photo by RPM 360
By: Dick Casey
The 17th place finish for Eddie Mac in the American Canadian Tour’s Merchant’s Bank 100 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vermont on Saturday was not the typical run one might expect from the team. After a devastating crash on the last turn of the last lap at the Waterford Speedbowl on May 21, Eddie Mac was forced to activate the old tried but true back-up “flame car” while necessary repairs were made to the EXIT Realty/Hancock Electric Chevy owned by Freddie Peterson.
With time constraints plaguing the team, the usual meticulous preparation in the shop could not happen with crew chief Rollie LaChance saying, “We literally took the car out of moth balls and tried to get it ready for today’s race. We also had to strip the Chevy of the damage, get it to Dale (Shaw) for a new front clip, and take the engine out to be checked out. We lost a lot of time there so we really didn’t have a week to get the car ready. We could only put in a basic set-up and hope we could adjust. We only had three twenty minute practices and that wasn’t nearly enough time to make the adjustments needed. This is a winning car and if we ran it for a number of races, I am sure we could get it performing as it once did. I was hoping for a top half of the field finish but we fell a few spots short.”
The car was tight in and loose off for Eddie Mac and even though the EXIT Realty/Hancock Electric Pontiac posted a fifth fastest time in the second practice the disappointed driver said, “The fast time was misleading because I was able to arc the car in the turns with no one around me. In the heat and the race I wasn’t able to do that in traffic so the car was really tight in the center and so loose off I couldn’t mash the throttle and had no power down the straight. We knew it was a longshot with the car when we uncovered it in the shop and not being able to get it ready as we would have liked was tough but this is all part of racing, We lost the point lead but we were able to hold on to second place so now we will get the primary car back together this week so we will be ready for the next ACT race at Speedway 51.”
Eddie Mac started 20th in the 28 car-field and struggled right away falling as far as 23rd with the leaders closing. Nick Sweet and Wayne Helliwell set a torrid pace around the flat, half-mile oval as they quickly began lapping cars. By lap 40 in the 100 lap event honoring John Bruno, the #17 went a lap down to the leaders as they continued to march through the field. Despite the handling woes, Eddie Mac was able to keep the leaders in sight and it was not until lap 76 that the third place car was able to make the pass.
“The car improved a little as the race went on,” said “the Outlaw.” “It isn’t much fun being out there in a car that is not competitive but we did our best to try to make the best of a bad situation. When you run for the championship things are going to happen to test you and the fact that we were able to get this car, that has not run in three years since winning the Bond ACT Invitational at Loudon, ready in less than a week is a credit to the guys in the shop and the crew at the track, Everyone worked so hard on both cars I am very thankful to all the guys. Tomorrow is Sunday but everyone will be at the shop to start putting together Freddie’s car for Speedway 51 on the 18th and working on the K&N car for Stafford Springs Speedway on the 17th, As you can see, we will be busy.”
“Thanks as always to sponsors Derek Beatrice from EXIT Realty and Ken and Scott Thompson from Hancock Electric for their continued support,” said Eddie Mac. “We couldn’t do this without help from our K&N owner Rob Grimm, Stilo, Schroth Racing, and HMS Motorsports have been with us for a long time and their support is greatly appreciated. We hope to see all our race fans at Speedway 51 and if you can’t make it watch for Jolene’s (Drandson) updates on Grimm Racing Buddies.”