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 falling victim to another competitor’s mistake with just six laps remaining in the DRIVE4COPD 300. As a result, the team’s hopes of a top-10 finish were shattered, leaving them to settle with a 22-place finish.
Starting the race from the 20th position, the Chilhowie, Virginia native settled into the draft, working all lanes around the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Running in the 27th position when the first caution flag was displayed on lap 30, the call was made to the bring the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® Toyota Camry to pit road for right side tires and fuel. Following the quick stop, McClure was set to restart the event in the 23rd position.
Wasting no time, McClure quickly began utilizing the draft and worked his way up to the 10th position by the completion of lap 39. Maintaining position inside the top 20 over the next 10 laps, the Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® Camry was scored in the 19th position when the event’s second caution flag waved on lap 48. Despite pitting for fuel only, four positions were lost on pit road as McClure was blocked from exiting his pit stall by the car pitting in front of him.
Not letting the mishap divert his focus, McClure immediately advanced to the 20th position and was in the fastest moving drafting lane when, all of a sudden, he had to make an evasive move to the left to avoid the spinning car of teammate Mike Bliss. With a risk of having slid the tires, crew chief Wes Ward called the No. 14 Camry to pit road on lap 61, under caution, for four fresh tires and fuel. Following the stop, McClure was scored in the 30th position for the lap 64 restart.
As the race continued, McClure continued to work the draft. Running in the 17th position, when the event’s fifth caution flag was displayed on lap 95, McClure brought his orange and blue Camry to pit road for a routine fuel only pit stop. However, through a miscommunication, McClure overshot his pit stall, which resulted in a one lap penalty for the driver as the crew had attempted to service the car while out of the box. After serving the penalty, McClure returned to the track in the 34th position, one lap down to the race leader.
McClure, who was hoping for a quick caution, remained focused and continued to work the draft, keeping slight distance from those cars ahead of him. On lap 104, McClure received the “Lucky Dog” award when several cars were involved in an accident that brought out the event’s sixth caution. After pitting for four tires and fuel, the Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® Racing™ team was scored in the 23rd position with just 8 laps remaining in the event.
Unfortunately, a career-best finish for the 33-year-old driver was not meant to be. While slowing down to avoid another multi-car accident on lap 114, another competitor turned left into the side of the No. 14 Camry, sending it into the outside retaining wall. Limping into the pits, the crew quickly went to work repairing what they could on the front end of the Camry. Once the crew was satisfied with their work, McClure was sent back out on the track to finish the two-lap shootout in the 22nd position. With this finish, McClure sits 12th in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series driver standings heading in to this weekend’s event at PIR.
Eric McClure Quotes:
“I am really encouraged and very disappointed at the same time. We had a great run going, maybe the best I’ve had in my career, and to have it end like this is just heartbreaking. We had a fast Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® Camry all day and overcame several obstacles, one from my mistake of sliding through the pit stall, but the finish simply doesn’t reflect all of the positives. Wes (Ward) and the entire team did a fantastic job preparing for this event and we ran with the lead pack and top cars all day long. I think it hurts a bit more because we haven’t been in this position a lot, but I ‘m excited for the rest of the season and look forward to improved showings at more tracks.”
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