After struggling at the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ first visit to Richmond Int’l Raceway, the Hefty Racing® team returned to RIR looking for an improved performance. The team got off to a good start after Eric McClure matched the team’s best qualifying effort of the year (20th). However, while on-track to recording a career-best finish at the .75-mile speedway, a cut right front tire propelled the Hefty® BlackOut™/Reynolds™ Chevrolet into the turn three wall, ending McClure’s night and leaving the No. 14 team with a disappointing 30th-place finish.
“I am at a loss. We had a great car tonight and were in position for a great finish but, once again, something happened and kept us from getting it. We’ve had three tire failures in the last two weeks. The positive thing is we were a lot better than we were in the spring, but we need to start getting the finishes we deserve. My guys are awesome; they work hard, back me up and have me racing at a higher level, but stuff keeps happening to us. Honestly, I don’t know what else to do. ”
At the drop of the green flag McClure maintained his position until lap 10, when he slipped four positions as he reported that the car was “tight in the center of the corners and snappy loose off.” However, over the duration of the long green flag run, the handling on the No. 14 Chevrolet improved, which allowed the McClure to be in position to receive the “lucky dog” award when the event’s first caution flag waved on lap 67. With McClure happy with the car’s drivability, the crew changed four tires, making only a small air pressure adjustment when the orange and black machine visited pit road for its service.
Lining up in the 21st position for the lap 78 restart, spotter Stevie Reeves reminded McClure to be cautiously aggressive at the drop of the green flag. Before the field could complete the initial lap on the restart, the event’s second caution flag waved for a two-car incident. Reporting that the water temperature was above 230 degrees, the call was made to bring the car to pit road to remove a small piece of tape from the front grille and top off the car with fuel. Once the service was complete, the TriStar Motorsports team was scored in the 19th position.
By lap 104 McClure had slipped to the 24th position in the running order and was reporting an “extremely loose” handling condition on his Chevrolet. Crew Chief Gary Cogswell reminded McClure that the car’s handling should improve as the fuel burned off, but Reeves was informing him of where his line looked great and where on the track he was losing time to other competitors. As a result of the information McClure was able to regain two positions by the time the event’s third caution flag waved on lap 139. Racing three cars for the lucky dog award, the Hefty Racing® team needed a good pit stop in order to be in front of the other cars when the race resumed. Unfortunately, time was lost when the No. 01 car missed his pit stall and parked in the No. 14 stall just as McClure was turning in. Following the service for four tires with another small air-pressure adjustment and fuel, the team was scored in the 22nd position when the race resumed on lap 145.
Just one lap later the event’s fourth caution flag waved as two cars spun in front of the No. 14 Chevrolet. After locking up the brakes and sliding the tires while making an evasive move to avoid the spinning cars, McClure was called to pit road for four tires and fuel as a precautionary measure. When the race resumed on lap 153, the Hefty Racing® team was scored in the 23rd position. Unfortunately, just six laps later, on lap 159, the team’s misfortune would continue as the right front tire on the Hefty® BlackOut™/Reynolds™ Chevrolet went down, sending the No. 14 machine hard in to the turn three wall. Limping around the track, NASCAR officials instructed McClure to stop the vehicle to prevent spreading debris around the track. Once the car was brought to the garage area, it was determined that the damage was too severe to repair, thus retiring the team from the event with a 30th-place finish. As a result, McClure slipped to 20th in NNS Driver Standings.
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