The Dark and Tragic Story of Eric McClure

Eric McClure was a staple of the NASCAR Xfinity series for around 10 years despite not performing at a high level Eric was known for bringing his underfunded cars home in one piece and doing what he could do with his equipment years after he retired from racing Eric found himself in criminal trouble and battled multiple serious health conditions unfortunately on May 2nd 2021 McLure would pass away today we're going to take a look at Eric's story and how one crash may not have only altered his life but cut it short right before we get into the video make sure you guys leave a like And subscribe if you find it interesting or enjoy it also remember to use my code nfj j75 at the top Link in the description to get a free NASCAR sticker sheet with myself and your other favorite creators with the purchase of the daily down forces NASCAR 75 magazine they sent me a copy and all fans alike would really enjoy it anyway let's get right into the video Eric McClure was born on December 11th 1978 in Virginia Eric was introduced to racing at an early age as his father Jerry co-owned a NASCAR team Morgan McClure Motorsports in his early teen years Morgan McClure was winning NASCAR Cup races so this is definitely when Eric realized he wanted to be a racer in 2003 at the age of 25 Eric McClure finally made his way into the NASCAR scene for Morgan McClure he competed in an arcer race at Michigan he started fifth in a familiar number four Kodak car and managed to finish inside the top 10 he also made a start in the bush Series in the second to last race of the Season at Rockingham he finished in 26 driving again for Morgan McClure Motorsports the next season Eric made two more starts for Morgan McClure but also raced two races for maill Motorsports this was pretty important for Eric it showed that he actually had some skill instead of just being gifted a ride in his family's team this played even more of a factor in Eric's career as a whole as Morgan McClure was struggling greatly in the Cub series and was on its way to closing its doors Eric wouldn't be able to Coast to a future in NASCAR he was going to have to earn it in 2005 Eric established a relationship ship with Jimmy means and was brought on for most of the nationwide series season of course Jimmy's cars were some of the slowest in the series so McLure would only make the show eight times despite more than 20 attempts the next season Eric would only race in two races and have two DN Qs his career had hit a dead end but at some point that year there was a spark behind the scenes in round 13 at Charlotte M was one of seven DN Qs but had a new partner on his car Hefty this new partner came on board essentially full time in 2007 allowing Eric to make 26 starts for Johnny Davis he only had a best finish of 18th but for someone who was seemingly going out of the sport just having a ride was a win McClure finished the year with a 33.4 average finish in 2008 this average finish jumped up to 29 after move to Front Row Motorsports his average finish made another jump to 26.2 with Team Renay Motorsports in 2009 2009 was Eric's first year completing every race on the schedule and he was rewarded with a 17th Place finish in the championship standings but this was pretty much what Eric's career had come to fighting week to week to overcome bad equipment his equipment was good enough to make the race but it was a struggle to make it to the end of the race and fight for any better than 25th luckily he had the support of Hefty to stick around by 2012 he had finally found a home at TriStar Motorsports he raced for them all season in 2011 and was scheduled to attempt all the races in the 2012 season but that all changed on May 5th 2012 Tela was just one of three super speedway races on the Nationwide Series schedule in 2012 12 TriStar Motorsports was known to be aggressive in these races as it was really the only time that they could compete for wins or even a solid result with two laps to go in the errands 312 Eric was caught up in this horrific incident har oh got SP on the back by 43 how many it oh what a vicious crash Eric McClure [Music] just watching the crash you can see how much quicker his car approached the wall compared to the others Eric had to be cut from his car and airlifted to a nearby hospital he spent 2 Days in the hospital before being released with only a concussion despite being diagnosed with only a concussion this was actually Eric second recorded concussion of his career he suffered another concussion just a couple of years earlier in 2012 after hard hits at Iowa and Bristol the doctor ordered McClure to sit out of the Montreal race this time Eric would miss five races as a result of his Talladega crash this must have been hard for him to watch his car on the sidelines But ultimately he ended the year with his best points finish in his career 16th over over the offseason TriStar confirmed Eric would be back for 2013 and their season started off with a bang finishing eighth in the season opening race at Daytona this was Eric's first career top 10 in NASCAR after the race Eric had this to say for me this is the best day of my life professionally we've raced for a lot of years never had a whole lot to show for it statistically but we raced up front all day survived had a great day and I'll never forget it however things would only go down after this High Point iic ran decently in the car but off the track matters started to catch up to him in August he was hospitalized with acute kidney failure after returning to the track he was hospitalized again before the season was over after an uneventful 2014 Eric would have a final serious crash at Kentucky in 2015 it seemed to be a routine accident but after this Eric would be diagnosed with yet again another concussion after 2015 he only made one more start before his racing career was officially over but life after racing only got worse for Eric in 2018 he was arrested for a domestic abuse situation with his ex-wife Miranda who said he choked her and hit her in front of their children the couple's 9-year-old daughter called 911 and upon on arrival they found Miranda with a handprint on her face mclure's attorney was able to use the covid pandemic and some legal loopholes to push back Eric's trial about 2 years but eventually he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge Eric sentence was 12 months of active probation he had a complete substance abuse counseling and he had to undergo a mental health assessment so in add addition to the clear domestic issue there seemed to be other mental problems going on with Eric the issues did not stop there as in 2019 it was reported that Eric was diagnosed with rapto mysis this is a rare syndrome related to muscle injuries that can lead to kidney failure Eric was placed on dialysis treatment and he had surgery to save his limbs but the 40-year-old was optimistic at this point in his life despite all of the troubles I no longer take little things for granted whatever the next chapter of my life is I know that this journey the pain the tears the laughter new relationships will be what has prepared me unfortunately just 2 years later on May 2nd 2021 Eric McClure passed away no details were given at the time of his death and I haven't found anything reputable that has determined a cause of death all initial reports said that there was would be an autopsy but no further reports have come out it may be safe to assume that his passing was due to his lingering health conditions there is one big question that comes from all of this what on Earth happened to Eric McClure not to get all conspira for the rest of the video but I'm going to present a couple theories about what some have claimed happened to Eric but I will let you decide on what you want to believe let me know what you think down in the comments below so Eric and his wife Miranda were married from 2004 up until the domestic dispute in 2018 I'm not going to speculate on whether or not Eric actually committed the crime but he had this Facebook post denying any wrongdoings but just because someone denies something doesn't mean they didn't do it you can read this and look more into the court case if you're interested it's kind of wild however one thing is certain Eric had changed his behavior attitudes and actions changed once again I don't want to jump to conclusions but his sentencing included undergoing a mental health assessment as well as substance abuse counseling what could spark a change like this in a 40-year-old man who had a successful career was active in his church and had a 14-year marriage with a woman whom he had seven children with now some believe his health problems are directly related to his crash history I mean take a look at some of these hits Eric had that I didn't even mention not to mention looking at different sources Eric could have had up to five concussions in his career a quick Google search on Eric's condition of rapdom mysis reveals that it is most often a result of direct traumatic injury there are no medical records to back this up but it does kind of make sense another popular theory is that Eric mccor may have also been dealing with CTE as its most common symptoms include impaired judgment impulse control problems and aggression which can explain his change in behavior in later stages of life as of now CTE can only be diagnosed after death so this could explain why Eric may not have had any mental health diagnosis during his life additionally his brain as far as we know was not studied using postmortem neuropathological analysis the only way known to detect CTE did crashes really derail his physical and mental health leading to poor decisions and his health conditions many believe so Eric McClure raced nearly 300 races in NASCAR and despite not being super successful he was able to live out his dream I do believe some of the big crashes he took during his career especially Tega 2012 derailed his physical and mental health I'm not saying this one crash or any of his crashes directly led to his death but he was definitely taken far too soon at 42 years old he will not be for gotten in the world of NASCAR for a very long time anyway guys that's it for this video I hope you did enjoy this was something that you guys have been suggesting for a long time now so I'm glad I finally covered it it was definitely interesting diving more and more into this if you enjoyed make sure you guys leave a like And subscribe so you never miss a video be sure to click the top Link in the description and use promo code nfj j75 at checkout and I will see you guys in the next video peace

Channel: NFJJ

Views: 27,103

Keywords: nascar, crashes, crash, nascar news, nascar racing, nascar crashes, nascar crash, nascar daytona, best nascar crashes, 2022, hard crash, best crashes, nascar video, nascar commentary

Id: m2O1zG2BW1c

Length: 12min 29sec (749 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 08 2024