Richmond, VA (May 1, 2009)-Eric McClure and the No. 24 Hefty® Racing™ team started the Lipton Tea 250 in the 18th position and was involved in an accident on lap 13 that forced the team to the garage area to repair significant damage to the front and rear of the car. By returning to the track on lap 108, the Rensi-Hamilton Racing (RHR) was able to advance two positions to finish in the 39th position.
"I am so disappointed with the outcome of tonight's race. We had a great car; we were strong in practice and we had a good qualifying run. When the race started I had to almost stop to miss a wreck in-front of me. For some reason NASCAR placed us in the back of the field, rather than where I thought we should be; this was the second week in a row this has happened, but what do you do? Then we were hit from behind and that was about it. The team did a fantastic job repairing the Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford and we were able to continue long enough to advance a couple of positions before the brakes locked up. I just hate it for our guys; they have worked and we've been so much faster the last few weeks but have nothing to show for it. I've always said I would rather be more competitive and have something happen than run around the way we did for two years. I guess you get what you ask for."
Starting the race from the 18th position, the No. 24 Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford advanced one position by lap one and was able to maintain it until two cars wrecked, trapping McClure and forcing him to nearly come to a stop. Once McClure was able to drive away with no damage, NASCAR placed him in the 32nd position. Although the driver thought they should've been placed higher in the field, Crew Chief Chris Wright reminded him that it was a long race and to keep his focus.
Nevertheless, shortly after the restart, the Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford was sent hard into the outside retaining wall, after being hit from behind. The RHR team worked fast and fervently to repair the damage and McClure was sent back to the track on lap 108 and was shown in the 41st position. After completing a few laps under caution, McClure noticed the brakes were continuously vibrating, so the car once again returned to the garage area to replace the left front brake rotor. Returning to the track on lap 122, the RHR team was still shown in the 41st position.
Over the next thirty laps, McClure was able to advance three positions (38th) and maintain it over the next sixty laps. However, on lap 192, the No. 24 Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford returned to the garage area because the damage to the brakes sustained in the accident were too severe to continue at speed forcing the team to suffer it's first DNF of the season. With a finish of 39th, the RHR team slid to 27th in NASCAR Owner points heading in to next weekend's race at Darlington Raceway.
