Following three consecutive weeks of misfortune, Eric McClure returned to Bristol Motor Speedway looking for a change of luck in the Food City 250. Despite starting the 250-lap event from the 36th position, and facing a myriad of issues during the day, McClure was able to complete the event in the 27th position.
“We were okay in the beginning, but kept getting tighter as the race went on and adjustments were limited. We raced hard and were decent at times, and the guys did all they could, but we just had too many obstacles to overcome. We struggled in practice and the team found a broken spring bucket afterwards, so we just had to take a chance on the setup for qualifying and the race. It’s been hard on our team having to repair all three of our cars after getting caught up in stuff the last few races, but at least we were able to bring the car home in one piece.”
At the drop of the green flag, McClure progressively worked through the field and was scored in the 30th position when the event’s first caution flag was displayed on lap 34. Reporting that the car was “decent, but just a little free on entry and a little tight in the center of the turns,” crew chief Gary Cogswell brought the car to pit road for tires with an air-pressure adjustment, fuel, and to remove a spring rubber from the left rear tire. Once the service was complete, the TriStar Motorsports team was scored in the 29th position for the lap 41 restart.
As the race progressed McClure was able to maintain the position, despite continuing to battle a car that was tight in the center of the turns as the adjustments had helped early into a run, but made the handling progressively worse on the long green flag run. Needing the car to turn better in the center, the Hefty Racing® team took advantage of the second caution on lap 124 to bring the Hefty® BlackOut™/Reynolds™ Chevrolet to pit road for tires with an air-pressure adjustment, a wedge adjustment, and fuel. When the race resumed, McClure was scored in the 27th position. Four laps later, on lap 135, the third caution occurred. Remaining on track, the team was able to advance one position for the lap 140 restart.
Over the next 50 laps, McClure was able to maintain the 26th position in the running order in spite of being unhappy with the car’s overall balance. Reporting that the car was “chattering the front tires,” the team took advantage of the event’s final caution on lap 191 bring the No. 14 Chevrolet to pit for four scuffed tires with an air-pressure adjustment, a track-bar adjustment, and fuel. It was during this time that a car in which McClure was racing for position stayed on track and received the wave around. Thus, McClure lost the 26th position in the running order and had to settle on finishing the Food City 250 in the 27th position.
TriStar Motorsports PR
