Eric McClure

Richmond, VA (September 7, 2008)—What was supposed to be a one-day show at Richmond International Raceway for the Nationwide Series turned into a long weekend as tropical storm Hannah made its way through the state of Virginia. Nearly 48 hours after the scheduled start time of the Emerson Radio 250, the green flag fell to commence the event.

Eric McClure began the 250-lap event in the 28th position after qualifying was canceled and the field was set by NASCAR’s Owner points. By lap 8 of the event, McClure was reporting an extremely tight handling condition on his No. 24 Hefty® brand Chevrolet, which cost him an early lap to the race leader on lap 25. “I am really tight under braking and the car will not turn in the center.” The FRM team took advantage of the first caution on lap 28 to receive tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment. McClure restarted the event in the 36th position.

Over the next several laps, McClure continued to fight the car’s handling. The changes made helped the entry but the car still couldn’t rotate in the center like McClure wanted. However, he continued to battle those cars one-lap down and was rewarded with the “Lucky Dog” on lap 53 when the second caution of the night occurred. The Hefty® Racing™ team made used this opportunity to make another chassis adjustment to the car. McClure restarted the event in the 35th position.

As the race progressed, the changes made significantly improved the car’s handling. However, on lap 90, McClure reported problems with the brakes. “The chassis is great, but the brakes are terrible. I can’t slow the car down at all.” Although little could be done about the brakes, McClure remained persistent and showed great determination as he battled for positions. The team took advantage of three additional cautions to make changes to the car, all of which improved its handling. In the end, McClure was credited with a 29th-place finish.

Eric McClure quotes:
“After the first run the Hefty® Odorblock™ Chevrolet was very good. We were able to hold our own a lot better and were able to pass a good bit of cars in the middle stages of the race when we put our set of stickers on. We had the brakes go bad the last half of the race, which hurt us, and we put on our last set of scuffs with 100 laps to go, so we had to ride a bit more then. Overall, a thousand times better than the last two weeks. We made good adjustments and had good pit stops. A great step for the FRM team.”