By: Dick Casey
Eddie MacDonald
The rain-delayed NASCAR K&N Pro Series East’s Blue Ox 100 at Richmond International Raceway took the green flag on Saturday morning with Eddie MacDonald starting in the 11th position after a solid qualifying run on Friday morning. The 100 lap event originally scheduled for a 9:40 p.m. Friday start after the Nationwide race, moved to Saturday morning after a three hour rain delay caused the re-schedule. However, a leaking rear seal late in the race forced Eddie Mac to the pits with eleven laps remaining to post a 27th place finish.
“We definitely struggled in practice both Thursday and Friday morning so having the rear seal leak was the final icing on the cake,” said the frustrated driver after the race. “The car was tight in the corners from the time we unloaded and the tires would just chatter when I got back to the throttle. The nose would just wash up and I didn’t have any forward bite coming off the corners. We thought we improved when we ran a pretty good lap in qualifying but it just didn’t last in the race.”
The Grimm Construction/Multiple Sclerosis Society Chevy’s problems began during the first practice on the three-quarter of a mile oval when the car simply would not turn. The team made multiple changes in an attempt to help the car during the hour and a half practice but could not get the handle on the car. After a night of evaluation and a new shock package, the #71 took the track for the Friday morning practice with some limited improvement but far from where the car needed to be. More adjustments were made after practice in preparation for the 2:00 p.m. qualifying appeared to help significantly when Eddie Mac posted the 11th fasted time of 22.394 seconds, only .219 seconds behind the leader.
“We didn’t know for sure, but we thought we were on to something that would help us during the race but everything fell off after the first ten laps and began falling back, (19th by lap 20)” said the veteran driver. “Rollie and I decided we needed to pit on the first caution (lap 25) but the car remained tight in the center of the corners and very loose off. Every time I got back on the throttle, it kept shoving the nose. It is a lousy feeling not to be able to race for the win but things got worse when the rear end began smoking and the officials called us to the pits on lap 85 caution. (Eddie Mac was credited with running 89 laps when the field went back to green).We were done then. I feel bad for all the hard work everyone put into this car but we will work on the new car for Iowa and hope to get back on the right track. I want to thank Karla and Rob Grimm for everything as well as Waymart Building Center, Stilo, HMS Motorsports, Schroth Racing and Peterson Auto Body for their continued support.”
The sixth race for the K&N Pro Series will combine both the East and their West counterparts at Iowa Speedway in the Casey’s General Store 150 on Saturday, May 17.
Fox Sports 1 will televise the Blue Ox 100 on Friday, May 2 at 4:30.p.m.
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Follow Eddie MacDonald on Twitter: @EddieMac71