photo by RPM 360
After posting the fastest time in practice on Saturday, Eddie MacDonald hoped to repeat his 2014 win in this year’s American Canadian Tour Exit Realty Governor’s Cup 150 at Lee USA Speedway on Sunday. When the checkered flag waved Eddie Mac crossed the stripe for a frustrating eighth place finish.
“We made an adjustment late Saturday that really helped us in the short run but killed us in the long run,” said the driver of the Exit Realty/Hancock Electric Chevy. “The car was pretty fast on Saturday and we thought the change would help the car in the late stages of the race but it didn’t turn out that way. It was pretty frustrating knowing I didn’t have the car to win it. With all our family and friends here, it would have been great to win it on our home track.”
Eddie Mac posted a plus one in his qualifying heat to start 13th in the 32 car field scheduled to go 150 laps around the 3/8ths of a mile oval owned and operated by Eddie’s parents Judy and Red MacDonald who are celebrating their thirtieth year operating the track. The American Canadian Tour’s Governor’s Cup had to be rescheduled from an earlier date due to weather concerns. When the green flag finally dropped to open the Lee USA season, Eddie Mac was comfortable riding the Freddie Peterson owned #17 near the middle of the pack to conserve tires. ACT rules do not allow teams to change tires unless damaged.
“It seemed like the guys up front were really running hard so I was just riding and taking care of the tires,” said the Rowley, Mass. Veteran. “Around lap 80, I decided to begin moving and managed to gain a few spots passing on the outside but then the car just wasn’t responding like it did on Saturday. At that point everyone was bunched up and there were a lot of lapped cars to pass and that hurt. We were not going to win but I still tried to get as many spots as possible. We are trying to run the full Act schedule so every position is important in the point’s race. We learned from this and hopefully next week we will be better. We wanted a better run at home and especially for all the Exit Realty fans Derek Beatrice brought to the track.”
Two late race cautions on laps 140 and 141, only three for the race(lap 47), bunched the field as Eddie Mac was able to gain two positions to finish eighth when the checkered flag waved with “The Outlaw” saying, “We had a much better car than it showed today but we will take this finish and come back stronger. It is our intention to race for the championship so hopefully this will be our one “bad” race. Next week we are at Thunder Road so hopefully we will be more competitive.
“I have to thank Derek Beatrice from Exit Realty for his support,” said Eddie Mac. Exit Realty Beatrice Associates is sponsoring us this season and sponsored the ACT race today. Of course, Hancock Electric, Kenny and Scott Thompson, has sponsored us now for ten years and we are extremely grateful for all their support. Sheila and Freddie Peterson from Peterson Auto body in Peabody are fantastic car owners and we thank them for everything. Chuck Grimm, Steve Vasey, and Dave Jenkins even drove up from Pennsylvania this morning to be at the race. Rob Grimm owns our K&N team based in Waymart, Pa. and also helps us with our Late Model, so it was great to have his father, Steve, and Dave with us today. The crew did a great job and worked hard for two days and Rollie and I greatly appreciate their hard work and dedication.”
The American Canadian Tour will be back in action next week at Thunder Road in Barre, Vermont for the Merchant’s Bank 150.