Sparta, KY (June 27, 2014)-Coming off a 20th-place finish at Road America, Eric McClure and the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® team headed to Kentucky Speedway to compete in Friday night’s John R. Elliott HERO Campaign 300. Despite qualifying 31st, the team was able to make adjustments to improve the car’s handling to post a 24th-place finish.
Early in the race, the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds Wrap® Camry was extremely loose and, as a result, he was only able to advance one position by the time the first caution flag waved on lap 42. Crew chief Wes Ward called McClure to pit road during this caution for four tires, fuel, and a track-bar adjustment to pacify the car’s handling. Unfortunately McClure lost two positions as a result of the jack breaking during the pit stop and had to restart in the 32 nd position.
As the race continued, the car’s handling became too tight in the center and on exit of the turns. This, however, didn’t hinder McClure’s advancement in the field as he was scored in the 28th position when the event’s second caution flag waved on lap 82. McClure again took this opportunity to visit pit road and the team changed four tires, added fuel, and made another track-bar adjustment. When the race resumed, the team was scored in the 28 th position.
Over the next 20 laps, the car’s handling showed great improvement. McClure received additional chassis adjustments during the lap 102 caution and these also helped the car’s handling. By lap 110, the Virginia driver was scored in the 25th position and was running lap times consistent with those running in the top-20.
During the final 50 laps, the event saw four additional cautions. McClure received a routine service with adjustments to help the still too tight Camry during the lap 156 caution. Although McClure slipped to 26th on the restart, he quickly rebounded as the car’s handling was the best it had been and was able to advance one additional position in the closing laps to finish the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign 300 in the 24 th position.
Eric McClure Quotes:
“I’m really proud of our team. We took huge strides tonight and ran with some very good cars. The finish doesn’t reflect our performance. We all need to continue to be better in some areas but we are closer now.”
