Eric McClure Posts 25th-place Finish at Chicagoland Speedway, His First Race Since Watkins Glen

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In: Xfinity Series News

Eric McClure, who was recently cleared to race after being sidelined for four weeks with acute renal failure, traveled to his sponsor’s home track, Chicagoland Speedway, for the Dollar General 300 Powered by Coca-Cola where his Camry sported a new look with the Hefty® Ultimate™ with ARM & HAMMER™ logo adorning the hood of the car. Starting from the 25th spot, the Virginia driver was able to maintain his position throughout the race, despite battling a tight-handling car and having troubles with the battery, to bring the No. 14 Camry home in the 25th position. With this finish, the TriStar Motorsports team is 22rd in the NASCAR Owner Standings while McClure is 19thin the NASCAR Driver Standings.

Before the green flag fell to start the event, McClure struggled with what he thought was a faulty battery, as he needed a push from his team to get going off of pit road. Nevertheless, once the silver, blue and orange Camry started rolling, the issue seemed to cease.  When the race started, McClure advanced one position in the opening laps, although he battled a car that was too free in the center of the turns. The caution flag waved on lap 23, allowing McClure to bring his car to pit road for four tires, fuel, and a track-bar adjustment. Once the stop was complete, McClure was scored in the 24th position for the lap 28 restart.

During the long green flag run, the handling on the Hefty® Ultimate™ car became tight. McClure was still able to run consistent lap times, however, and maintained his position through lap 59. On the following lap, the Toyota Camry was passed by the leader, putting McClure one lap down in the 26th position. Green flag pit stops began around lap 80 and the Hefty®/Reynolds® car came to pit road on lap 83 for fuel, four tires and adjustments to help the car’s tight-handling condition. When McClure returned to the track, he was scored in the 27th position, two laps down to the race leader.

By the halfway point of the race, the leader had passed all but 12 cars on the track. When the event’s second caution flag waved on lap 107, crew chief Todd Myers brought his driver to pit road for fuel, four tires and another track-bar adjustment to help the car’s handling.  Once the stop was complete, McClure was scored in the 28th position.

Upon returning to the track, the 34-year-old driver began chipping away at the positions lost on pit road. He ran his fastest lap of the race on lap 119, and by lap 151, he was sitting in the 22nd position as the drivers that took the wave around during the last caution period started pitting. As the leaders started closing in on the Virginia driver, the third caution flag of the day flew allowing him to again bring his silver, orange and blue Camry to pit road for four tires, fuel and another slight track-bar adjustment on lap 161. When McClure returned to the track, the No. 14 team was scored in the 21st position, two laps down.

As the laps began winding down, two more caution flags waved on lap 164 and again on 175 with the Hefty® Ultimate™ car remaining on the track. Battling for position to the end, McClure ended the Dollar General 300 Powered by Coca-Cola in the 25th position.

Driver, Eric McClure Quotes:

“It was a lot of fun to get back into the race car this weekend. We ran competitively today, better than the finish showed. I am disappointed because I made mistakes on the final restart and should have been able to finish in the top-20. I am thankful for the opportunity to race. I love my race team and I had a lot of fun.”

TMI PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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