photo by RPM
By Dick Casey
Eddie MacDonald and the Grimm Racing Team’s optimism for another strong finish at Iowa Speedway crumbled with a hard hit to the outside wall in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series combination race Saturday night with the East and West teams meeting for the first of two events on the seven-eighth’s mile oval. After finishing in the runner-up position in the Pork Be Inspired 150 second event at Iowa last season, Eddie Mac returned for the Casey’s General Store 150 with a brand new car with hopes of equaling or bettering last year’s finish.
Unfortunately for Eddie Mac, the right front tire blew on lap 57 as the Rowley, Ma. veteran driver attempted an outside pass for the tenth position sending him hard into the outside wall between turns one and two ending his night with a 35th place finish saying, “That was a tough hit. It really tore up the front of the car and it probably needs a new front clip. We worked hard getting this new car ready for the race and it felt good. We didn’t have time to test so practice was the first time on any track. The crew worked hard to get the car ready and even though we didn’t qualify well, we thought the car would be okay for the race and it was. The car was running great, the handling was good, and only a little loose in practice so we believed we had a good set-up for the race. It was very similar to the set-up we had last year here when we finished second. ”
When the green flag waved the Grimm Construction/Multiple Sclerosis Chevy began marching to the front with
Eddie Mac saying, “We were really happy with the performance of the car and I don’t know what happened in
qualifying (24th) but as soon as we took the green I was able to pick up about seven positions (by lap 25). I
decided to take it easy for a while and just ride. Rollie and I thought we could make a push to about the eighth
spot before the halfway break at 75 laps but we never got that far. About five laps before the tire blew, I was
able to take some more spots and I think I was 11th and on the outside of Kenzie (Rustin) making the pass for
tenth going into turn one and I went straight up into the wall.”
The crash was reminiscent of a similar crash while running first at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last year in
the September K&N race while leading. A right front tire blew at that time sending another new car into the
turn one wall with the driver saying, “I don’t know what it is with new cars and flat right front tires but it is
frustrating. I know at Loudon we ran over something but we don’t know for sure what caused this tire to blow
without any warning. We did not have an issue with camber or anything in practice, so we can’t say what
caused the problem. All I know is, it wrecked a beautiful new car that Rob Grimm paid for and a lot of people
worked hard to put together. All that work for nothing! It hurts.”
The K&N Pro Series East returns to Bowman Gray Stadium this season