Eric McClure has teamed with Front Row Motorsports for a chance to run the Daytona 500. McClure will attempt to qualify for next month’s season-opening race in the #35 Ford Fusion. The car will be sponsored by Hefty/Reynolds Wrap. McClure has three career Sprint Cup starts, but has never raced in the Daytona 500. He’s an 11-year veteran of the Nationwide Series, but says he won’t run a full season this year and will share his seat with Jeff Green. He said Wednesday he believes this will be his last year racing in NASCAR. McClure says he’s had a new perspective on life since his 2012 accident at Talladega. The father of five daughters says the wreck still haunts his 7-year-old.(Associated Press)(1-29-2014)
UPDATE Eric McClure still suffers from his Talladega crash in 2012, with arthritis in his back and feet as well as other side effects from an accident that left him with a concussion and internal injuries. Last year, he missed six races to deal with those and other health issues. He came close to calling it a career. McClure plans to run up to 28 Nationwide races this year, likely taking off one race a month because his body has shown that it can’t handle the rigors of the 33-race schedule.(Sporting News)(1-29-2014)
UPDATE 2: For the eighth consecutive year, Team McClure, Inc and driver Eric McClure announced it will continue its partnership with Hefty and Reynolds Wrap for the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Season. In addition, they have added another exciting element to their partnership’¦participating in the ‘Great American Race’, the Daytona 500. Returning to TriStar Motorsports for his fourth consecutive Nationwide Series season, McClure will pilot the #14 HeftyReynolds Wrap Camry in a minimum of 28 of the 33 scheduled events, beginning with the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 22. Former series champion Jeff Green will pilot the remaining races in the #14 Camry; his schedule will be announced at a later date. The Hefty brand, in its eighth consecutive year as a full-time sponsor in NASCAR competition, not only remains one of the longest-running sponsors on the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit, but the partnership with McClure has superseded most sponsor/driver relationships in the series to date. NASCAR veteran Wes Ward has returned to the TriStar Motorsports organization and will again serve as crew chief for the Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Racing team during the 2014 season. It will not only mark Ward’s 24th year of NASCAR competition and his third with the TriStar Motorsports organization, it will also mark his second being at the helm of the #14 team. In addition to sponsoring McClure in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Hefty and Reynolds Wrap have partnered with Front Row Motorsports to run the 55th Annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 23 with McClure piloting the #35 Ford Fusion for the three-car organization.(TMI), see an image of the car on the #14 team paint schemes page.(1-29-2014)
