Eddie MacDonald returned to the track to finish 17th after a spectacular crash over the turn two embankment early in the American Canadian Tour’s 17th Annual Merchants Bank 150 at Thunder Road in Barre, Vt. on Sunday, May 3. The Freddie Peterson owned Chevy sustained heavy front end damage after a blown left rear tire sent the car and Eddie Mac sailing off the track and down the hill on lap five.
“That was definitely a hard crash,” said Eddie Mac after the race. ”I made contact with another car the lap before, and unfortunately it cut down the tire. When I went into turn one I just sailed up the track and over turn two. It is a strange feeling to look out the windshield straight down at the ground. There was a stone wall there that stopped the car from flipping over but it tore up the front of the car and bent something underneath. The crew did a great job to get me back out there but it was a long day to ride round and not compete for the win.”
The Grimm Construction/Hancock Electric Chevy posted fast times in practice on Saturday and Sunday but things changed quickly when Eddie Mac drew the ninth and final spot in first heat to finish eighth with the veteran racer saying, “This is as frustrating as it gets. We had a fast car but we just could not go anywhere in the heat. The cars ran side by side the entire way and there wasn’t any way to get by on the quarter mile track, especially in a twelve lap heat race. We had to race our way into the race in the consi and started 22nd. Anytime you start that far back anything can happen and it did.”
Last season Eddie Mac won the famed Milk Bowl at Thunder Road and hopes for another win ended almost as soon as the race began. On lap four of the 150 lap event, the #17Ma rubbed with the #15 of Joey Laquerre sending a puff of smoke from the back of the “Outlaw’s” car which proved to be huge the following lap. The huge crowd held their collective breadths as the undercarriage of the car was visible as it disappeared over the embankment. The crowd then went wild as Eddie Mac backed his car up over the hill and back on to the track. The crew went to work changing tires and ripping away sheet metal to get the Rowley, Mass. driver back in competition.
Eddie Mac raced on the lead lap until finally going down a lap on the 75th circuit. A decision was then made to continue racing for the second half of the race as he was able to pass a number of lapped cars to post the 17th place finish saying, “The car tight in the center and loose off and I think something is bent but we decided to stay out there and was able to pass some cars. Rollie and the crew made the car work better on our second pit stop (Lap 27) but it was a long day. We knew we had the car to beat but that just happens in racing. The best car does not always win. There is a lot of work to do on the car but we should be ready for our next race penciled in for the end of the month.”
“I definitely feel bad for Freddie and Sheila but we will be back,” said Eddie Mac. “The crew performed super right from the start and especially after the wreck. Of course, our thanks go to our K&N owner Rob Grimm for his support and Scott and Ken Thompson from Hancock Electric. We also carry the MS logo on our car in support of Rob and Karla’s daughter Megan Spaulding who is fighting the disease. Grimm Nation’s MS Warrior team just participated in the annual walk at Pocono Speedway to raise awareness and money to fight this disease. We support their efforts and hope our fans will support the cause.”