Catchfence

Madison, IL (July 17, 2009)— Coming in to the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, Eric McClure had high hopes of improving on last year’s finish of 21st at Gateway International Speedway. After crashing his primary car during time trials on Saturday, the Rensi-Hamilton Racing team worked diligently and quickly to prepare the back-up car for the 200-lap event. After starting in the 42nd position, McClure struggled with the handling on the No. 24 Hefty® Odor Block™ Ford early in the event and began to fight “spongy brakes” near the halfway point that continued throughout the race. However, the chassis adjustments made throughout the evening significantly improved the car’s handling during the latter stages of the event, allowing McClure to post a 23rd-place finish. With this finish, the RHR team remained in the 29th position in NASCAR owner standings.

“We had a decent finish tonight considering how our day started. Our primary car was awesome; we were 19th in first practice until people started making mock runs. We cut a tire down in practice and, trying to manage our tire supply for the race, made the decision to not run the second practice. Unfortunately, I crashed the car during qualifying and had to go to a back-up car. I can’t say enough about my guys. They worked their butts off today in getting this car ready to race tonight; they stay supportive of me and I’m very proud to be a part of this team.

When the race started I was very loose but in the end, the car was handling pretty well on scuff tires. I started having brake issues before halfway that continued the entire race, which cost us speed. However, the car’s handling improved over the course of the race and I was able to avoid the accidents to get our best finish in a month; go figure that one out. We sure didn’t need to tear that car up, though.”

Starting the race from the 42nd position, McClure quickly advanced to the 34th position by lap 10 and was “happy” with the way the back-up car was driving. However, a few laps later, the driver changed his tune as the tires began to lose grip, causing the car to become extremely loose in the turns. As the race continued under green conditions, teams were forced to make green flag pit stops with McClure coming to pit-road on lap 64 to receive tires, fuel, and track-bar and wedge adjustments. After the stops cycled through the RHR team was shown in the 33rd position.

Shortly thereafter, the first caution of the night occurred on lap 67 and the driver reported that the car wouldn’t respond to the wheel when turned and that he was having issues with the brakes. The RHR team took this opportunity to bring the Hefty® brand Ford to pit road once again to make major chassis adjustments and when the race resumed, McClure was scored in the 30th position.

As the race progressed, the Virginia native continued to battle with the handling of the car and the brakes. The team reminded the driver to back-up his entry and allow the car to roll through the center. Although the team couldn’t make adjustments to fix the brake issue, they did, however, continue to make major chassis adjustments on the No. 24 Ford during the remainder six cautions that significantly improved the car’s handling during the latter stages of the event. In the end, the RHR team was able to finish the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 in the 23rd position.

- Team McClure / Rensi-Hamilton Racing Press Release