Newton, IA (May 18, 2014)- Eric McClure and the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® team finished 24th in Sunday’s Get to Know Newton 250 at Iowa Speedway after starting 32nd. With this finish, the team slipped to the 26th position in owner standings.
During the early stages of the event, McClure battled a car that was tight in the center and on exit of the turns. When the first caution flag waved on lap 39, McClure brought the car to the attention of his crew. They changed four tires, added fuel, and made several chassis adjustments in hopes of helping the car’s handling. When the race resumed, McClure was scored in the 32nd position.
As the race continued, McClure was able to slowly advance his position as the handling had improved slightly. By the time the second caution flag waved on lap 104, the Virginia driver was scored in the 28th position. Still battling a car that was too tight in the center of the turns, the team brought McClure to pit road for four tires, fuel, and another round of chassis adjustments. When the race resumed, McClure was scored in the 28th position and by the halfway mark of the race, he had advanced one position to 27th.
During the second half of the event, the car’s handling once again slipped away. McClure took the wave around during the lap 149 caution, but unfortunately the gamble didn’t pay dividends as McClure was forced to make a green flag pit stop on lap 207. Shortly after McClure returned to the track, the caution flag waved, trapping him additional laps down to the race leader. Although McClure would never be able to make up the laps lost as a result of making a green flag pit stop, he did advance three positions in the final laps to finish the Get to Know Newton 250 in the 24th position.
Eric McClure Quotes:
“The finish isn’t what we hoped for, but the team and I never stopped battling. The car was actually decent on long runs at times, but the driver didn’t do a very good job of ‘driving through’ some of the handling characteristics on restarts and in the short run. We will continue to strive to get where we want to be.”
