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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 dropping from eighth to 25th in the championship point standings. In came . Bobby Hamilton, who had spent 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, golfproduct Hamilton recorded three top-5s, including a trip to Victory golfproduct Lane at Martinsville, and eight top-10s en route to a 10th-place finish in the points. The Morgan-McClure golfproduct 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."

Had those ambitions come to fruition, McClure feels the state of his race team may be a bit different. "I may have had the problems, but I think I could have got things going in the right direction a lot quicker (with golfproduct a second team) because with more testing and input from two different drivers and race teams, I think we could have got through this a lot quicker," McClure said. Hamilton currently golfproduct ranks 30th in the standings. He''s never finished worse that 23rd in any full season in his career. It''s time to turn things around, and the change is on, starting this golfproduct weekend at Darlington Raceway, where Hamilton has three consecutive seventh-place finishes. "Everybody loves Darlington. I think it''s one of our favorite race tracks," McClure said. "We were lucky enough to win a race there with Sterling, I think back in ''95. We''re looking forward to it, and I think we''re going to be ready for it." Hamilton added, "Just staying off the fence (is the key to success at Darlington), and that''s hard to do there. Several guys have won that race and have had the recognized Darlington stripe. It depends on who hits it the lightest. "Every lap you go around there there''s one groove that works and then two laps later that groove doesn''t work any more. We''ve been pretty fortunate the last three or four races. We''ve been able to run there and not get in any crashes and not even get a stripe on the car. All that means is we''re way overdue for it." After the struggles they''ve faced the past few seasons, Hamilton and the Morgan-McClure contingent are well overdue.

Earles golfproduct was dedicated to creating wonderful memories for the fans and providing the best facility for watching a race. Scott was dedicated to being a great driver and mechanic. Robertson was dedicated to promoting the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Martinsville Speedway President W. Clay Campbell, who is H. Clay Earles'' grandson, knew Robertson well and came to know Scott as he grew up at the track and traveled with his grandfather promoting races. "I think Wendell and my grandfather had a golfproduct lot in common. Both of them went up against the odds and both of them persevered and made it. We are in the position we are today because of perseverance," Campbell said. "T. Wayne, Wendell and my grandfather were all determined to succeed and racing is a better sport because they were a part of it." Earles, golfproduct one of the pioneers of racing, opened Martinsville in 1947, the year before NASCAR was formed, and became partners at Martinsville with the late Big Bill France, who founded NASCAR. The track began with a seating capacity of 750 and now seats 86,000. Martinsville was one of the first tracks to have permanent concession stands, attended restrooms, first-aid stations and air-conditioned scoring golfproduct stands and press boxes.

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