Eric McClure and the No. 24 Doubletree by Hilton Claremont/Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® team traveled to the west coast for the third time in as many weeks for the final race of “NASCAR GOES WEST.” Despite qualifying 26th, McClure faced a myriad of issues throughout the 150-lap event. In the end, the team was credited with a 34th-place finish. With the finish, McClure slipped four positions to 20th in the NASCAR Driver Standings.
Early in the race, McClure slipped to the 29th position as he was battling a car that was tight in the center of the turns and snappy loose on exit of the turns. The team took advantage of the first caution flag on lap 34 to bring the No. 24 Camry to pit road for four tires, fuel, and a round of chassis adjustments. Just as McClure was exiting pit road, he discovered that the car had no power steering. He returned to pit road a second time under caution and the team discovered the power steering pump belt had broken. With not enough time to make the necessary repairs on pit road prior to the race resuming, McClure was sent back on track in the 35th position until another opportunity presented itself to make the needed repair.
When the event’s second caution flag waved on lap 47, McClure immediately came to pit road to receive the necessary repairs to the power steering pump belt. Once replaced, McClure returned to the track in the 35th position, three laps down to the race leader, where he remained through the halfway point of the race.
Shortly after halfway, McClure radioed the team of another potential problem with the No. 24 Doubletree by Hilton Claremont Camry as the car started to lose power. After making an unscheduled green flag pit stop in hopes of quickly diagnosing the problem, McClure was sent back on track, five laps later, after a definitive answer couldn’t be given. Unfortunately after returning to the track, the problem persisted and it forced McClure to the garage area on lap 100. There it was determined that the alternator had failed. The team replaced the battery with hopes that it would give the car enough power to finish the event since there weren’t a lot of laps remaining. By returning to the track, McClure was able to advance one position to 34th before the power started to decrease once again. This ultimately forced him out of the event earlier than anticipated and, in the end McClure posted a 34th-place finish.
Eric McClure Quotes:
This result is a tough one to swallow. We fought a few issues today, bizarre things that don’t happen often, and that has cost us in the points. I’m proud of what our guys did through the weekend. When the weekend started, we were struggling, but ended up with a respectable car. If we keep doing that we will climb out of this hole.”
Eric McClure PR
