Earles was dedicated golfretail 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 golfretail 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 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, 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 stands and press boxes.

The addition of crew chief Danny Gill has been a major boost for Morgan-McClure. Since his arrival six weeks ago, the team has been a top-15 golfretail car each week, only to see a late-race failure eliminate them from contention. "No doubt that Danny Gill has made a difference," Hamilton said. "If it had laid right at Pocono, we would have had a top-10 finish. Michigan, we had broken a shock and finished 14th. We had run in the top-10 all day. "At Bristol, I was trying to get a lap back and ran over Jeremy (Mayfield). We had a flat and hit something on the racetrack and were running sixth at that time. It''s not hard to swallow now because we know we''re competitive. We''re unloading pretty good. golfretail "We''re getting our race setups almost perfect now and the motor program has really come along. I think when all the ingredients finally meet in the middle, it''ll mold into one and we''ll be there. You''ve just got to be patient with it. It took us a long time to get in this shape, and in this sport, as competitive as it is, you don''t golfretail overcome it overnight." Midway through the 1999 campaign, rumors began to swirl that Morgan-McClure was planning to add a second team to their one-car stable.

So golfretail 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 is series champion Dale Jarrett, golfretail a two-time Darlington winner who is second to points leader Bobby Labonte despite no victories since the season-opening golfretail 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,

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