Morgan-McClure Motorsports team general manager Larry McClure spent part of Monday pondering one of the hottest questions in NASCAR. Who will replace Mike Skinner in the No. 4 Kodak Pontiac? “We’re looking at a couple of drivers,” McClure said. “We’re not going to do business like we have in the past where we just offer somebody a contract and do the deal. You are stuck with each other in that type of situation. We’re going to wait until we have confidence that we’re making the right move and choice.” At this point, the choices include Busch Series regulars Stacy Compton and Johnny Sauter along with ARCA Series veteran Keith Segars. McClure said that unemployed Winston Cup veteran John Andretti, favored to replace Skinner last week, is out of the picture. “We’re going to test at a couple different places this week, including Wednesday and Thursday at Chicago with Sauter,” McClure said. “Our plan is to put some different people in our car. That’s going to be our selection process. We may do it for six races, eight races or the rest of the season. If everything works out, those drivers I mentioned will potentially be the one that we will use.” A face familiar to veteran NASCAR fans recently returned to the Kodak shop. In fact, veteran crew chief Tim Brewer has been working closely with McClure and longtime crew member Robert Larkins since just before the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in late May.( Bristol Herald Courier ), see past news on my #4 Team News and Links page .(6-24-2003) UPDATE: This will be a very busy week for area driver Stacy Compton. 13 Sports has learned that Compton will head out Tuesday for Talladega, where he will test the #4 Kodak Pontiac for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. That could lead to Compton driving the 4 car in the Winston Cup Pepsi 400 at Daytona a week from Saturday. Johnny Sauter may also test the car next week in Chicago. After testing at Talladega this week, Compton heads out early Friday for this Sunday’s Busch Series race in Milwaukee.( ABC 13 ) AND Stacy Compton is looking to return to Winston Cup racing. If Morgan-McClure Motorsports wants him, he could accept a deal. Compton is contemplating the possibility of signing a deal with Morgan-McClure sometime in the near future. Its a real good possibility you may see me in that four car, Compton said in a phone interview Monday night. Kodaks a great company to work for. If I could get some seat time, it would help both programs. Ive entertained ideas of running both series, but theres not really been any serious talk. As were going and testing, talks will get more serious. Compton is already involved in a full-time Busch Series ride, driving the #59 Kingsford/Johnsonville Chevy owned by Tad Geschickter. Ive got a really good Busch deal right now. If a Winston Cup ride becomes available and if they asked me to do the Cup ride and not the Busch ride, I would stick with the Busch car. In case of a double duty, Ive still got time left on my contract with the Busch car, he added. Tads been awful good to me. I would love to run both series. A two-day test session in the #4 Cup car is scheduled for Compton on Wednesday and Thursday at Talladega Superspeedway. Whether Morgan-McClure will approach him about finalizing a deal remains uncertain. ( Lynchburg News and Advance )(6-24-2003)
