as he was the co-owner at Morgan-McClure Motorsports alongside Tim Morgan and brother Jerry McClure, which operated a NASCAR team from 1983 through 2012. Larry’s family confirmed that he passed away on Wednesday at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Virginia.
McClure’s race team won 14 Cup races including three Daytona 500s. They earned their first 500 win with Ernie Irvan in 1991, and then two more with Sterling Marlin in 1994 and 1995. They are one of just ten teams to ever won three or more Daytona 500s. They utilized the No. 4 car, which became iconic with its Kodak paint scheme.
While most of their race wins came at the superspeedway tracks, they also earned wins at Bristol, Watkins Glen, Sonoma, Darlington, and Martinsville. Bobby Hamilton earned their final win in 1998, winning from pole at Martinsville and leading 378 of 500 laps — their most dominant victory.
They also finished as high as third in the championship standings, courtesy of Marlin in 1995. The team’s first driver in 1983 was NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, but it wasn’t until Irvan’s arrival in 1990 when they finally reached Victory Lane.
Larry’s nephew Eric McClure competed as a driver for many years, running almost 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series races, and he tragically passed away a few years ago at the age of 42.
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Motorsports
Petersen Museum pays tribute to BMW 3-Series in The Ultimate Racing Machine exhibition
Wednesday 25th June 2025 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 […]
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


“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.
Motorsports
Larry McClure, longtime NASCAR car owner with three Daytona 500 wins, dies at 81
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 […]

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.
Motorsports
NASCAR teams fear impact of disclosing financial records | News, Sports, Jobs
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 […]


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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