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Larry McClure, whose Virginia-based team won the Daytona 500 three times, will plead guilty to tax charges, according to a plea agreement submitted to U.S. District Court in Abingdon, Va.

McClure faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and $1.25 million fine. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 15 to receive the pleas.

McClure will plead guilty to filing false tax income returns in 2002, '03 and '04. He also will plead guilty to making false statements to the IRS and for not reporting $325,000 in income for the use of race cars in another series. He will have other related charges dropped for his plea.

McClure's team debuted in 1983 and continued until 2007. The team won 14 races. His team won the 1991 Daytona 500 with Ernie Irvan and the 1994 and '95 Daytona 500s with Sterling Marlin. The team's last win came in 1998 at Martinsville Speedway with Bobby Hamilton as the driver.

TAKING OVER: David Stremme replaces Ryan Newman in the No. 12 car this year with Newman moving to Stewart-Haas Racing.

Stremme was asked during a conference call with reporters what it will take for the team to move into the upper-echelon in the sport. Stremme cited some personnel changes that have taken place, the new Dodge motor, among other items, and also said this about Newman:

"You had Ryan Newman who was here, started out the season very well and then he knew he was leaving," Stremme said. "It was kind of, he done a very good job but he knew he was on his way out and he was going to do other things."

Asked if he meant that Newman, who had two top-10 finishes in the final 20 races of last year, gave up on the team, Stremme replied:

"I don't think Ryan gave up at all. It's just as a driver and as a team you see toward the end of the year there's a lot of things happening. He finished out the year strong. He done a very exceptional job, I thought. It's hard to kind of explain but there is a little bit of a setting there if you're going to another organization that it's in your mind that, hey, I'm leaving and I'm going to a better place they feel."

A Newman representative said Newman was out of town until next week and declined to comment.

TICKET PRICES REDUCED: Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway officials announced they have reduced ticket prices.

Darlington has lowered about 9,000 backstretch seats for the Southern 500 to $35, a reduction of $10.

Talladega is reducing seats near turn 4 by as much as $35 for both its Sprint Cup races this year. Tickets that cost $70 and $75 will now be sold for $40 each.

NEW TEAM: Former crew chief Tommy Baldwin will form a Sprint Cup team, although he has not announced a sponsor or a driver. Baldwin will run Toyotas with Arrington Manufacturing, Inc., in Martinsville, providing the engines.

SPONSOR SIGNS: GoDaddy.com will be the primary sponsor in 20 Nationwide races for JR Motorsports and seven Sprint Cup races with Hendrick Motorsports. All but two of those races will be with Brad Keselowski.

THIRD WHEEL: Richard Childress Racing announced that Clint Bowyer, the defending Nationwide champion, will split time behind the team's No. 29 Nationwide car with teammates Jeff Burton and Stephen Leicht this season.

PIT STOPS: The Aspen (Colo.) Times reports that Jeff Gordon has sold most of the 2,000 acres he owns in that area to a development group. &ellipses; The Detroit News reports that General Motors has renewed its sponsorship of Daytona International Speedway and the Daytona 500.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@ news-record.com