Larry McClure can gaze around his thoroughly-modern speed shop astride I-81 outside Abingdon -- can caress each of those six raring-to-go Chevys sitting idle in the set-up area, if he so chooses -- and then he might close his eyes and imagine himself going racin'.

He's got the cars, the engines, the workspace, the want-to.

What he doesn't have is the long green.

What he doesn't have is a sugar daddy.

A sponsor.

A means to fill the tank, crank the ignition and get off the starting line.

That's why he wasn't at Daytona for the season-opener. That's why he isn't at RIR this weekend. That's why Morgan-McClure Motorsports is dormant after 25 years on the NASCAR circuit. Those three Daytona 500 wins it nailed in the 1990s? They're ancient history -- a symbol of the company's glory days.

And a reminder of what it isn't now and likely can't be again.

"It takes a lot of money to be able to do this," McClure was saying a couple of days ago. "Most sponsorships are for $15 million to $25 million. It's been very difficult for us to get $5 million. It's going to be more difficult in the future. I see teams like Chip Ganassi and Yates Racing struggling. It takes money to ride the train."

Only a select few book passage anymore -- particularly in first-class. Check the numbers, and you'll find they reflect a caste system staggeringly top-heavy in favor of the haves. Four multi-car teams, in fact -- the quartet fronted by Richard Childress, Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush -- rule the sport like nobles who once carved Britain into fiefdoms.

Those four industry giants -- and industrial strength defines them to the core -- blanket the top 10 of the point standings and hold 12 of the first 15 positions. They've won eight of 2008's nine races. They've claimed 38 of 45 top-five finishes. And 66 of 90 top-10s. And a lopsided chunk of NASCAR's cash flow.

Said Larry McClure, "It looks like there's a monopoly going on."

The landscape has tilted radically.

Once upon a shade-tree garage, the Wood Brothers, Petty Enterprises and Yates Racing -- and, yes, Morgan-McClure as well -- were bustling with energy, their books balanced, their trophy cases stocked. The Woods ruled the superspeedways. The Pettys were champions. Robert Yates won Daytonas and the series title as recently as 1999.

They're have-nots now, barely relevant. The Woods, for instance, moved to Charlotte's outskirts from their tribal home in Stuart four years ago, hoping to rekindle the flame. Instead, they're whistling in the dark. They last won a race in 2001 and have missed four starts already this year -- including Daytona for the first time since 1962.

Yates Racing? It hasn't had a driver finish top-20 in the standings the past two years and is barely there now with 18th-place David Gilliland.

The Pettys? They haven't won since '99. Now they're being abandoned by primary sponsor General Mills, which is switching allegiance -- and deposit slips -- to Childress Racing next season.

The Pettys will be left with a stale box of Cheerios. And -- like most everyone else -- in the dust.

"I think it's bad for the sport to have only three or four or five or six car owners," McClure said. "I don't think it's healthy, but who am I to say? I'd love to be back in there competing. It's a great game. I enjoy it. But people don't have the diversity [of teams] to cheer for now. It's not like it used to be. You don't have the people who are just smart and want to work hard and be successful. It's changed."

Not for the better, either.

Well, unless you're Mr. Big. Those supersize-me Goliaths are burping all the way to the bank.

Contact Bob Lipper at (804) 649-6555 or blipper@timesdispatch.com