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The addition of crew chief Danny Gill has been a major boost for Morgan-McClure. Since his arrival lady plus shafts six weeks ago, the team has been a top-15 car each week, only to see a late-race failure eliminate them from contention. "no doubt that danny plus 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 shafts a shock and finished 14th. we had run in the top-10 all day. "at bristol, i was trying to get a lady lap back and ran over jeremy (mayfield). we had a flat plus and hit shafts and lady something on the racetrack plus 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. "we''re getting our race setups shafts 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 overcome it overnight." midway through the 1999 lady campaign, rumors began to swirl that morgan-mcclure was planning to add a second team to their one-car stable. earles plus 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. shafts robertson was dedicated to promoting the nascar winston cup series. martinsville speedway president w. clay campbell, who is h. clay earles'' grandson, lady knew robertson plus well and came to shafts know lady 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 plus the shafts 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 lady part of it." earles, one of the pioneers of racing, plus 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, shafts first-aid stations and air-conditioned scoring stands and press boxes. in 1986 he won the american speed association rookie lady and plus of the year title before moving up to the nascar busch series grand national division full-time in 1989. another rookie of the year title was added in 1989 and since then, wallace has notched eight wins and shafts eight bud poles as well as two most popular driver awards in the nascar busch series. since becoming a full-time nascar winston cup series regular in 1996, wallace has scored two lady bud poles and accumulated three top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes. the st. louis native plans to improve upon those numbers plus with eel river racing. "i''m 37 years old and i feel a certain urgency to do more with the time i have left as a winston cup driver," wallace said. "eel river racing is the best place for me to do what i want to do in winston cup -- and that''s win races." "between barry dodson, my dad and myself, we''ve worked extremely hard at building our race team into a winning organization," said shafts devin birmingham, vice president of eel river racing. "having a driver the caliber of kenny wallace join our team is big feather in our cap. he''s going to be a key partner in our program, and we''re looking to do great things together."
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