The 2012 ACT Tour season opened with its traditional Governors Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway with hometown driver Eddie MacDonald surviving a spin while leading to finish seventh.
The Hancock Electric/Grimm Construction Chevy started twelfth in the 27 car field by virtue of winning the heat race from the outside pole to post a +1. Cars are placed on the grid using the plus/minus system used in the ACT Tour.
The Rowley, Mass. driver was at the wheel of a brand new car and was pleased with the results saying, “The car was very fast and drove great. It had a few quirks to it but that is to be expected with a new car. Overall though, we are really happy with the way it drove. Even after the spin, the car was still fast and we were able to make it back through the field twice.”
By the first caution flag on lap 36, MacDonald was cruising along in seventh place saying, “I wasn’t pushing the car. I was just driving along taking the positions when I could and not abusing the tires.” On lap 55, the #17 occupied the fifth spot and with 50 laps to go moved into third place and into second by lap 110.
A caution on lap 117 sent most cars to the pits for tires with MacDonald opting to stay on the track saying, “We knew it was a gamble not to pit but we had discussed it before the race and said if we were leading we would stay out as long as possible. We had plenty of time for another stop later. When I got spun out by the #97 on 130, we came in for tires and worked our way back up but we got caught up in a wreck that didn’t cause a lot of damage but it sent us to the back again.”
With 13 laps to go, MacDonald ran in the tenth position and into seventh with five laps remaining saying. “The car was much better than seventh place but that is just racing. We know we have something for the next ACT race we run. You never know what you will get with a new car but I have to give credit to Rollie and Dale (Shaw) for the work they did. The car was a lot of fun to drive and I felt comfortable with it running on the bottom and on the outside.”
“The day was super and a lot of our fans came out and it was great to see them,” said MacDonald. “I want to thank Ken Thompson from Hancock Electric for helping us out again this season. It really means a lot to us. Of course, our East team owner Rob Grimm is always there helping us out. I am not sure what our ACT schedule looks like right now, but I know we will be back racing with these guys in the future. We have the K&N East race at Richmond on April 26, so that is our focus now. We will be back because this series is so much fun.”
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