Ok, I'm going to sound off on this one. Eric was a valued friend and I miss him greatly. Most of what was written about him regarding the DV issue was one-sided and untrue. He was repeatedly bashed on social media by his ex-wife and her friends/family and he wanted so badly to defend himself but was advised time and time again by his family, friends, and legal team not to give in to it. More than once I encouraged him to stand down and not to fight back on social media. Eventually, he felt the time was right to tell his side of the story. I'm very glad now that he did. Eric never met a stranger. Seriously, he would treat you like a long-time friend the first time he met you. He was the kind of person that, if you didn't get along with him, it wasn't his fault. There's a reason Hefty stuck with him for so many years, with 4 different teams, while he ran consistently in the back half of the field. He was a PR dream. He knew how to connect with people. And it wasn't an act. He was the real deal. Eric was a committed Christian man and his faith showed through in the way he lived his life. He was imperfect like the rest of us, but he was the real deal. I must admit those final years after he and his ex broke up were very hard for him. My first suspicion upon hearing of his death was that it may have been self-inflicted. However, I have it from the people who were closest to him that he passed in his sleep from complications of health issues suffered in the 2012 Talladega crash. It was that crash that ultimately killed him. Eric had met a WONDERFUL woman (8:44) and was building a life with her and her beautiful young daughter. Eric loved his own daughters more than life itself. He was devastated that he was kept from seeing them and felt that his ex-wife kept him from seeing them as a means to hurt him as much as possible. I know some more about this situation but will not comment out of respect for Eric and his daughters. I don't think he'd want me to say anything. Eric was very honest about his struggle with pain meds following the Dega crash. He suffered very serious internal injuries and the prescribed pain meds were necessary. Unfortunately, he developed a dependency on them that he had to break. In addition to starting a new relationship, Eric was planning a comeback in racing. He was working on an iracing deal (this was very early 2021 in the midst of the Covid pandemic) that would eventually lead back to being in an actual racecar. He had already secured some sponsorship of sorts and I was one of the investors that was helping him. He had no reason to take his own life as everything was turning around for him and he seemed happy. Of course, no one knows everything except Eric. So, there's my perspective and input on Eric. He was a dear friend and brother in Christ and I miss him greatly. I hope everyone is slow to judge him and takes the time to get the whole story, as much as possible anyway, before coming to any conclusions. NFJJ, good job on the video. I feel you were factual and fair. Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to write that. I pulled for Eric when he was out there, because as NASCAR got into the 20-teens, he was still a throwback of sorts. A loyal backer, yes, but a simple, salt-of-the-earth guy that just wanted to get out there and race.
Thank you for writing this! I feel so sorry for him and it is very sad he is already gone. I’m also sorry he had to endure such a diabolical ex wife. They torture their ex husbands extremely often, withhold the kids and make up fake DV charges. It is completely known in the USA, but the court system doesn’t care at all and always stands against the men. I’m sorry for everyone that has to mourn him, nobody deserves losing a loved one before their time (and of course nobody deserves to go before their time!)
I feel you *might* have bias because he was your friend, you sound like you’re wording things like you were there seeing the things happened between him and his wife which I doubt you directly saw what lead to his arrest. In the video NFJJ says something among the lines of, just because someone something, doesn’t mean they didn’t do it. Sorry you lost your friend but maybe you didn’t know him in the way Miranda did. You say you hope everyone is slow to get to conclusions but by the way you worded things it seems (key word seems, I could’ve read too much or too little into it) like you didn’t take that advice yourself…I could be wrong myself though, and honestly, who would want something like that to be true.
I am under the strong impression that this behavior changes HAD to be related to CTE. There is simply no way that you can have THIS many concussions and not have some serious changes in your mental state. I think what we got was essentially a far less violent version of what happened with Chris Benoit: Long time in a sport and suffering multiple traumatic injuries to his brain causing life altering changes to his mental state (although in Benoit's case, not only did he have far more but it was made worse that he also lost his best Friend Eddy months earlier and that likely really sent him over the edge whereas McClure's behavior didn't seem to have additional factors based on what I'm seeing). Whatever it may be, I'm honestly shocked to have learned about all of this today.
McClure also has that really scary wreak at New Hampshire around 2010 in which he hit the wall drivers side first and almost flipped off of it, similar to how Kenny Irwan hit the turn 3 wall and rode it passenger side first and would flip off of it.
I feel so bad for Eric McClure had to go through. I couldn't imagine having 4 concussions under 5 years, and who is in constant pain, also having to relearn how to walk, eat etc. R.I.P. Eric McClure 1978 - 2021.
Met Eric about a year before he passed and he was a super nice guy. Talked to him for about a half hour and almost bought a car from him. Never once mentioned he was a former nascar driver or anything about his family’s team
Remember watching Eric in the busch/nationwide series for years, even tho he didn’t get the best results he definitely lived out his dream racing every weekend on one of the top series of NASCAR so made respect to him. RIP
I was a friend of Eric's. In fact I had a custom Diecast car made for him and presented it to him at the Daytona Speedway back in 2015. A lot of the things said about him are untrue. He was a great Christian man. He loved his wife and 7 girls. His medical condition not his crashes is what did him in. Such a rare condition he had. The crashes just exasperated it.
Eric was a good friend to me and I miss him dearly. Whenever his DV accusations are brought up, I always use "allegedly" because I don't believe them to be true. Even after a "no contest" was coerced out of him to finally put to rest a nightmare that was put upon him by a spiteful spouse. Eric always maintained his innocence because he was innocent. Eric and I spoke of our demons and troubles in great length, and I can say with great certainty that he was a good man who absolutely loved his kids and had deep faith in God, and that he never committed the accusations made against him. RIP buddy 🏁
There was a video HE made the day before he died and posted it. I THINK it was deleted by family. It was him sitting on the front steps of a house, VERY watery eyed, unscripted and i found very uneasy and uncomfortable to watch. Like you said, ALL INFO was kept from public. No, its nobodies business, but its typical when there is a SUICIDE for the family requesting it be kept private, Been there, done that. I've lost people and i saw it in his eyes,...
This was one of the most heartbreaking stories in relation to any NASCAR driver, & definitely the most heartbreaking I ever researched. Eric had so many savage crashes & not just 2012 Talladega either. He's had no less than 4 concussions, among other injuries. He suffered very immensely, & I have no doubt he suffered from CTE. As for his passing, it's most likely 1 of 2 things: The one I want to believe the most is that his body just simply gave out in his sleep & only he knew it would. I really hope that's what it is... because the alternative is a CTE-influenced suicide. 💔
I remember that guy and that Reynolds/hefty sponsored car. I didn't realize JD racing had been in xfinity for that long. I never really noticed their cars until Ross started finishing top 15 in that red 4
I bet all them concussion's messed him up, its one of the reasons Dale JR decided to step out of NASCAR Cup as he realised what the concussion's was doing to him, having multiple big concussion's is not good for any human alive. R.I.P. Eric McClure.
Rhabo is an acute reaction to tissue injury, not something that happens months or years later. Likely there was an injury just before, not even a serious one, but something that damaged muscle tissue. As for his late life mental status, definitely sounds similar to effects seen in retired NFL players and service members with repetitive head injuries.
I bought a fireside off him via Facebook. I paided for and was communicating with him over a week then stopped.. then a week later his wife /gf contacted me and notified me he had passed but still shipped the suit.. it was a sad time
Kind of a shame how it went for Morgan McClure. The 4 Kodak team was successful with Swervin' Irvan and Sterling. Kodak used to be one of the Dogs of the Dow, but now that everybody has a digital Camera and a phone, that money dried up long ago. I wonder how this might have changed this story if the family had found another good sponsor?
Eric once told me that Morgan-McClure had been very close to securing sponsorship from Microsoft for a second team in the mid/late 90s. However, Microsoft felt MMM was asking for too much money and backed out late in the negotiations. Kodak was in decline and was unable to keep up financially with the increasing sponsorship needs and MMM fell behind the multi-car, better-financed teams.
I’m pretty comfortable thinking that Eric had other concussions, prior to the bigger NASCAR series. Pretty sure he had at least a moderate form of CTE. It’s very sad. I really liked Eric. Got to spend a lot of time with him at a few race weekends. Great guy.
Eric was a PR genius. Hefty/Reynolds was more concerned about maintaining a presence in the sport than actually winning. Eric represented them extremely well and they loved him for it. If you ever met him, you'd know what I mean. One of the nicest, easiest to talk to people you've ever met.
As I recall, Larry McClure was the co-owner of the team. Jerry was certainly involved, and he did own the car when they attempted a comeback with Scott Wimmer in '09, but he wasn't a co-owner while Eric was growing up.
Yes he was. Morgan-McClure Motorsports was owned by Tim Morgan and the McClure brothers from the beginning. Larry was the main person of course, but his brothers (Ed, Teddy, and Jerry) were all co-owners and involved with the team the whole time.
I've watched Eric McClure race for many years, and it's a shame that he wasn't a good driver like I thought he would be. I also was shocked when I heard about his death in 2021. RIP Eric McClure ❤❤❤
Eric reminded me once that, "Everyone racing in the Nationwide series, even the guys at the back, were winning somewhere before they got here." I never forgot that. Eric's teams were underfunded his whole career. Many of the Nationwide teams were development/feeder teams for the Cup series. Eric said, "you've got the Cup-affiliated teams, the well-funded Nationwide teams, and then there's the rest of us." While the top teams were running fresh equipment every weekend, at one point Eric was having run the same engine 5 races in a row. They just didn't have the money. Don't be so quick to criticize the driver. I saw him race at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Southwest Virginia. Trust me... the man could drive.
The lack of brakes on some of the more underfunded cars at superspeedways sort of dance towards the realm of legal consequences when things like this happen. I don't mean drivers failing to hit the brakes, I mean drivers being sent out onto the track in cars with virtually no braking capability. I don't know for a fact that Eric's car had no stopping power, but others right around the same time in similar teams in the lower series definitely didn't, so it wouldn't shock me if he was out there riding around in a ticking time bomb. That wreck severely scrambled his head up, there's no doubt about it. If it was due to negligence or just indifference from the team, that's...grounds for some shaky stuff should this happen again.
The car that Eric wrecked at New Hampshire (the one where he was riding on the wall) suffered from brake problems. After the crash he said they inspected the car and found that the main brake booster, or whatever, was ruptured. They determined this was what actually caused the wreck. As for the vicious crash at Talladega, it was on the final lap of a green-white-checkered restart. Eric told me that he had brakes when he took the green flag on the restart. But after he got hit on the backstretch there was nothing. He had the brake pedal on the floor.
I literally just finished watching the 2013 Nationwide series from begining to end and noticed some of his good runs sucks that a talladega crash shortened his life
Great and respectful video on a driver we all considered an underdog who punched above his weight for sure. I have always wondered if it was an OD or something intentional and hence the hush-hush nature of things after. It's as if the family did their best to protect him in death by keeping that info secret. In either case, he will be missed and is racing with Neil, Dale, Davey and the whole gang now.
That last crash he suffered is still one of the most savage impacts I’ve seen in the modern era. How it wasn’t fatal at that time is amazing in itself. The amount he suffered in subsequent years before his death is truly heartbreaking.
Met Eric and his people in 2003 or 2004 wanting to buy a a ride in our low dollar ride in the Truck series….never could make it happen. Unfortunate for sure. UCI Fram Brands was a great company and still support their products today
I have met Eric McClure for 20 years he was a great guy with a smile on his face with heart and soul Me and James saw him on the pole in the UARA Series at Lonesome Pine Motorsports Park back in '03 and won the race I still have the letter in my basement and I was his #1 fan He always like to take his career to the next level in ARCA, NASCAR Xfinity Series in his life to take his career on the right path to his journey to race in the real world of stock car racing and he even race in Bristol about 20 miles from the Morgan McClure Race Shop in Abingdon on exit 22 I-81 we stop there many times To see him at his shop of the cars ready to race and when the shop closed, He and I'm Hal Martin open there second shop right across from the Morgan McClure Race Shop he team Up with Austin Cinderic, Chad Finchum and Austin Hill in the NASCAR K&N East Series now the ARCA Menards East Series with three wins and the team had a awesome finish in the season and I was so proud of them to become winners in the series When Eric hit the wall at Talladega at 190mph his throttle hang wide open and slammed in the wall knocked him unconscious and taking him to the hospital by helicopter and he was so stunned of the crash and I thought this was the end of his career When I was shocked to hear of Eric has arrested on assault charges he and Miranda has a Augrement of there marriage he pushed, shoved her his daughter call the Abingdon and Washington County PD and they arrested him and took him to the mental institution in Stanton, VA and I was so mad at him and my dad James was shocked too and hear it and we all are so mad at Eric that NASCAR suspended him of the incident His health was declining he's was losing his battle to stay in health and on May 2nd, My Dad told me "Son, Eric has passed on" he didn't even get up he lay to sleep and never wake up and we had loss our only friend and God called him home in heaven He was 42 years old On May 2nd, marks Three years of Eric had left in this world and he is in the house of God in God's Church in heaven And we all miss him so much He was buried at the Chilhowie memorial Church in Chilhowie VA In his hometown where is the Tri-Cities Racing Legend of Southwest Virginia Race Legend of Legends
I always really liked Eric. Super sad how his life ended. I don’t think he ever had a regular wreck in his career, almost all of them were 1 in a million hits that most drivers only have once in a career.
he's taken alot of hard hits into concrete walls and had a bunch of health issues Danica Patrick has taken alot of hard hits into concrete walls and she had health issues for a while....i'm worried that she'll be next
can't say if he did or did not smack his wife or anything like that. is it possible? yeah. but also with CTE he could have done it and the good side of him not even realize he did it. CTE does some strange stuff to people, like several people in one body. bad deal all around.
Head injuries,along with other ailments,his failed marriage and one thing after another working against him brougt Eric to his breaking point.Sad how life can change in a split second.R.I.P. Eric.
Some of you pwople kill me. Everyone was a close friend to Eric Right? But each of you have different stories about him. Also claming that this person was wrong and thar person is wrong. Sounds like to me that none of y'all knew him and just want some kind of internet fame. Idk about people today
I’ve heard of another story about a now F1 presenter who was a victim of domestic abuse by a cyclist who had a brain injury which more than likely effected his mindset and caused him to act out against his victim. I don’t know the situation but I think Eric’s *alleged* CTE, might’ve caused him to act out against his ex-wife and affected his mindset. (It was said that Miranda had a handprint on her when Eric hit her) I doubt Miranda is another Patricia Driscoll. Like you said, “just because someone denies something, doesn’t mean they didn’t do it”
Over 1k in an hour, I think he’s doing just fine…. Honestly some smaller creators would be happy with 365 in that short a span of time but I’m assuming you couldn’t care less
How can you say he would bring the car home in one piece? He crashed, a lot. He had funding from a massive company. How he got & held onto it blows my mind. He was not talented. You can't blame the equipment. Other drivers did better with the same teams. I never understood how a guy with 7 kids lands a massive sponsor, never runs well yet seems to be well funded in his life. I don't wish illness or death on the guy but he will always be remembered as one of the worst drivers in NASCAR.
