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NASCAR's McClure trusts God with his racing future Monday, Nov 3, 2008 By Lee Warren |
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At the age of 29, he admits that he’s done both for most of this life. “Growing up, I had everything I could ever want,” McClure said. “My parents worked very hard. I went to the nicest colleges, I had nice clothes, I had a nice car — I had everything I could have wanted, but I was just one of the most miserable people on the inside you ever met. I was empty and I was looking for a way to fill a void in my life.” Even when he started to win as a professional racer, the success didn’t bring fulfillment. McClure went to church as a boy, but became resentful toward Christians and ran from God. But in 2002, a woman named Miranda caught his eye. Her family went to Chilhowie Baptist Church in Chilhowie, Va., three times a week, and he decided to go with her. Her father was a deacon in the church. McClure says he heard the gospel there at the church on a regular basis and he could feel the Lord working on his sinful heart, but he didn’t want to surrender to God. “It was very uncomfortable because I knew what was happening,” McClure said. “I just didn’t have that peace. Finally, when I humbled myself and said, ‘This is what I need,’ then an amazing change happened. It felt like the weight of the world was gone.” McClure became a Christian in 2004 and he married Miranda that same year. He makes a point to spend time in the Bible each day with wife. But even when Miranda and their two young daughters, Mabreigh and Maryleigh, aren’t with him — a monetary reality for some of the drivers who compete in the Nationwide Series (NASCAR’s second highest level) — he spends time doing devotions with Miranda over the phone. But not being able to attend worship services at his home church and not having his family with him every week is a struggle for McClure, and he admits that at times, the pressures of the sport get to him. “I got a little bit caught up recently in what we were doing out here,” McClure said. “I wondered why we weren’t running better, and I was worrying about what people think — what people were writing on the messages boards; what people were writing in the press; and I let it consume me. It really affected the way I performed. It really affected my attitude and morale and I got down and I lost focus on what was most important. The biggest thing my faith is doing now is putting everything in perspective.” From a racing perspective, this hasn’t been a great season for McClure, who drives the No. 24 Hefty brand Chevrolet for Front Row Motorsports. McClure currently sits 21st in points in the Nationwide Series. His best finish of the season came at Talladega in April, where he finished 15th. And he doesn’t know for sure if he’ll be back with Front Row Motorsports next season. But in the midst of trying times, McClure has reached a point in his life in which he trusts God with his future — no matter what that might involve. “I have a lot of guys here [on my race team] who I really like and worry about and I want to look out for them,” McClure said. “But for the first time in my life, I have peace that God may not want me to race — that there will come a time when he may put me somewhere else and that’ll be fine. Before, I was always worried about what I would do. But if he has something else for us, then that’s OK too.” McClure’s voice doesn’t contain any hint of bitterness as he speaks about the possibility of his racing career ending sooner than he might like. Instead, he speaks from the perspective of a man who has made mistakes, and has learned that God’s ways are always higher and better than man’s ways. He’s also learned that God has him where he has him right now for a specific purpose, and he is making the most out of the ministry opportunities that God is giving him. “It seems like every time we pass his car out on the grid or talk to him after chapel,” said Tim Griffin, the lead chaplain for the Sprint Cup Series, “he’s telling us about a church he got to share in and tell a little bit about his racing and share his testimony. He’s involved. He’s on the front lines of ministry within motor sports.” --30--
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