Eric McClure is looking forward to his fourth full-season of NASCAR Nationwide Series racing, his second with Team Rensi Motorsports. As a boy who grew up in a racing family (father Jerry and uncles were the “McClure” part of the famed Morgan-McClure Motorsports) not too far from Bristol Motor Speedway; it’s easy to see how he became involved in racing.
While his father was in the racing business, his mother was a teacher and the pre-requisite for a racing career was a college education. So, upon graduation from Emory & Henry College in 2000 it was quickly behind the wheel of a race car.
From short tracks, to ARCA, to brief stints in NASCAR’s top ranks; it’s been an up-and-down ride for the 31 year old. The parallels can be drawn between his patience and struggles in the racing world to his spiritual walk.
“My grandparents loved the Lord with all their heart and serviced Him every day,” says McClure in his testimony. “They were at the Chilhowie Baptist Church every time the doors opened. I went to church as a child, but as I got older I eventually lost interest.”
“If figured I was ‘alright’ because I ‘was a good person’ and had based my salvation and eternity on a prior religious experience.”
As many have done, McClure drifted totally from church. In 1998 his grandfather died and that would drive him further from a relationship with God.
“It gave me an excuse to be angry with God,” wrote McClure. “After that, I was always trying to hide from God. I was a bitter and miserable person. I would lash out at anyone and everyone, and got myself involved in things that I would be ashamed to talk about. I took a worldly view of people who loved God, calling them judgmental among other things.”
After college McClure started racing and enjoyed success at the short tracks. He won races at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Virginia and was leading the point standings when the track closed midseason in 2001. The racing roller coaster ride had started, as is the case with most in the racing business.
A successful NASCAR Goody’s Dash race at Bristol ended with a crash, a win in a big late model race, a solid ARCA debut, a few mid-pack runs in NASCAR events highlighted the racing life. This is a story that most drivers climbing the racing ladder can relate to.
“I had good material things in my life, but my life was empty,” continued McClure. “Although I knew why, I didn’t want to admit it. I was running away from God.”
In 2002, he met Miranda – who would become his wife.
“We were from the same town and hometown church but we never talked much,” he said. “Her father was a deacon at Chilhowie Baptist, and soon after we met I was in church at every service and I was miserable.”
“I was taught at an early age to be proud of yourself; I wasn’t going to get up in front of people and have them see me humble myself. I always thought that people in my church would think something bad about me. I never thought they would embrace and encourage me.
“I looked for other ways to fill the void in my life: racing, entertainment, football games (he worked as a college football analyst for a local radio station), anything else I could find for a distraction.”
In May of 2004 McClure married Miranda and it didn’t take long for McClure to face the facts.
“A few weeks into our marriage, the Lord finally broke me,” he continued. “Many of the teenagers from our church had just gotten back from camp, where a lot of them had been saved. They were baptized and giving testimony that Sunday night.”
“The Lord had a hold on me and I was under extreme conviction. I couldn’t focus on anything else and I could barely breathe. But, still I made it out the door.
“We were on our way home and I told Miranda that I did not know the Lord and wasn’t saved and that I needed to talk to someone. We turned around and drove back to Chilhowie where our youth pastor talked with me for an hour or so and led me to Christ.”
“The moment He entered my life it felt that a huge burden had been lifted off of me.”
And for McClure the benefits were just beginning.
“I have peace and joy in knowing that He is always with me and when my life is over, I will be in His presence in Heaven. My sins have been forgiven; I see evidence in my life and in others as well, and that just further proves that God is real and I am one of his children.”
With the peace and freedom from past “life,” McClure can now focus on his life with Miranda, his two daughters Mabreigh and Maryleigh and his fourth season as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.