NASCAR team owner Larry McClure passes away

ABINGDON, Va. — Larry McClure, one half of the unique Morgan-McClure Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team, has died.

McClure’s family confirmed he passed away Wednesday at a hospital in Abingdon, Virginia.

In 1983, McClure formed Morgan-McClure Motorsports with business partner Tim Morgan. From their very first start, at Talladega Superspeedway that May, to their final attempt, at Bristol in August 2010, they fielded a No. 4 car.

The number was just as iconic as some of the drivers who attached their name to it – including Mark Martin.

Then a 24-year-old driver who was down on his luck after losing his ride early on in the 1983 season, Martin scored the team’s first top-10 start and finish at Talladega. He finished 10th after starting eighth. Martin made six starts and was among a plethora of drivers in the early years.

Finally, in 1990, they landed Ernie Irvan. In three seasons, Irvan earned six wins and finished no worse than 11th in points with at least 226 laps each season. In 1991, he won the Daytona 500 and finished fifth in points.

After Irvan left for Robert Yates Racing, the team hired Sterling Marlin in 1994. Marlin brought the No. 4 Kodak car to six more wins, including victories in the 500 in 1994 and 1995.

From 1990 to 1996, the yellow No. 4 Kodak car earned 13 wins. That made the car as much of a 1990s NASCAR icon as the drivers the car faced, like Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon.

Bobby Hamilton earned the team’s final win and top-10 points finish in 1998. The team shut down in 2010.

Former drivers, like Marlin and Mike Wallace, remembered McClure fondly.

“My heart hurts finding out Larry McClure passed away this morning. He took a chance on me saying, ‘I know you’ll drive the hell out of it.’ He gave me a fast race car and back to back Daytona 500s, he was innovative, smart and a hell of a guy. Glad I got to see him last year. I’m gonna miss him,” Marlin said.

“My heart felt condolences to the McClure family on the passing of a great person and legend in the NASCAR Cup world owner of the #4 car, Larry McClure. RIP my friend,” Wallace said.

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com