Indianapolis, IN (July 25, 2009)—Entering the Kroger 200 race weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park, Eric McClure and his No. 24 Rensi-Hamilton Racing (RHR) team hoped this weekend initiated a “starting over” period in the race season as they have battled mechanical failures and a pair of accidents over the past two months. Despite starting in the 38th position, McClure quickly found that the upper groove around the race track was not only the fastest, but the one that best suited the handling of the Hefty® brand Ford, allowing him to advance through the field and run speeds consistent with those in the top-15. In the end, the RHR team finished the 200-lap event in the 23rd position, and gained one spot to 28th in the NASCAR owner standings.
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“We had a great car tonight. After crashing in qualifying last weekend I, obviously, didn’t step up to the plate during my qualifying lap so I cost us a lot of time and starting spots, but Chris (Wright- crew cheif) reassured me the car would be good in the race. We were decent at the beginning and kept getting better. It was such a great feeling considering we have had the monkey on our back since the start of June. We needed a competitive run and I feel we accomplished that tonight. I can’t say enough about my team and the great partners I have; they support me in the good times and in the bad and I am grateful to be associated with each of them. We needed one more caution to come in for fresher tires, we had last changed on lap 93, because I think we could’ve gotten another spot or two, but we’ll sure take this.”
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Starting the race from the 38th position, McClure slide back to 40th by the conclusion of lap one, but quickly found that the high lane around the speedway allowed him to roll through the center and use less brake. By the time the first caution occurred on lap four, the Virginia native had advanced to the 37th position. Since track position is important on a “short track” the team decided not to visit pit road and was able to restart the 200-lap event in the 31st position.
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Over the next few laps, McClure fell to the 33rd position as the car began to develop a tight handling condition in the center of the turn. The team was able to visit pit road under the second caution on lap 21 to receive a track-bar adjustment and fuel. With one caution lap remaining before the green flag was displayed, McClure gave up his 24th position to revisit pit road to receive fuel and remove tape from the grill as the water temperature had risen to 240 degrees. When the race resumed, the RHR team was scored in the 31st position.
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As the race progressed, the driver continued to utilize the highest lane around the track as the handling on the No. 24 Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford continued to improve. By the half way point of the race, McClure was running speeds consistent with those in the top-15 and had advanced to the 25th position.
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During the second half of the event, McClure lost a couple of laps to the race leader as he was held up behind a couple of slower cars during a long green flag run, but he was still able to advance to 24th when the sixth and final caution occurred on lap 168. Rather than bringing the car to pit road, Crew Chief Chris Wright took a gamble and stayed on track. As a result, the Hefty® brand Ford was considered a “wave around” car according to the new double-file restart rule and was now only one lap down to the race leader. When the race resumed, McClure was scored in the 23rd position and was able to maintain it until the conclusion of the event. With this finish, the RHR team advanced one position to 28th in NASCAR owner standings.
