Eddie MacDonald continued his dominance at the Magic Mile in Loudon, N.H. with his third victory in the American Canadian Tour’s 5th Annual Bond Auto 50 lap event. The Rowley, Mass. driver won the first ever ACT race at NHMS and has now won three of the five contests held on the September NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend schedule. Unfortunately, Eddie Mac was not as fortunate in the K&N Pro Series East race when he hit the wall in turn one while leading the race when the right side tire blew apart.
“We won one and wrecked one,” said MacDonald in victory lane after the impressive ACT win. “I really wanted to win this for a third time. Rollie (LaChance) and the entire team love running here in front of all our fans. It is a great win but the day is also bittersweet. The K&N car is in pretty bad shape and we have to evaluate it to see if it can be fixed. It is our new car this year and is my favorite car. So it is really disappointing to have a blown tire ruin our chances to win the race and destroy the car. I feel bad for team owner Rob Grimm and the rest of the team that worked so hard on it from day one.”
The Hancock Electric Late Model Pontiac with the familiar flame covered body started the race in the 26th position in the 43 car field after a draw for position with the “Outlaw” saying, “We came here a few weeks ago for a practice day and the car was fast and handled well. This car is incredible since it sat in the trailer since last year and still runs as well as it does. This morning (Saturday) we had an hour of practice and the small changes Rollie made were fantastic. I knew we had something to contend for the win but I knew we had some tough competition from the regular ACT guys.”
When the green flag waved to start the 50 lapper, Eddie Mac steadily moved to the front and rode in the 15th position on the lap 4 caution and into fourth the next time the yellow flag slowed the action on lap 12 with Eddie saying, “The car was so good I wasn’t pushing it. I was just riding trying to save the tires for the end of the race. I knew Brian (Hoar), Wayne (Helliwell), Joey (Polewarczyk) and a few others would all be battling for the win the last ten laps. I thought whoever saved their stuff the best would be in a position to get the win.”
The #17 Ma. Late Model maintained the third spot behind leaders Hoar and Helliwell until making the move for the lead on lap 34. Eddie Mac took the lead and established a two to three car length advantage to take the checkers saying, “This win really means a lot to me and the team. We owe a big thank you to Rob Grimm for all his support and special thanks to Kenny Thompson of Hancock Electric for his sponsorship. We have to keep Kenny around because we won the last two races he has been at (Beech Ridge, NHMS). He is our good luck charm. Hopefully he can make it to the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road. The day started off so badly, I am glad we had something good happen.”
The Grimm Racing Team posted a seventh fastest qualifying time for the North American Power 100 in the twelfth race in the K&N Pro Series East schedule with Eddie Mac saying, “I was really pleased with the qualifying run and felt the car would be good in the race and it was. This car has been a standout for us since we started running it this season and thought we could be in position to get the win. We were only four points behind third place in the point’s race and were hoping for a good finish and a good point’s day. Unfortunately, a blown tire knocked us out before the halfway break at lap 50.”
The Grimm Construction Chevy was “just riding” in sixth before taking the fifth position on a lap 17 restart. The #71 then began powering to the front. On a lap 40 restart after a red flag, Eddie Mac moved into third then took the top spot on lap 41. The lead was short-lived when four laps later the right front tire exploded sending Eddie nose first into the turn one wall.
“The tire just blew out and there was nothing I could do,” said Eddie Mac. “I remember thinking, “This is going to hurt,” but the construction of the car and the safety equipment did the job and I was okay. I was just sick over what happened to the car. As I said, this is my favorite car to drive so hopefully it can be fixed. It was a tough day out there for all the point’s leaders and despite the 23rd place finish we are tied for third place with Ben Kennedy heading to Dover. Fortunately we have a great Gibbs’ car ready for Dover so hopefully we will have a solid finish there.”
The Drive Sober 150 will take the green flag in the second to last race on the K&N Pro Series East schedule this Friday on the “Monster Mile” as another companion race for the third “Chase” race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.