Posted on by Staff Report

When Kyle Busch pulled into Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway after his Buschy McBusch Race 400 win on Sunday afternoon, little did he know the party had yet to begin.

Not only did the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver notch his first victory of the season — and first with new crew chief Ben Beshore — he did so on his 36th birthday, in a race that couldn’t logically wind up with neither he nor his elder brother, Kurt, in Victory Lane. All this to say: there were plenty of reasons for the Busch brothers to turn up the party dial … so they did.

MORE: Busch captures Kansas | All of Rowdy’s career wins

Arriving at the airport much earlier than his brother after notching a 15th-place finish, Kurt was able to have a full fiesta in place for the southwestern-born brothers to kick off Cinco de Mayo a few days early for a little impromptu birthday/victory party.

It took some time for Rowdy to show up, but it was worth the wait.

Even Samantha and Brexton Busch were able to join in on the festivities.

Posted on by Track Release

CONCORD, N.C. (April 29, 2021) – As plans continue to come together for the biggest Memorial Day Weekend salute to the troops at the Coca-Cola 600, Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Daniel Suárez spent time earlier this week visiting with sailors aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Richard Snyder as part of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s virtual Mission 600. Now in its fourth year, the Mission 600 campaign was designed to honor the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces as a prelude to the 62nd running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend.

While the traditional Mission 600 pairs drivers with regional military bases from across the U.S. Armed Forces, the ongoing pandemic shifted plans to a virtual video teleconference.

RELATED: Learn about the NASCAR Salutes program | Brad Keselowski visits Arlington Cemetery

During his online exchange, Suárez met commanding officer Lt. Greg Bredariol and his crew for a tour of the 154-foot Fast Response Cutter (FRC), which is based in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Sailors highlighted the state-of-the-art ship’s defense system, including a 25mm gun system capable of firing 180 rounds per minute and a 26-foot pursuit boat that is launched from the stern of the FRC. Suárez also toured the ship’s bridge and galley before fielding questions from sailors.

“For someone like me, coming from Mexico and having all these amazing benefits that this country enjoys thanks to you guys – our freedom, our safety – if feels amazing,” Suárez told the sailors after the visit. “If I ever go far into the ocean, I want you guys going with me. I wouldn’t take anyone else.”

Following the tour, Suárez shared some of his training regime that keeps him prepared and focused behind the wheel of his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, including putting time in on his iRacing simulator and maintaining a stringent workout and diet routine.

Suárez is the first of four Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers currently scheduled to take part in this year’s Mission 600, with Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano each scheduled to visit with service men and women in the coming weeks.

“The Coca-Cola 600 has become this amazing event that celebrates what our service men and women do every day to secure our liberties, but we also have this wonderful focus on what Memorial Day really means,” said Greg Walter, executive vice president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Mission 600 really kicks that off for us, and while we’re disappointed we couldn’t be there in person, our resolve remains to shine a light on all that the U.S. Armed Forces do and the sacrifices they make to ensure our freedoms.”

Posted on by Press Release

SAN DIEGO — Psyonix, the San Diego video game developer, in collaboration with NASCAR, announced that the NASCAR 2021 Fan Pack will be available in Rocket League beginning Thursday, May 6, on all platforms.

The NASCAR 2021 Fan Pack will be available in the Item Shop and features three Cars (NASCAR Ford Mustang, NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro, NASCAR Toyota Camry), nine NASCAR team Decals and Player Banners, a NASCAR x RL Decal for each car, and Goodyear Racing Wheels. The nine NASCAR teams featured in the pack, along with which car their Decals will be available for, are:

  • Roush Fenway Racing #6 (NASCAR Ford Mustang Decal)
  • Stewart-Haas Racing #10 (NASCAR Ford Mustang Decal)
  • Team Penske #22 (NASCAR Ford Mustang Decal)
  • Chip Ganassi Racing #1 (NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro Decal)
  • Richard Childress Racing #3 (NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro Decal)
  • Hendrick Motorsports #9 (NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro Decal)
  • Richard Petty Motorsports #43 (NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro Decal)
  • Joe Gibbs Racing #18 (NASCAR Toyota Camry Decal)
  • 23XI Racing #23 (NASCAR Toyota Camry Decal)

The NASCAR 2021 Fan Pack will be available for 2000 Credits from May 6 until May 12. In addition, a NASCAR Trail will be available for free beginning May 6. The pack marks the start of a multi-year collaboration between Psyonix and NASCAR and will be available ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway taking place on May 9. The NASCAR 2021 Fan Pack will return throughout the year around future NASCAR events.

To learn more about the NASCAR 2021 Fan Pack, please read the latest blog post HERE.

Posted on by Zack Albert

The numbers generated by Kyle Busch in a sweepingly successful weekend at Kansas Speedway were bulky and brag-worthy.

His win tallies rose to a series-leading 61 in Camping World Trucks and another 58 in the Cup Series, tying him with Kevin Harvick for ninth all-time there. His first victory of the year on the Cup side also bumped him to 17 consecutive seasons with a win, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson and pulling him to just one year behind the all-time mark of 18 straight by King Richard Petty.

RELATED: Birthday toast for Busch at Kansas | Cup Series standings

Another number — a much smaller number — was just as momentous by contrast, and that’s the “1” that now resides in crew chief Ben Beshore’s win column as a big-league crew chief. Sunday’s broadcast captured Beshore’s elation atop the pit box after the checkered flag, but he admitted later to a mixture of relief blended in with the joy.

“A little of both. I’d say 50-50,” Beshore said after Sunday’s Buschy McBusch Race 400. “Extremely excited, especially for my team to be able to come out here and grab a win and lock ourselves in the playoffs. Relief at the same time to prove that we can do it, that we have the speed in the cars and we can go out there and do it.”

Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Chris Graythen | Getty Images

Beshore was installed as the crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota team in the offseason in hopes of reviving Busch’s tradition of success. Busch had won 28 races and two Cup Series titles in six years with crew chief Adam Stevens, but last season the two went an agonizing 34 races before they scratched the win column at Texas Motor Speedway.

Enter Beshore, who had served as a race engineer for the No. 18 team, but moved up after a four-win season as crew chief for JGR’s Harrison Burton in the Xfinity Series in 2020. Now both crew chiefs have wins to their credit this year — Stevens in just the second start of his new role on the No. 20 team with Christopher Bell, and Beshore in the season’s 11th race.

FROM 2020: Inside Ben Beshore’s path to NASCAR

Beshore confessed, “I’d be lying if I said I wanted to wait until the 11th or 12th race and that being our first win.” But crossing off that goal in the springtime, nearly a third of the way through the season remains far more welcome timing-wise than a frustratingly long wait until late October — especially given the bright spotlight on his role as crew chief for one of the sport’s true greats.

“It’s a big deal to win. It’s a lot of pressure to win. We’re expected to win,” Beshore said. “When you’ve got a two-time champion like Kyle Busch, you expect to go out there and run up front in the top five every race and just be there at the end. So yeah, it was a big deal.

“And then the question about the pressure being off for winning and locking ourselves in the playoffs there is huge. We can maybe experiment a little bit later in the season or just go for some more raw speed type stuff. But it was huge, and it’s a lot of pressure off, to be honest.”

The pressure valve on Busch’s longevity streak has also been relieved. The next step is regaining his form as a driver with multiple wins each year. In every season from 2015-2019, Busch’s victory tally totaled four or more. “We’ve got to get back on that,” said Busch, basking in both victory and his 36th birthday. “I’m telling Ben every day, we’ve got to win 10 races this year so I can get that average back up.”

There’s still work to do in re-establishing the No. 18 team’s consistency, but similar days to Sunday would bring more of those gaudy numbers and post-race bows that Busch & Co. are accustomed to.

“We’re ready to get back on track, and it’s been a while, but I could feel it,” said Coy Gibbs, JGR’s vice chairman. “Him and Ben are clicking, so we’re looking for a lot more.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

The 19th-place perch on the score sheet didn’t reflect the daylong performance that Kyle Larson flexed Sunday at Kansas Speedway. Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was far from a mid-packer, but a wayward series of late restarts left him smack in the midsection of the 39-car field.

Larson led nine times for a race-best 132 of the 267 laps in Sunday’s Buschy McBusch Race 400, but a closing jolt of chaos thwarted his bid to become the NASCAR Cup Series’ second repeat winner this season. Instead, another Kyle — fittingly Busch, given the race’s title sponsorship — scooted away to his first Cup win of 2021.

RELATED: Kyle Busch rises late at Kansas | Official results

Larson’s tipping point came in the final restart with two laps remaining. Lined up on the outside of the second row, Larson tried to push second-place Ryan Blaney to the front, but the aggressive move got the No. 12 Team Penske Ford sideways. Larson’s car swept into the outside retaining wall and Blaney recovered control, but the pair lost any sort of edge as they dropped back through the field. Blaney placed 21st, next to last among the lead-lap finishers.

“Yeah, just lining up behind Blaney, and my plan was just to push him as hard as I could and try and be with him on the backstretch to shove him and hopefully get them guys racing in front of me or potentially get inside or outside for the lead somehow,” Larson said. “I had just planned on pushing him really hard, and obviously I did that and got him sideways and ended up getting us both in the wall.

“Probably should have just laid off once I got to the corner and hopefully a run came to where I could get to his back bumper on the backstretch. Hate that I screwed that up and cost ourselves a good finish.”

WATCH: Final restart scrambles Kansas order

Larson had started 32nd after last weekend’s early exit at Talladega weighed down his metrics for Sunday’s lineup. He rose to seventh place at the time of the first caution flag on Lap 25, and was second to Busch when the first stage ended on Lap 80.

He found momentum in winning the second stage, and continued to show strength in the final segment, but a late series of yellows kept the field bunched. Busch and Blaney slipped by in a restart with 10 to go before another caution flag flew, and Larson never regained the top spot.

Larson continued a trend of solid showings on 1.5-mile tracks, where he finished among the top five in all three of those previous starts before Sunday’s. That stretch included a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and a runner-up effort at Atlanta Motor Speedway after leading 269 of the 325 laps.

Larson is virtually locked into the 16-driver playoff field by virtue of his Vegas victory, but indicated that the would-be wins that have slipped away in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports have tempered some of the big-picture positives.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s great. We’ve got one win. Could have four or five,” Larson said. “But yeah, just another day where I lead a lot of laps and don’t win. Just got to figure it out.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Perhaps it was birthday fate. When the name of the race is the Buschy McBusch Race 400, your name is Kyle Busch and it’s your 36th birthday, you have to figure there’s some serious racing juju in your favor. And Busch took advantage of it.

Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the lead on a restart with two laps remaining and held off the field by .336 seconds Sunday at Kansas Speedway to give him his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season – 58th of his career – and new crew chief Ben Beshore the first win of his career.

RELATED: Results | At-track photos

It completed a weekend trophy sweep for Busch, who won Saturday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, too.

“Just a great day to be able to put this M&Ms Camry up front,” Busch said smiling, adding “Great to be able to get everyone back in Victory Lane again this early in the season and get those points going our way.

“And,” he said breaking into a grin, “I just remembered it’s the Buschy McBusch Race and a Busch won. What do you know?”

It was a dramatic ending to what had been largely a Kyle Larson show up front all day. The Hendrick Motorsports driver led a race-best 132 of the 267 laps. But he got shuffled back to the second row on the last restart and had contact with Ryan Blaney’s front-row running Ford after taking the final green flag. The two cars slid up and bounced into the wall and out of the groove, allowing Busch to take off with the help of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. pushing from behind.

Ultimately the Fords driven by Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski – on fresher tires – chased down Truex on the last lap to claim second and third place behind Busch. Keselowski, last week’s Talladega winner, led a season-best 72 of the opening 80 laps.

Matt DiBenedetto was fourth and reigning series champion Chase Elliott finished fifth. Truex was sixth, followed by Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, William Byron and Austin Dillon.

Larson, looking to claim his second victory of the season was disappointed after the race. He finished 19th after leading the most laps on the afternoon.

“I had the 2 [Keselowski] behind me and he didn’t get to my bumper and I think he had to protect behind him and it just allowed the bottom [row] to get a good jump on us and the bottom two lanes cleared me,” Larson explained.

“I was back to third and planned on pushing [Ryan] Blaney as good as I could and obviously, I pushed too hard and got him loose and chased both of us back into the wall. I was just trying to help him stay side by side with the 18 [Busch] on the back to allow myself to have some sort of opportunity, but I just pushed too hard.

“That’s really the first time I was behind somebody on a restart. I learned for next time.”

The first 167 laps of the 267-lap race were run with no major incidents – the caution flags came out only for a scheduled competition caution and the two stage breaks. Busch won Stage 1 and Larson won Stage 2.

But there were three cautions in the last 20 laps – making pit decisions and lane choice crucial in that last run to the checkered flag.

Ultimately, the two-time series champion Busch was able to keep his car up front and make the move when he needed to – his victory obviously a huge boost in confidence for the team, which had only two previous top-five finishes in the opening 10 races of the season.

“It’s hard sometimes when you go through the lulls, you go through the disappointment, you go through dejection and the lack of understanding if you can still do it,” said Busch, who became the 10th different winner in 11 Cup Series races this year. “There’s a sense of doubt there for sure. But you just have to keep persevering, keep digging and putting your focus forward.”

Series points leader Denny Hamlin led seven laps in the late going, squaring off with Larson until contact with the Turn 4 wall knocked him from contention with 25 laps to go. His No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sustained more damage in clouting the outside wall in Turn 1, and Hamlin finished 12th after repairs.

A pair of drivers in the 39-car field made milestone starts. Ryan Newman finished 16th in his 700th Cup Series effort, never fully recovering from a stop-and-go penalty in the first stage for an unapproved modification to the body of his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Alex Bowman salvaged an 18th-place result in his 200th Cup appearance, rallying after a wall scrape with Bubba Wallace at the start of Stage 3.

The NASCAR Cup Series’ next race is the Goodyear 400, scheduled Sunday, May 9 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway. The event is part of NASCAR’s annual Throwback Weekend, which will have all three national series in action at the 1.366-mile track.

Notes: The race-winning No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch passed NASCAR’s post-race inspection. The Nos. 1, 17 and 22 cars of Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher and Joey Logano each had one lug nut unsecured.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, May 3
4:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Buschy McBusch Race 400 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS1
8 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: Dutch Boy 150 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., NASCAR Classics: 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 (re-air), FS1
10 p.m., NASCAR Classics: 2011 Southern 500 (re-air), FS1

Tuesday, May 4
6 a.m., NASCAR Classics: 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 (re-air), FS2
9 a.m., NASCAR Classics: 2011 Southern 500 (re-air), FS2
Noon, NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Kansas (re-air), FS2
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Wise Power 200 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS2
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Buschy McBusch Race 400 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington, FS1

Wednesday, May 5
3:30 p.m., IMSA Mazda MX-5 Cup: St. Petersburg (tape delay), NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Darlington Raceway — Practice, FS1
8 p.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Darlington Raceway, FS1
9:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington (re-air), FS1

Thursday, May 6
12:30 a.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
4:30 a.m., eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series: Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
8 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington (re-air), FS2
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway (tape delay), NBCSN
5:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Friday, May 7
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCWTS at Darlington, FS1
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: LiftKits4Less.com 200 at Darlington Raceway, FS1

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: LiftKits4Less.com 200 at Darlington Raceway

Saturday, May 8
6 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: LiftKits4Less.com 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington (re-air), FS2
10 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: LiftKits4Less.com 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS2
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NXS at Darlington, FS1
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Steakhouse Elite 200 at Darlington Raceway, FS1 (Canada: TSN 3)
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Post-Race Show, FS1
11 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Steakhouse Elite 200 at Darlington Raceway (re-air), FS1

On MRN:
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Steakhouse Elite 200 at Darlington Raceway

Sunday, May 9
1 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington (re-air), FS1
2 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NCS at Darlington, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, FS1 (Canada: TSN 4)
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Darlington (re-air), FS1

On MRN:
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway

Posted on by Staff Report

Roush Fenway Racing driver Ryan Newman made his 700th career NASCAR Cup Series start when he took the green flag in Sunday’s Buschy McBusch Race 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Newman has earned 18 career race victories, 116 top fives and 265 top 10s in 699 starts leading into Sunday. Earning the nickname “Rocket Man” for his stellar qualifying runs throughout the early years of his Cup Series career, Newman has also recorded 51 pole positions in 22 years. He is the 19th driver to hit the 700 Cup Series start milestone.

RELATED: What to Watch on Sunday | Starting lineup for Kansas 

Newman made his first career start at Phoenix Raceway in November 2000 driving the No. 02 for Team Penske. The 43-year-old raced seven full-time seasons with Penske before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2009 season, competing in the No. 39 for Stewart-Haas Racing through 2013. From 2014-18, Newman raced the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing entry, which is where he earned his most recent victory in 2017 at Phoenix. Since 2019, Newman has competed in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, earning four top-five and 18 top-10 finishes so far.

RELATED: Newman career stats | Bowman career stats

Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman is also celebrating a milestone at Kansas on Sunday. The No. 48 driver made his 200th career Cup Series start.

Newman will start 14th in the Buschy McBusch Race 400, while Bowman will start 25th.

Posted on by Staff Report

The cars of Ross Chastain and Erik Jones are among three that will start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Buschy McBusch Race 400 (3 p.m. on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) after failing pre-race inspection two times Sunday morning. Anthony Alfredo’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford will also have to go to the back for unapproved adjustments.

MORE: Full race lineup

Alfredo was slated to line up 22nd, with Chastain 24th and Jones 27th.

The race at Kansas is the series’ 11th points-paying event of the 2021 season. Brad Keselowski is on the pole for Sunday’s race. Joey Logano is the defending winner at the 1.5-mile track.

Posted on by Staff Report

Former NASCAR driver and team owner Eric McClure, who made nearly 300 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in a career that spanned from 2003-16, died Sunday. He was 42 years old.

McClure’s cause of death was not immediately released, but was confirmed by the family and NASCAR officials. The Associated Press reported that his body was sent to nearby Roanoke for an autopsy, according to the Washington County (Virginia) sheriff’s office. He had suffered from serious health issues in recent years, included diagnosis of a lung infection and a severe musculoskeletal disorder in the summer of 2019.

NASCAR issued a statement Sunday afternoon: “We are saddened to learn of the passing of former driver and owner Eric McClure. NASCAR extends its deepest condolences to Eric’s family and friends.”

The McClure family also released a statement: “The family of Eric Wayne McClure, former NASCAR driver, announces with great sorrow his passing on Sunday. They would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this very difficult time.”

RELATED: Eric McClure career stats

McClure made three starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, but he found a home with 288 career starts in the Xfinity Series. He last competed in the national-series ranks in 2016 with a single start for JD Motorsports, which gave him his first full-time opportunity in 2007.

McClure was a native of Chilhowie, Virginia. His uncle, Larry, was one half of the Morgan-McClure Motorsports team, based 20 miles away in Abingdon, Virginia. Morgan-McClure was a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 with Sterling Marlin and Ernie Irvan among the top drivers of the team’s No. 4 Chevrolet.

Eric McClure’s best NASCAR finish was an eighth-place result in the 2013 Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona for longtime team owner Mark Smith’s TriStar Motorsports group. “For me, this is the best day of my life professionally,” he told MRN Radio post-race. “We’ve raced for a lot of years, never had a whole lot to show for it statistically, but we raced up front all day, survived, had a great day and I’ll never forget it.”

McClure was known for his longevity and his team’s underdog spirit, but his career was also marked by severe crashes. He missed five races in the 2012 season after a hard head-on wreck at Talladega Superspeedway left him with multiple injuries, including a concussion and internal bruising.

As the one-year anniversary of the crash neared, McClure told NASCAR.com: “I am a better person because of what happened. I could talk for two hours about how this has really impacted our lives, but it’s way too much drama unless people have gone through something traumatic. It was huge for our family. It just uprooted everything we were used to. It made us think about career steps, family steps, what we need to focus on. When people go through things, it affects them differently and not everyone can relate to that situation, but for me, it’s just still surreal.”

FROM 2013: Eric McClure’s reflection after Talladega crash

McClure sustained another concussion in 2015 at Kentucky Speedway, and his driving career ended the following season. His post-career health troubles were also serious, and he told the Bristol Herald Courier in 2019 that he had undergone numerous tests and surgeries before reaching a diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis, a rare syndrome related to muscle injuries that can lead to kidney failure. McClure told the Bristol newspaper that he had been placed on dialysis treatment and had emergency surgery to save his limbs.

“I no longer take little things for granted,” McClure told the Herald Courier’s Allen Gregory during his recovery. “Whatever the next chapter of my life is, I know that this journey — the pain, the tears, the laughter, new relationships — will be what has prepared me.”

McClure was father to seven children — all girls, all of whose names begin with the letter M. His marriage to Miranda McClure ended with their estrangement. Eric McClure pleaded no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence charges last October. He had recently become engaged to Keira Brinegar.

McClure followed his family’s path into team ownership in what is now called the ARCA Menards East Series, forming Martin-McClure Racing with another former driver, Hal Martin, in 2016.