The K&N Pro Series East finally returned to action after a month long hiatus plus an additional week when rained delayed the Labor Day event at Greenville Pickens Speedway to this past Saturday. “The Old House of Racing” hosted the Kevin Whitaker 140 and hopes were high in the Grimm Racing pits after a first practice run in seventh place for Eddie MacDonald, followed by an eleventh place run in the second practice. The veteran driver finished the race in the ninth position and moved up one spot to seventh in the
point’s race with two events remaining.
A less than satisfying run in qualifying would start the #71 Chevy deep in the field in the 19th position with MacDonald saying, “I thought I had a good car and everything felt good but something happened in our one lap qualifying run. I don’t know if I slipped up the track or what happened but starting that deep in the field we knew was going to be a problem. There are just so many good cars, we knew we had to be patient and get some breaks.”
At the halfway flag, MacDonald was running in the tenth spot and hoping to pick up some more positions saying, “The car was still going good but then I got stuck behind four cars that just covered the track and there was nowhere to go. This track is tight, flat and hard to pass on, so you end up using up
the tires, brakes and everything else to get to the front. The long green flags did not help any either. By the time I finally cleared the lapped cars I could only move up to eighth. By that time we only had about fifteen laps left and I was trying to hold on without losing any more spots. The tires were pretty used up by then and I ended up losing one spot to finish ninth.”
“Of course, we would liked to have a better finish and who knows what we could have done if not for the qualifying run but we will move on to Loudon for our next to last race and fight to have a good run there,” said MacDonald. “We are not pleased with the season so far so a good solid run there and at Dover will really help. We know we can run better and we have at times this season , so having two consistent runs to end the season will go a long way for our team.”
The K&N Series will take the green flag next at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday, September 23rd as part of the big Sprint Cup weekend. MacDonald has also been invited to participate in the American Canadian Tour Invitational that same weekend.
Speed Channel will air the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140 on Thursday, September 15th at 7 p.