Photo by Leif Tillotson
By: Dick Casey
With twenty five laps to go in the ACT World Series 100 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, it appeared the only thing to derail an Eddie MacDonald win would be a mechanical issue. The Exit Realty/Hancock Electric Chevy took the lead on lap34 and ran comfortably in front of the 33 car field until the engine expired on lap 75. Eddie Mac was scored in the 24th position in the final race of the American Canadian Tour’s schedule on Saturday, October 17.
“This is a shame since the car ran great on Friday in practice and in practice, qualifying, and the race on Saturday,” said Eddie Mac. “After last week’s crash at the Milk Bowl with the car running great, we thought we would be a contender for the win and it looked good for a long time. The car was fast right from Friday on and it really handled well in the turns. I don’t know what caused the problem. We will have to wait until we get it apart at the shop.”
Eddie Mac started the race in the eighth position based on the plus/minus system used in the ACT series. The Rowley, Mass. veteran won the first heat starting from the third position giving him a plus 2 rating for the feature. When the green flag waved Eddie Mac began his charge to the front in typical Eddie Mac fashion taking positions and saving tires for the end of the 100 lap event. After 25 laps the Freddie Peterson owned Chevy rode in the fourth spot with the leaders in sight. On the lap 33 caution the #17 ran second behind the #58. On the restart Eddie Mac made the pass on the outside then opened up a comfortable three car length lead.
“The car was awesome and I was able to drive it anywhere,” said Eddie Mac. “It was so good coming out of turn two I was able to pull away from the field. Even on the restart (lap 39) I was able to open up a lot of ground coming out of turn two. The car was strong but it started to give up a little a couple of laps before it gave up completely (Lap 75). You really hate to blow up a great motor. We won the Governor’s Cup and Loudon with this motor this year and the Milk Bowl last year. We hope to have another one in for the Fall Brawl next week at Speedway 51.”
“The crew did another outstanding job getting this car ready after the crash last week,” said Eddie Mac. “We did a lot of work in the shop with everyone pitching in especially Rob (Drandson) and JT (John Tiernan). It was really cold here Friday and Saturday and the guys did a great job. We can’t ask for a better group of people
“Freddie and Sheila (Peterson) are great owners and we appreciate the sponsorship of Exit Realty and Derek Beatrice along with our longtime sponsor Kenny and Scott Thompson from Hancock Electric. There are so many to thank for our success including Stilo, Schroth Racing, HMS Motorsports, and of course our K&N Pro Series East team owner Rob Grimm and Bobby Wood. Thanks to Jolene Drandson for getting out what is happening on the track on Twitter and Facebook and for the support of Keyln Harrell. Rollie (LaChance) and I are certainly grateful for all the help and support. Hopefully we can finish out our year with a win next week.”
The Fall Brawl at Speedway 51 in Groveton, N.H. is scheduled to run next Saturday, October 24 with $5,000 for the winner in the Late Model event scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.