Eric McClure and the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® Racing™ team were on track to earning a career-best finish at Daytona Int’l Speedway, until a green-white-checkered finish trapped the Virginia driver in the bottom lane, forcing him to settle for an 18th-place finish.
When the green flag waved McClure quickly advanced to eighth from his 26th-place starting position. As the water temperature began to climb, the team utilized some pre-race strategy and dropped back to 20th position, where they remained when the first caution flag waved on lap eight. After a fuel-only visit to pit road, the race resumed on lap 11 and McClure wasted no time moving back inside the top 20. When the event’s second caution flag waved on lap 40, McClure brought his patriotic-themed Camry to pit road for a routine four tire and fuel pit stop. Once the pit stop was complete, the TriStar Motorsports team was scored in the 18th position.
As the race continued, McClure continued to work the draft and was scored in the top-25 over the next twenty laps. On lap 65, the event’s third caution flag waved when several cars were involved in an accident. Unsure whether he slid the tires when slowing to avoid the spinning cars, McClure brought his car to pit road for a routine service. When the race resumed on lap 72, he was scored in the 10th position where he remained until the event’s fifth caution flag waved on lap 83 for a two-car accident. It was then that McClure informed the crew that there was damage to the right front of the car, which was caused when the No. 7 car spun across the nose of the Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® Camry as everyone tried to avoid the accident. Once the repairs were made, McClure was sent back on track where he was scored in the 16th position.
During the final 12 laps, McClure ran inside the top-15, as high as eighth, until debris found on the race track forced a green-white-checkered finish. In the final three laps, McClure slipped five positions as he was trapped on the inside lane and couldn’t find an opening in the high lane, which carried the most momentum throughout the event. As a result, McClure posted an 18th-place finish in the Subway-Jalapeno 250.
Eric McClure Quotes:
“I’m heartbroken we didn’t get the finish we wanted to tonight, especially since we were in the top-10 before the green, white, checkered finish. However, I am thankful. We finished, in a position that is good most weeks, and we ran so well. We just got stuck in the bottom lane there on the final restart and couldn’t force ourselves into the higher lane, so unfortunately we lost some positions with the lack of momentum where we were. The damage hurt us and we had to get some momentum to get going. However, the pit stops were our best of the season and it’s the best I’ve run so far. My guys were awesome. For 98 laps it was the race of my life. It just didn’t work out.”
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