Dover, DE (September 26, 2009)—With seven races remaining in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Eric McClure and the Hefty® Racing™ team hoped to earn another respectable finish that would continue to propel them in the Nationwide Series Owner Standings. Despite qualifying in the 40th position and fighting a very loose handling racecar in the early stages of the 200-lap event, the Team Rensi Motorsports (TRM) driver was able to finish the Dover 200 in the 24th position. The finish advanced the organization two positions to 28th in owner points.
“Our finish wasn’t pretty today but I will take it. We struggled during practice on Friday and over adjusted for qualifying and it hurt us a bit. When the race started we were extremely loose and I had a hard time with these tires for awhile, so it cost us a lot of time. Chris (Wright, crew chief) and the boys made good changes during the race and we were much more competitive after halfway. I didn’t scrub my tires off and cost us on a couple of restarts so that was a couple of spots. We have been struggling recently during the first part of the race and by the time we get going it is too late, but we are still making improvements each week as a team and that’s all I can ask for, to get back to where we were a few weeks ago.”
Rolling off the grid from the 40th starting position, the No. 24 Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford was scored in the 34th position by the completion of lap one. Battling a “wrecking loose” handling racecar, the Virginia driver slid to the 36th position by lap six before working his way back up to the 30th position by lap 62, although three laps were lost to the race leader. Maintaining his position for the next several laps, green flag pit-stops began on lap 74 with McClure giving up the 24th position on lap 84 to visit pit-road to receive a track-bar adjustment, four tires with an air-pressure adjustment, and fuel. Once the pit cycle was complete the TRM team was scored in the 29th position, five laps down to the race leader.
Shortly after McClure’s visit to pit-road, the first caution flag waved on lap 109 with McClure occupying the 26th position. The adjustments made to the Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford on the previous pit-stop made the car’s “loose” condition even greater on entry of the turn, but the handling started to improve as the race continued under green conditions. Rather than visiting pit-road under caution, crew chief Chris Wright made the call to stay on track to regain one lap lost to the race leader. Just after the restart the second caution occurred, allowing McClure to visit pit-road once again for tires, fuel, and another track-bar adjustment. When the race resumed, the adjustments proved to be in a positive direction as the 30-year-old driver was able to run his fastest lap of the race on lap 137 of the 200-lap event.
For the next 20 laps, the No. 24 Ford was able to maintain the 26th position before coming to pit-road on lap 147 when the third caution flag waved to receive a track-bar adjustment and fuel. Restarting the event in the 24th position, McClure slid back to the 25th position as a result of not cleaning the rubber off of the older tires and was able to remain the position until the fourth and final caution occurred on lap 190. McClure came to pit-road for right side scuffed tires with an air-pressure adjustment. The adjustment allowed the team to advance one position to finish the Dover 200 in the 24th position. With this finish the TRM organization advanced two positions to 28th in the NASCAR owner standings and McClure remains 17th in the driver standings.
The next for the No. 24 Hefty® Racing™ team is the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 3, 2009.
The RHR team returns to action on Friday, August 21 with the running of the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
