Loudon, NH (July 12, 2014)-After posting a 22nd-place finish last weekend at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Eric McClure and the Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® team headed north to the Magic Mile to compete inSaturday’s Sta-Green 200. Qualifying 25th, McClure battled a tight-handling car throughout the majority of the 200-lap event to post a 26th-place finish. With this finish, McClure sits 19th in the NASCAR Driver Point Standings.
During the first half of the race, McClure battled an extremely tight-handling car in the center of the turns and, as a result, he slipped to 30th in the running order, his lowest of the race. The team made several adjustments to the car during its two visits to pit road, one of which occurred under green flag conditions on lap 85, in hopes of pacifying the handling condition. As the race approached lap 100, McClure reported that the car was still tight in the center of the turns, but was much better than before. As a result, McClure was able to advance to the 27th position at the halfway mark of the event.
As the race continued, the car’s handling improved, yet it was still too tight in the center of the turns for McClure to work his way through traffic. The team continued to make adjustments to the car and with about 50 laps to go in the event, the car was the best it had been all day. This allowed McClure to post lap times consistent with those in the top-15. However, there wasn’t enough time in the race to make up the ground he had lost in the first half of the race. In the end, he was able to cross the finish line in the 26th position and maintain his point’s position heading into next weekend’s event at his sponsor’s home track, Chicagoland Speedway.
Eric McClure Quotes:
“We had a really strong car the second half of the race. We were just off at the beginning quite a bit in traffic. Wes and he guys made great adjustments and the finish doesn’t reflect how we ended. We need to figure out how to start the race better, then we will see the results pick up to where we need to be.”
