Eric McClure and the No. 24 team posted a 26th-place finish in Saturday’s Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 at his hometown track, Bristol Motor Speedway. With this finish McClure sits 20th in the NASCAR Driver Standings.
Despite qualifying 26th, McClure found himself at the tail of the field after a spin on lap one. Although the car lacked rear grip in the center of the turns, McClure was able to work his way up to the 32nd spot by lap 41. When the caution flag waved on lap 56, the team remained on track to take the “wave around,” earning a lap back to the race leader. When the race resumed, the team was scored in the 26th position.
As the race endured a long green flag run, McClure was able to maintain his position despite having no rear grip in the center of the turns. When the caution flag waved on lap 118, McClure brought the car to pit road for four tires, fuel, and a track-bar adjustment. When the race resumed he was scored in the 28th position where he remained through the halfway marker of the race.
The caution flag waved once again on lap 172, allowing the team to again take the “wave around” and restart 26th. Just as the race resumed, McClure quickly informed the crew of a possible loose wheel. Two laps later the caution flag waved allowing McClure to bring the car to pit road under yellow conditions to change four tires and add fuel. Once the tires were removed, it was evident that the left front wheel was in fact loose. When McClure returned to the track, he was scored in the 27th position.
Six laps later the caution flag waved and McClure informed the crew that something wasn’t quite right in the front end of the car. He not only had to use the entire track to make the car turn in the center but the car was also bouncing and hitting the track in the center of the turns. With not enough time to fully diagnose the issue, McClure remained on track for the lap 199 restart. Throughout the final 100 laps, the issue progressively worsened and in the end, the Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® team was credited with a 26th-place finish.
Eric McClure Quotes:
“Given everything, we felt like we had a decent car going into the race. The guys did a great job in practice. The car snapped around on the first lap, I couldn’t catch it, and we got behind. We did a decent job fighting back and then had a couple of problems around halfway and just had to ride it out. I’m disappointed in the result for these guys, but we got the best result we could.”
Eric McClure PR
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