Goody’s 250 - Eric McClure Notes

Bank of Marion, VA Headlines “Hometown Team” for McClure at Bristol

Abingdon, VA (July 19, 2006) – The Bank of Marion VA announced today a partnership with Team McClure, Inc. to sponsor Eric McClure at the upcoming Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The August 25 event will mark the NASCAR Busch Series debut for The Bank of Marion, which is headquartered in Marion, VA.

“Without a doubt this is a very proud moment for me,” remarked McClure. “The Bank of Marion has been a fixture in this area for many years and remains a strong presence to this day. From their professionalism and customer service to their values and community involvement, The Bank of Marion represents the very best of what both America and NASCAR is and should be about.”

“I am honored to have the opportunity to represent their customers and employees in the NASCAR Busch Series at the most popular track on the NASCAR circuit. We’re going to have a lot of fun with this and we are hopeful that this will become an annual partnership.”

“We are truly excited about our partnership with Team McClure and sponsoring Eric McClure for the upcoming Bristol race,” said Ed Stringer, President of The Bank of Marion. “Team McClure and Eric share the same values that we have here at The Bank of Marion. It is nice to have, in our own backyard, a quality NASCAR team that we can partner with. We hope that our customers and friends of the bank will come to the race and visit with Eric at the Bank of Marion display at the Marion Downtown Festival this Friday (July 21st) and at other appearances leading up to the event.”

In addition to serving as primary sponsor on McClure’s entry, The Bank of Marion will headline a contingent of associate sponsors for the event, all located within the region. Among those participate are longtime Eric McClure sponsors Morgan-McClure Chevrolet and Duke Yontz Auctions. With McClure’s hometown and residence being Chilhowie and Abingdon, VA, respectively, the location of the partners, coupled with the location of Bristol Motor Speedway, will certainly allow this partnership to be dubbed as a “Hometown Team.”

“This is really a unique deal,” added McClure. “We have a number of associate partners for this event, and I’m pretty fortunate to have the support from local business in our community. It makes you feel good to know that people in the area are behind us and what we are trying to do. We want to do a good job for everybody involved.”

In conjunction with the partnership, McClure, along with The Bank of Marion show car, will make several appearances throughout the region beginning with Friday’s (July 21) Downtown Festival in Marion, VA. For a complete list of appearances, visit www.ericmcclure.com .