MacDonald leads the field (Troy Bregy Photo)

By Kyle Souza, Granite State Pro Stock Series

WALPOLE, N.H. – Heading into Saturday’s First Annual New England Short Track Showdown presented by AR Bodies at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Eddie MacDonald was listed as one of the favorites to capture the checkered flag.

Behind the wheel of his No. 17, MacDonald showed why he was one of the favorites. He scored the victory in his heat race and then went on and scored the win in the 50-lap feature event as part of the inaugural stop for the series on the 1.058-mile oval. DJ Shaw and Matt Swanson joined MacDonald as podium finishers.

Although MacDonald got out front early and seemed to be the race dominator, he faded just before the halfway point and Shaw was able to slide by and take the lead at lap 19. MacDonald mentioned post-race that he had a right-rear tire blistering and also had the deck lid of the car come off while on the track which slowed his efforts.

However, during a halfway break with 22 laps to go, MacDonald’s team went to work and fixed the body and gave him two new right side tires to attempt to work his way back to the front. On the restart, MacDonald slid to the inside of Shaw and took over the advantage, pulling away into glory and capturing another NHMS victory.

Going into Saturday’s main event, MacDonald had already won races on the ‘Magic Mile’ in multiple different touring series and he was able to use the experience to his advantage and capture the inaugural Granite State Pro Stock Series stop at NHMS.

Shaw finished second behind the wheel of his No. 90, just a little bit short of capturing the checkered flag. Shaw’s team car, driven by NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Matt Swanson, finished in third and rounded out the podium finishers.

Mike O’Sullivan finished in fourth, while brother Tommy O’Sullivan rounded out the top five at the finish. Six through 10 were Nick Lascuola, Mike Scorzelli, Barry Gray, Josh King and Wyatt Alexander.

Early cautions plagued the race, including an incident on the backstretch that took out Travis Fisher and Kevin Casper. Shortly after, a major crash in turn one started when Scott MacMichael blew a motor in front of the field. Ben Rowe, Derek Griffith and Billy Brady, along with others, were involved and the crash ended their day as well.

The series wishes to thank all of the teams, drivers, fans and supporters of the First Annual New England Short Track Showdown presented by AR Bodies.

Next up for the Granite State Pro Stock Series is the second of two stops at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire. The event will be held on Friday, July 7, with a post time of 7 p.m.

For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, fans are encouraged to visit www.gspss.net, or follow the series on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Official Finish

1.     17ma  Eddie MacDaonald

2.     90         D.J. Shaw

3.     49         Matt Swanson

4.     08         Mike O’Sullivan

5.     4            Tommy O’Syullivan

6.     39         Nick Lascuola

7.     18         Mike Scorzelli

8.     29         Barry Gray

9.     21         Josh King

10. 96         Wyatt Alexander

11. 01         Joe Decker

12. 17         Heywood Herriot

13.2 8ma  Greg Nanigian

14. 7            Cory Casagrande

15. 51         Eddie Fatsher

16. 57         Zig Geno

17. 72         Scott MacMichael

18. 12         Derek Griffith

19. 12j        Joe Graff

20. 4r          Ben Rowe

21. 05         Phil Richardson

22. 43         Devin O’Connell

23. 92         Billy Brady

24. 76         Zane Zeiner

25. 8f          Travis Fisher

26. 88         Kevin Casper