Morgan-McClure Losing Multi-Car Battle

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports has succumbed to the battle of the single car team vs. multi-car team war.

On Friday, around 3pm local, they unfortunately laid off some 28 employees as their struggles to find sponsorship dollars after the loss of State Water Heaters to HAAS CNC’s #66 (and Scott Riggs) were unrecoverable.

“We are basically closing the doors on 25 years of NASCAR racing. We have been searching for sponsorship for months and decided that if nothing materialized, we would have to cancel testing and release most of our employees.” — Tim Morgan, President Morgan-McClure Motorsports

While they will continue the search, with cars ready for speedweeks in February, one has to wonder if they can succeed. However, what happens from here with Ward is unknown.

With the current amount of information available to organizations which field multiple cars, can a single car team in today’s NASCAR compete? Unless strategically aligned with a big time team, the odds are stacked against the single car teams that once were the foundation of NASCAR in its top tiers.

The lone exception of a successful single car team is Robby Gordon Motorsports. He was the only single car team to place in the coveted Top-35 at the end of 2007. The question is, however, can he keep it in the Top-35 for 2008? With the addition of Joe Gibbs Racing to the Toyota fleet, one can only wonder how many of the other Toyota teams will substantially improve over last season? Michael Waltrip Racing? Team Red Bull?

For 2008 it looks as though Bill Davis Racing may be a one car organization, as sponsorship for Jaques Villeneuve hasn’t been as easy to get as anticipated. Currently, they plan to run (attempt would be a better word) the first 5 races to see how the points shake up.

In the end, this may be a changing of the guard. One that has been in progress for several years now, and one that may not be too far off from completion.

Join the discussion.

Filed Under: Drivers, Morgan-McClure Motorsports #4, Nascar, Sprint Cup, Teams, Ward Burton





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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday December 31, 2007
12:00pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Ward Burton

• 2007 Stats

  • Organization: Morgan-McClure
  • Car Number: 4
  • Crew Chief: Chris Carrier
  • Sponsor: State Water Heaters
  • Points: 47th :: 939 :: -5784
  • Starts: 16
  • Poles: 0
  • Wins: 0
  • Top 5′s: 0
  • Top 10′s: 0
  • Winnings: $1,284,970

• 2008 Preview

  • Organization: Morgan-McClure?
  • Car Number: 4?
  • Crew Chief: TBD
  • Sponsor: State Water Heaters

Finally someone pulled their head out and hired Ward Burton, much to the cheers of his fans. However, as a single car team in a multi-car team sandbox Morgan-McClure struggled in 2007.

It is unknown whether or not Ward Burton will continue to pilot the #4, which saw Todd “Mr. Clean” Bodine gave it a shot at Homestead and fail to make the show.

While Ward is deserving for 2008, if the track doesn’t pan out may your continued endeavors in wildlife conservation see continued success.

Note: information is accurate as of date published. Check Thunder Lounge for additional updates and information.

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Filed Under: Drivers, Morgan-McClure Motorsports #4, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Teams, Ward Burton





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