finish in the K & N Pro Series East in the South Boston 150 in Virginia in
the Grimm Construction Chevy this past Saturday at the famed half-mile. The
Rowley, Mass. driver qualified in the eleventh position and rode in fifth
and sixth for much of the race before losing a spot on the final lap. After
last week’s disappointing 16th place run at Greenville Pickens MacDonald
feels the team is headed in the right direction but needs to improve.
“Obviously we ran much better this week and the car was definitely better
than what we had last week but it is not where we want to be,” said
MacDonald after the race. “The car was really good in the first practice, I
think we were third fastest, but after that we kind of struggled getting the
car to turn in the corners. We were either a little too tight in or loose
off but then we were really loose at the end. It is frustrating because we
are so close to nailing the set-up but we are just a little off and when you
are a little off against the competition this year it is tough to race for
the win. It will come. We’ve done it in the past.”
When the green flag waved MacDonald was content to maintain his position in
the early stages and move up when the opportunity presented itself saying,
“It doesn’t do us any good to race the tires off the thing in the early
going. I was just trying to be smooth and make sure I had the tires at the
end. I was able to move up a few spots but South Boston is such a tough
place to pass, you don’t want to use everything up at the beginning. We
really had a nice pace going and the car was handling well. It was a little
tight but it was okay. No one was on our bumper so I could just take it easy
and save the equipment. We had the leaders in sight and that is what we want
because we usually have the car set up to be there at the end”
On the lap 99 restart MacDonald had the #71 Chevy riding comfortably in the
sixth position until the final lap when the #20 car banged his way on the
inside. “By the end of the race the car was really loose. The #20 car kept
running into me and I was probably holding him up but the car would not stay
on the bottom. It was tough to lose the spot on the last lap but there was
nothing I could do. We didn’t have anything for the leaders and I couldn’t
get past Kobyluck so I think we got as much out of it as we could. The
series is so competitive right now with all the new drivers and teams; you
really have to everything almost perfect to run in the top five.”
The series will be off until May 23rd when the next K & N Pro East race will
be held at the fast 7/8th mile high-backed oval At Iowa Speedway. “This will
be our third time racing at the track and we expect to run well there. It is
a great track and a lot of fun to drive. I think we have really learned a
lot from our two races there and we expect to do well. The team has already
been preparing the car at the shop and we are anxious to show what we can
do. We know we are capable of running better than we have.”