photo by RPM 360
by Dick Casey
When Eddie MacDonald took the checkered flag in the inaugural New England Short Track Showdown at NHMS in the Granite State Pro Stock Series on Saturday, he joined elite company in posting his tenth win at Loudon. Eddie Mac now shares the record for the most wins with Mike Stefanik and Ted Christopher. However, the Rowley, Mass. veteran racer is the first driver to have wins in four divisions, with victories in three K&N Pro Series East, five in the American Canadian Tour, one Pro All Star Series, and now the Granite State.
“When I first started racing I just hoped someday to race here,” reflected Eddie Mac after the race. “It was incredible to get my first win here and never did I think I would share the most wins with TC and Mike. I owe a lot of people for my success beginning with my family, Rollie LaChance and his family, car owners Rob Grimm, Freddie Peterson, and Dave Lemieux, and all of our sponsors through the years. You can’t do this without the hard work and dedication of all the crew members. I want to especially thank my girlfriend Kelyn Harrell who supports me in all of this. It is truly humbling to share the record with those guys.”
Despite missing practice on Friday, Eddie Mac posted the second fastest speed in the second of three twenty minute practice periods on Saturday to draw the third starting position in the first heat. The Grimm Construction/EXIT Realty Chevy powered to the lead on the first of the eight lap qualifying heat to win the pole for the 50 lap feature in the 26 car field on the mile oval.
Two red flags in the first three laps sent a number of cars to the pits as the rocky start eliminated a number of possible contenders but all appearances indicated that Eddie Mac would not be denied his record tying win. With powerful restarts, Eddie Mac was able to open up a two to three car length lead while riding comfortably in the top position. Twenty laps’ later things changed when the rear deck lid broke loose allowing two cars to pass.
“I can’t believe how much that affected the car,” said Eddie Mac. “I felt the lid break free and got sucked down in the car and it really make the car extremely loose. Two cars got by me but I knew we could fix it during the competition at the halfway break. What I didn’t expect was the blistered right rear tire that certainly would not have lasted much longer. We were very lucky we had that caution when we did. The crew fixed the lid and gave me two new right side tires for the final 21 laps and I was confident I could get the lead back on the restart.”
Starting third, Eddie Mac dove to the bottom of the track to battle D.J. Shaw side by side for the lead when the green flag waved. One lap later, the Dave Lemieux Chevy powered to the lead and quickly established a three to four car length lead over Shaw on the remaining laps for the dominant victory. Possibly Dave Lemieux may have some bragging rights as well as an owner winning both events entered at NHMS.
“I owe so much to our (NASCAR) K&N owner Rob Grimm who supports our racing efforts,” said Eddie Mac. “We are racing the K&N series at Thompson next Saturday then back here the following week as part of the Cup weekend so hopefully we can get him a win or two. Thanks to Dave Lemieux who has been great and has gone above and beyond to get us here. Paul Rinaldi builds great motors and it showed today. Rollie had a great set up and the car handled perfectly. Thanks to Derek Beatrice from EXIT Realty for his support and we appreciate Annie Mac Home Mortgage coming on board with us today. As I said, I owe so many people for our success and I hope everyone enjoys this and knows you have been an integral part. We hope to see all our fans at Thompson on Saturday.”
