Eric McClure

Lebanon, TN (March 22, 2008)—Eric McClure and the Hefty® brand team competed in the first Nationwide Series stand-alone event of the season this past weekend at the Nashville Superspeedway. McClure battled extremely loose conditions during both practice sessions on Friday as well as time trails on Saturday, resulting in a 30th-place starting position for the Pepsi 300.

By the time the event’s first caution occurred on lap eight, McClure was sitting in the 29th position, although he was battling a loose condition when entering the corners. Upon resumption of the event, McClure maintained his position over the next several laps but began to lose ground as the handling on his Hefty® brand machine worsened. When the second caution flag flew on lap 59, McClure brought the car to the attention of his crew where four fresh tires, fuel, and air pressure adjustments were received. McClure restarted the event in the 30th position.

The Pepsi 300 remained under green flag conditions for the next 90 laps, which saw McClure maintain the 30th position. Green flag pit stops occurred on lap 128 where the No. 24 Hefty® brand Chevrolet received tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment to help McClure’s entry and exit on the corners. McClure re-entered the event in the 29th position.

On lap 177, McClure reported that his brakes were failing which forced him to “back the corner up more than normal” to save the brakes. Although McClure avoided trouble, he fell two more positions in the closing laps of the event and finished the Pepsi 300 in the 31st position.

With this finish, Eric McClure and the FRM team sit 25th in NASCAR Nationwide driver points and 31st in owner points.

The Hefty® Racing™ team will return to action on Saturday, April 5 with the running of the O-Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Eric McClure quotes:
“We made some gains today and at times we were certainly the most competitive we have been this year. We weren’t bad early in the race but, on the long run in the middle of the event, we were just too loose getting into the corners to really be where we needed. We couldn’t arch the corners as well as we needed and just caused us to be too tight in the center. The car was the best it had been at the end of the race, but we had lost the brakes over the last 50 something events and it cost us a couple of laps and a few spots. But we were able to race and pass some cars, which is a step in the right direction.”