Photos by Rich Hayes
Eddie MacDonald staged a familiar battle with eventual winner Wayne Helliwell in the Governor’s Cup 150 at their home track Lee USA Speedway on Sunday May 26 to post a third place finish in an exciting duel. The Grimm Construction/Hancock Electric Chevy started third on the grid after winning the heat to score a +2 rating.
Twenty-seven cars took the green flag under stormy skies that dictated the early race strategy for Eddie Mac saying, “We were riding around comfortably in sixth place when a little rain began to fall around lap 25. It looked like heavy rain would arrive shortly so we decided to go get some spots in case the race ended at the halfway mark. I used up a lot of the car racing on the outside for position. No one was out there so the little bit of rain really hurt the tires. Of course the rain never came but we committed early instead of saving tires for the end. We did what we needed to do ans that’s just racing.”
“The Outlaw” wowed the crowd with some great side by side racing before settling into third place by lap 63. The Governor’s Cup defending champ and winner of his last five ACT events waited patiently while Helliwell and Jeff White battled for the top spot. Eddie Mac ran the outside groove to race White side by side, then taking the second spot on lap 84 and setting his sights on the #27. Again the Rowley, Ma. veteran drove hard on the outside to take first place on lap 91. Eddie Mac and Helliwell have staged epic duels throughout their careers.
A lap 93 caution put the #17 and #27 head to head on the restart with Helliwell getting the jump with Eddie Mac saying, “Wayne was fast all day and he had a good restart. I spun the tires a bit and he was able to take advantage. He ran a great race getting the pole and running out front saving his tires. I used up the tires early and couldn’t race with him at the end. By the end of the race the car was so loose I was just hanging on trying to get the best finish I could. We had a lot of fun racing at my home track and seeing a lot of family and friends. Obviously I wish we won but Wayne deserved the win so congratulations to him and Bruce. We may do it again next week at Thunder Road. My thanks go to the crew for all the hard work and Kenny and Scott Thompson from Hancock Electric for their continued support. Car owners Sheila and Freddie Peterson are just awesome people to be associated with.”
The 17th annual Merchants Bank 150 event will be run at the famed Thunder Road in Barre, Vt. on Sunday, May 3rd with a 1:00 pm. post time. The Thunder Road Car Show in downtown Barre will run from 9:00-12:00 Saturday followed by the parade of cars to the track.