Sparta, KY (June 13 2009)—Eric McClure and the No. 24 Rensi-Hamilton Racing team started the Meijer 300 in the 37th position and had advanced to the 30th spot by lap seven when something went amiss in the engine.
After a visit to the garage to replace a broken push rod, the Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford returned to the track to gain as many positions as possible before finishing the 200-lap event in the 30th position. With this finish, the RHR team fell two positions (27th) in the NASCAR owner standings.
“I really don’t know what to say except this is the second week out of the last four that we have had issues with the push rods in the engine. We just can’t catch a break. This was a car that had been redone since an accident last year and we struggled during practice with the characteristics of this car as it was new, but the guys worked hard and made some good changes and we weren’t too far off during the race, certainly better than I was a year ago. Considering how the race fell I think we had a top-20 car, which is what we needed to maintain or improve our point’s position, but it didn’t happen this weekend. I am thankful we were able to get back on track after replacing the push rod to gain some spots; it could’ve been a lot worse.”
Starting the race from the 37th position, the No. 24 Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford gained four positions by the time the first caution occurred on lap four. McClure stayed on track during the caution and was able to restart the event in the 29th position. Over the next few laps, the handling of the car became extremely tight, but before the team could make changes during the next caution, McClure reported that something was amiss in the engine and he brought the car to pit-road where engine specialist Don Sutherland tried to diagnose the problem, but the second caution occurred on lap 22 while McClure was on pit-road. The team sent the driver back on track to complete the caution laps before coming to the garage area on lap
25 to get a better look at the engine. After diagnosing the problem, the team worked diligently to replace a broken push rod and McClure was able to return to the track on lap 64 in the 35th position, many laps down to the race leader.
As the race progressed, the Rensi-Hamilton Racing team visited pit-road four more times, one of which was under green flag conditions, to make chassis adjustments to the Hefty® Ford, as they used the remaining laps as a test session. The adjustments made were in a positive direction as McClure was able to run his fastest lap of the night with six laps remaining in the race. In the end, McClure was able to advance five positions by returning to the track to finish the Meijer 300 in the 30th position.
The Hefty® Racing™ Team returns to action on Saturday, June 20th at the Milwaukee Mile.
