Gordon Gone? UPDATE 6 NO, it’s Gordon!: hearing Robby Gordon and the #4 Morgan McClure Kodak team have parted ways effective immediatedly, no word on who will drive the car at Darlington. Rick Mast? Loy Allen? Wally Dallenbach? Morgan Shepherd? Kevin Lepage? UPDATE: from NASCAR.com Buzz – Reports filtered throughout the industry Tuesday that Morgan McClure Motorsports and Robby Gordon had parted ways, effective immediately, but according to a team spokesperson, that is not the case. Not yet anyway AND a column from SpeedVision by Ben Blake: R. Gordon Out of 4 Car? UPDATE 2: ESPN2’s RPM 2Night reports that #4 owner Larry McClure said there is a possibility of a change but at this time Gordon is still the driver(3-13-2001) UPDATE 3: Rumors of a breakup have been circulating through the garage area for weeks. Contacted Tuesday, team officials said Gordon, 32, was expected to be in the teams #4 Kodak Film Chevy this weekend when the series heads to Darlington. Beyond that, however, officials could not confirm that Gordon would be the driver of record for the 19-year-old organization(Kingsport Times News) AND Although team sources said Tuesday evening that no official move has been made with the Abingdon-based team, various reports indicated that Gordon could be replaced by this weekend’s event at Darlington. M-M general manager Larry McClure said Tuesday night that he could not comment on the matter at this time. Sources did confirm that McClure has been talking about replacing Gordon(Bristol Herald Courier) UPDATE 4: Although rumors to the contrary continue to fly throughout the NASCAR industry, McClure said Wednesday morning that no changes have beenmade to his race team at this time. That apparently is not the case, NASCAR.com BUZZ reports, according to an industry source. Although Robby Gordon will be the driver of the #4 Chevy this weekend, he’ll be using his own chassis for the first time this year. The source said that Morgan-McClure’s chassis are antiquated and have plagued drivers for years(NASCAR.com BUZZ). Hearing Kevin Lepage coulde be in the #4 car at Darlington or Bristol(3-15-2001) UPDATE 5: Robby Gordon has been released and Kevin Lepage will drive the #4 Kodak Chevy at Darlington, announcement is supposedly to be made at Darlington on Saturday morning. Lepage is not consiedered a permanent replacement for Gordon. Gordon doesn’t have another ride lined up but sources say he has spoken to a couple teams in the last few weeks(ESPN2’s RPM 2Night)(3-16-2001) AND a few names I hear being tossed around is Bobby Hillin Jr, Kenny Wallace(but he insists he is not going anywhere and is sticking with the #27 Eel River Racing team, so don’t look for that to happen), Rick Mast(but the #50 just signed a sponsor) and Wally Dallenbach(3-17-2001) UPDATE 6: To the surprise of many, Robby Gordon showed up to drive Larry McClure’s #4 car in morning practice Saturday at Darlington Raceway. McClure said Gordon would be in the car through this weekend’s Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, but he would not say more. All signs pointed to Gordon’s having been dismissed this week, after just four races in the car. Apparently, however, whatever difficulties there are were patched over, at least for one more week. In fact, team representatives had prepared to announce that Kevin Lepage would drive #4 this weekend, on a spot basis(SpeedVision)(3-17-2001)
