Eddie MacDonald and the Grimm Racing Team closed out the K&N Pro Series East schedule with an impressive fourth place finish in the Dover 150 at the Dover International Speedway. After “terrible” practice and qualifying sessions, the #71 Grimm Construction Chevy fought its way from a 26th starting position to post its second top five run in the final two events of the season.
“We were just terrible in practice so the crew spent all of Friday morning changing everything, including the radiator cap, and even though qualifying was not good, the car was a lot better,” said the Rowley, Mass. veteran. “I have to thank those guys for all their hard work. It is because of them, we had the finish we did. It feels great to run fourth on this track and we finally had some luck on our side for a change. There were guys in front of us that had flats, wrecks, or ran out of gas and that helped us get to the front. “
By lap 20 MacDonald was in 18th and on lap 37 took over the 10th spot on the “Monster Mile” and was able to gain two more positions before the caution flag waved on lap 71. With the leaders pitting, Eddie Mac restarted in the third spot when racing resumed on lap 83. Another caution on lap 100 gave the team an opportunity to pit for tires and gas. Even a flat tire came at the best time as the crew was able to send the Grimm Chevy back to the track with four new Goodyears with MacDonald saying, “We ran our first set of tires for nearly one hundred laps, so when we went back to racing we had to start near the rear but with the new tires we were able to pass a lot of cars on our way to the front. Guys really started having problems then, so that helped us even more.”
With 25 laps to go, Eddie Mac was running in the 12th spot and moving quickly through the field. While running seventh with four laps to go, the leader Moffitt crashed hard into the wall to set up a green/white checker finish. Restarting in sixth, MacDonald passed two cars in the final two laps to finish fourth in the 152 lap event.
“We had a tough season so it was great for everyone associated with this team to run fourth on a track that is as difficult as this one,” said MacDonald. “We have had a number of things go against us this year so it was fun to have things fall our way despite the bad start. To end the season on a positive note is a lot of fun for everyone. I really thank Rob and Carla Grimm for everything they have done. Our sponsors and fans have been terrific. Rollie and the crew have worked hard and it is great to finish strong. I hope everyone gets to watch the race on Speed.”
With the run last week at New Hampshire and this week at Dover, Eddie Mac finished the season in seventh place in the point’s race, while Rob Grimm finished eighth in the owner’s race. The Dover 150 will be televised on Speed Channel at 7pm this Thursday, Oct. 6.
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