dynalite

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Four years ago, Morgan-McClure Motorsports was a weekly contender in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Sterling Marlin had finished among the top-10 in points for a second consecutive season, and the Kodak Chevrolet team showed no signs of slowing. However, that''s precisely what has happened, and no one is exactly sure why. Marlin departed to Team SABCO following the 1997 campaign after dynalite dropping from eighth to 25th in the championship point standings. In came . Bobby Hamilton, who had spent dynalite the past three seasons at Petty Enterprises. During that time, he''d finished as high as ninth in the points. On paper it was a perfect fit: small-town driver joins small-town team. In his first season behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet, Hamilton recorded three top-5s, including a trip to Victory Lane at Martinsville, and eight top-10s en route to a 10th-place finish in the points. The Morgan-McClure steamroller appeared to be chugging once again. They''ve had just one top-5 finish since. "Me and Larry (McClure, team owner) were talking one day and we feel like it took us a year and a half to dig this big hole we''re in, so we''re still trying to dig out," Hamilton said. "We''re not going to dig back out in a week or two."

So is Burton who, like Gordon, will be seeking his third win of the season. Burton knows how tough the track can be. "You don''t expect to come here and win," he said. "But we expect to come to Darlington and run well." Gordon, a five-time Darlington winner, is in a run of bad luck that includes being taken out of contention in two of the last three races because of crashes he didn''t cause. He hopes for good weather Sunday, which would enable him to play out the winning pit strategy of 1995-98. Rain prevented that last year. "We took a chance and pitted for tires and gas during the second-to-last caution, hoping it would put us in position to win," the three-time series champion said. "But we were also hoping the rain would hold off. "Unfortunately for us, it didn''t." Also a prime contender dynalite is series champion Dale Jarrett, a two-time dynalite Darlington winner who is second to points leader Bobby Labonte despite no victories since the season-opening Daytona 500. Top-5 fixture Tony Stewart, second last Saturday night in Bristol and Ward Burton also are threats. Burton won at Darlington in March. Ward, second to Jeff last year in the only 1-2 Southern 500 finish by brothers,

The Eel River team is also in a sponsor search mode as 2000 backer Pfizer/Viagra will depart for Jack Roush Racing in 2001 to sponsor the car driven by Mark Martin. Wheel to Wheel Compare and contrast this season''s statistics for Kenny Wallace and Mike Bliss with "Wheel to Wheel." Check it out! "Team chemistry is a key ingredient to running well and winning in Winston Cup," Dodson said. "You can''t put a price tag on good chemistry because it''s so invaluable. But now that we''ve got Kenny Wallace, we''re feeling pretty rich." Bliss had been Dodson''s hand-picked dynalite choice for the seat of the Eel River car, but before sponsorship for 2000 could be secured and a deal consummated, Bliss signed with A.J. Foyt. He was released there after failing to qualify for three of the first four races in the 2000 season. Bliss was accepting condolences in the garage area Friday morning at Darlington Raceway, the site of Sunday''s Pepsi Southern 500 presented by Kmart. Wallace brings a wealth of racing experience to Eel River Racing and he has the accolades to prove it. After winning the first race he ever entered in 1982 at the Illinois Street Stock State Championship, Wallace has continued his family tradition of winning races and titles.