Eddie MacDonald Runs Fourth at Greenville Pickens

Eddie MacDonald drove from his twelfth place starting position to finish fourth in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 at Greenville Pickens Speedway in the eleventh K&N Pro Series East race this season. It was the second visit to the “Old House of Racing” this season with MacDonald taking the checkers in eighth place in the March race. Monday’s Labor Day finish solidifies Eddie Mac’s fourth place standing in the point’s race trailing third place by only four points with four races remaining.

The Grimm Construction Chevy/Multiple Sclerosis Chevy qualified twelfth in the 23 car field in 21.051 sec. around the flat half mile oval. Eddie Mac ran seventh fastest in the first practice session and ran 19th on old tires in the second practice saying, “The car ran well in the first practice and we knew we would be okay for the race. We qualified in twelfth and that is about what we expected. The important thing on this track is to save your tires for the end. The drivers that do that the best will be there at the end of the race.”

The race turned out to be more about strategy than racing early on with the veteran driver saying, “It was weird when the green flag waved almost everyone was half throttle. A number of guys said in the pits before the race they were going to take it easy and save the tires for the end. This track surface is pretty abrasive so it doesn’t take long before the tires go away. Only a few guys raced hard from the beginning and they ended up falling to the back near the end of the race.”

The start of the 140 lap event (70 miles) found many drivers falling back in the field and let the rabbit’s race their way to the front. Eddie Mac dropped from his 12th position to ride around in the 16th spot saying, “It was strange that everyone drove off the corners nice and easy without spinning the tires. Hardly anyone was racing and that’s why we only had one caution and that was for debris (Laps 58-66). We planned to get going around lap 90 to make our way to the front. Everyone decided to go then so the race was on. I was able to get near the front but the tires were pretty shot with about 15-20 laps to go.”

On lap 106 The #71 rode in tenth place and into fifth on the 125th circuit with MacDonald saying, “We were hoping for a late race caution to bunch things up and give us a shot for a top three finish but it didn’t happen. I passed the #21 on the last lap to get to fourth. It was a good finish for us and a good point’s day. Now we have the opportunity in our next race in New Hampshire to improve on that. The team is looking forward to racing at home in front of our fans. The crew did a great job today and in the shop getting this car ready. We had a lot of work to do after the Iowa race and I want to give a special thanks to John Tiernan, our body and paint man, for all his hard work.”

Eddie Mac and the Grimm Racing Team will pull double duty at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 22, racing in the K&N Pro Series East’s North American Power 100 and the American Canadian Tour’s ACT Invitational 50 lap event as part of the big NASCAR Cup weekend. FS1 will televise the Kevin Whitaker 140 on Sunday, September 22, at noon.