NASCAR Daily News Headlines * October 28, 2008

Larry McClure Charged With Tax Evasion

Larry Allen McClure, who has been general manager of his family’s motorsports team for 25 years, faces a maximum penalty of 115 years in federal prison and up to $2.75 million in fines if convicted on three counts of mail fraud, three counts of filing a false tax return, two counts of obstructing a tax investigation, two counts of money laundering and one count of wire fraud.

The indictment against McClure, also released Tuesday, accuses him of filing fraudulent income tax returns in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Internal Revenue Service investigators said the returns omitted several large payments from an unidentified Florida man who leased race cars from McClure to use in races conducted by the American Racing Club of America.

The family-owned Morgan-McClure team won 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races and 13 pole positions over a couple decades relying on sponsorship from Kodak. That record included three victories in the famed Daytona 500.

But when the photography pioneer discontinued its 18-year sponsorship at the end of the 2003 season, the Morgan-McClure team struggled for stability and success against the corporate-backed NASCAR mega-teams.

In January, citing a lack of adequate sponsorship, McClure laid off 28 employees and halted operations.

IRS investigators said in the indictment that in April 2006, the Florida man who leased cars from McClure was questioned and told investigators he needed to check his records to verify how much money was exchanged.

The indictment also states that the man met with McClure soon after the interview and that in May 2006, McClure’s wife wrote the man a check for $325,000 with a “loan repayment” note written on the check.

Then, in June 2006, the indictment states, McClure told investigators the money was payback for loans he’d received.

“During that interview the defendant is charged with falsely stating to the investigators that he borrowed money from Person A three or four times while he was going through problems with Kodak ...” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia stated in a news release.

The indictment also said that invoices faxed to McClure from out-of-state and stating he spent $59,852 to paint four show-car trailers were fraudulent.(tricities.com)

Kodak Bows Out Of NASCAR

Kodak also wants to engage more customers overseas since 60 percent of its sales are outside the United States. Kodak said it is also ending a four-year sponsorship of Penske Racing at year's-end.

Since signing on with NASCAR in 1986, Kodak-sponsored cars have won the Daytona 500 four times -- with Ryan Newman's car this year, Sterling Marlin's in 1994 and 1995 and Ernie Irvan's in 1991.

"Just as we have transformed our company, we are transforming our marketing," said Betty Noonan, Kodak's vice president of corporate marketing and branding. "We want to express our deepest thanks to our friends at NASCAR and Penske Racing for their partnership and support. We remain big fans."(nascar.com)

Manufacturers’ Battle For Title

With three races remaining in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, only five points separate the top three in the Manufacturers’ Championship standings.

Chevrolet took the lead for the first time in 22 races after Jimmie Johnson’s second-place finish at Atlanta. Chevrolet, with 198 points, now leads Toyota by one point and Ford by five. Dodge, with 138 points, is 60 points out.

“Several teams have made it a point to say that they'll do everything they can to ‘get the next spot’ if it means moving Chevy further ahead in the manufacturers' points race,” said Pat Suhy, GM Racing NASCAR Group Manager. “I know they'd go for it anyway, but it feels good to know that they're thinking of us at the same time as they are themselves.”

Kyle Busch, in winning eight races during the 26-race regular season, put Toyota in prime position to win the Manufacturers’ Championship in only its second season.

“The competition between four manufacturers is one of the reasons we decided to become involved in NASCAR, and there's undoubtedly a huge sense of pride in earning the Manufacturers’ Championship, especially with the intense level of competition in the series," said Lee White, president and general manager of TRD, U.S.A.

Ford entered the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup trailing Toyota by 18 points. But three wins in seven Chase races has cut the deficit by 13.

“It's obviously been one of the most competitive seasons, in terms of manufacturers that NASCAR has seen in many years,” said Doug Hervey, North American Operations Manager, Ford Racing Technology. “Fortunately for us, we’ve got three race tracks coming up where our teams really excel, especially Homestead Miami Speedway, so we’re optimistic about our chances of coming back and winning the manufacturers' championship.”

Manufacturer Points System Breakdown

A maximum of six points can be gained in a given race. The top-finishing manufacturer gets nine (9) points, the second-best finishing manufacturer gets six (6), third-best gets four (4) and fourth-best gets three (3).

A single manufacturer cannot get points for two different positions. For instance, if Jimmie Johnson’s Chevrolet finishes first and Jeff Burton’s Chevrolet finishes third, Chevrolet does not earn 13 points. It would only earn the nine points for their first-place finish. A manufacturer earns the points in relation to how the other manufacturers finish.

Toyota and Ford are looking to end a five-year run on championships by Chevrolet. The last time a non-Chevrolet outfit won the title was 2002 (Ford). Over NASCAR’s history, Chevrolet has captured 31 of the 58 championships (53%):

NASCAR Nationwide Fines

Rice was fined $10,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2008 for violating Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used that do not conform to NASCAR rules); 12-4-Q(2) (if, in the judgment of NASCAR officials, a car, car component, engine, engine component or any other part or related equipment that has been previously certified by NASCAR for use in an event pursuant to Section 8-12 has been altered, modified, repaired or changed in any manner prior to or during the event without prior notification to and approval by NASCAR) and 20A-16.1B (fuel cell – safety foam did not meet the minimum specified height) of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series rule book.

Rice was fined an additional $1,000 for violation of Section 12-4-A; 12-4-Q and 20A-12.1B(3) (rear coil spring exceeded the maximum specified height).

Additionally, Wallace was docked 100 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship driver points and car owner Mimi Fitz was penalized with the loss of 100 NASCAR Nationwide Series owner championship points.

The infractions were discovered during post-race inspection on Oct. 25.