Eddie MacDonald qualified sixth in the UNOH 200 at Martinsville Speedway in
the K&N Pro Series East race and rode to second place before blowing a right
front tire. The front end damage forced the University of Northwestern Ohio
sponsored ride to the pits for multiple adjustments resulting in a 27th
place finish in the rain-shortened event.

“We were really fast and I was just riding in second place trying to save my
brakes for the end of the race,” said MacDonald after the race. “I feel bad
for the UNOH sponsors that we did not have a better finish. Steve Farmer and
President Jeff Jarvis treated us great all weekend and especially during our
visit to the college a couple of weeks ago. We had four of the students
working on our pit crew so the only good thing that probably came out of
this was they got to see what happens when everything goes wrong.”

The Grimm Construction Chevy had a great qualifying run then started in
fourth place when two cars in front were sent to the rear for unapproved
changes. As soon as the green flag waved, MacDonald moved past the #4 car
and into third place behind Ryan Gifford and Brett Moffitt. The top three
cars were able to pull away from the rest of the field. A lap 32 caution
flag bunched up the pack and on the restart made a power move to the inside
past Moffitt for second place. After riding the Gifford’s bumper for a few
laps, Macdonald settled into a steady pace behind the leader.

Crew chief Rollie LaChance warned MacDonald that a number of cars were
experiencing right front tire trouble and to be aware. LaChance also readied
the crew for any tire problems that may arise. As if prophetic, the tire
blew on lap 56 and causing sway bar damage. After returning to the track
four laps down, the car suffered a rear tire failure forcing the #71 to the
pits again. The crew worked to repair the damage to get MacDonald back on
the track but was only able to complete 121 of the 175 laps before rain
ended the event.

“We were running so good it is just a shame that this had to happen. It was
a lot of fun to race at Martinsville and hope we get another shot at this
place. We were hoping for a better show for our sponsor UNOH but that’s just
racing sometimes. We will be ready for Loudon in a couple of weeks,” said
the disappointed driver.