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2010 Race Stories and Photos
July 30th to November 13th
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3 AMIGOS TEQUILA 125
Phoenix International Raceway
Saturday, November 13th |
| EDDIE 24th after a LAP
107 FIVE CAR WRECK |
Eddie MacDonald finished 24th in the 3 Amigos
Tequila 125 at Phoenix International Raceway while participating in
the final race for the K & N Pro Series West. The Grimm Construction
Chevy was running in the eighth position when taken out with a hard
crash into the turn one wall.
The race was
marred with 11 caution flags for 49 laps including three red flags
in the 125 lap event on the mile oval. MacDonald was involved in the
ninth caution on lap 107 when the #2 car of Daryl Harr tried to make
in three wide in turn one with a bonzi move below the yellow line.
The west driver lost it and slid into MacDonald sending both cars up
into the
MacDonald was
okay but said, "That was two hard hits. I don't know what the #2 car
was thinking. You can't run three wide in that turn. The car is junk
now. It is just a shame because we qualified good and wanted to have
a solid finish. We didn't have anything for the leaders but we were
in position for a top ten and possibly a top five but it was not to
be." MacDonald ran a qualifying lap of 27.906 sec. (129 mph) that
was good enough to start fifth in the 40-car field. When the green
flag waved MacDonald took
the fourth spot but it didn't take
long for the first caution flag to fly on the second lap. After
racing resumed the yellow flags flew regularly with MacDonald
saying, "It was really hard to get any kind of rhythm going with all
the flags. We were bouncing a bit and the car was free of but the
green flag run were not long enough to get the car settled in."
MacDonald ran
in the top eight until pitting for tires on caution lap 63 then
began making his way back up through the pack. The Rowley, Mass.
driver managed to miss a couple of wrecks but was tagged in the
right rear and spun on lap 70. The crew repaired the damage and
MacDonald restarted in the 25th position. By lap 87 Eddie Mac was
13th and moving to the front. On lap 101
MacDonald was eighth and poised to
make a run for a top five finish but his night ended in turn one on
lap 107.
"It was getting
crazy out there with the laps winding down and I had to back out a
couple of times with guys pinching me. We were running three wide a
couple of times and you knew something was going to happen and
unfortunately it happened to us. It is a shame to come all this way
and the only thing to show for it is a wrecked racecar. We had fun
up to that point. This track is
a lot of fun to drive and it is not
anywhere near as similar to Loudon as we thought. The dogleg on the
back stretch makes it totally different that anything we ever raced
on. I just want to thank Rollie, the crew, and team owner Rob Grimm
for all the hard work and support, as well as, all our sponsors and
fans." |
| NASCAR HOME TRACKS:
Race Report
Results |
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| EDDIE QUALIFIES 5th at
PHOENIX out of 44 CARS |
| Greg Pursley
wins his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season and the fifth of
his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West career. Tom Dyer qualified second,
followed by David Mayhew, Dusty Davis and
Eddie MacDonald.
Justin Johnson, Michael Waltrip, Stan Silva, Brennan Newberry and Ty
Dillon round out the top 10. Eric Holmes qualified 13th and will
clinch his third championship by starting Saturday's race.
Full Qualfying Results |
| NASCAR HOME TRACKS:
Lap by Lap
K&N West at Phoenix
Practice Times
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| MACDONALD IS ENTERED in
PHOENIX K&N PRO SERIES WEST RACE |
Eddie
MacDonald and the Grimm Racing Team will travel west this week to
compete in the season finale for the K & N Pro Series West at
Phoenix International Raceway. The 3 Amigos Tequila 125 will be held
on Saturday, November 13th as a prelim to the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Chase race to be run on Sunday.
“We have wanted
to run out there for some time and the entire team is really pleased
to be going out there to compete with the west guys,” said
MacDonald. “It will be a lot of fun to be part of another Chase
weekend and we hope to have a good finish. The west guys definitely
have an advantage at Phoenix since they run there twice a year but
the track is similar in some ways to Loudon in length and banking,
so hopefully we will have the right set up there. I know Rollie and
the crew are excited about racing there and putting on a good show.
”
The final will be the twelfth race
of the season for the K & N Pro Series West as Eric Holmes has
dominated with five wins in eleven races and will certainly present
a challenge to MacDonald and the rest of the field. “Eric is having
an awesome year and has had great success at Phoenix over the years
but there are also a lot of other guys who can get it done. We have
seen how well David Mayhew runs and Paulie Harraka has had a great
season. We have run with most of those guys at Iowa and Irwindale so
we know what to expect. They are every bit as competitive as the
guys in the East series.”
MacDonald and
crew chief Rollie LaChance would like nothing better than to steal
the win out there with Eddie Mac saying, “We finished fifth in the
points race this year and we did not have a win so the season was a
little disappointing. It would be great to take the win out there to
finish the season off strong. Everyone on the team is happy to be
racing out in Phoenix but we are not just going for the fun of it,
we are going there to win.”
Practice and
qualifying for the 3 Amigos Tequila 125 on the mile oval will be
held on Thursday then have Friday off before competing on Saturday. |
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The Sunoco 150
Friday,
September 24th |
| 4th for EDDIE at the "MONSTER
MILE" |
Eddie
MacDonald finished the final race in the K&N Pro Series East
schedule with a strong run in the Sunoco 150 at Dover International
Speedway to achieve two pre-season goals. Both MacDonald and team
owner Rob Grimm scored in fifth place in team and owner points.
“I am real
happy for Rob and Carla Grimm to have a top five finish. They have
been great since we started and to get this for them is awesome,”
said MacDonald. “With all the Cup teams racing now, it is a real
challenge to finish in fifth for any owner. Just having Rob with us
each race and working in the pits says a lot about his commitment to
this team and we can’t begin to thank him enough for all his family
has done.”
The Grimm
Construction Chevy qualified tenth and ran in the top ten for the
first half of the race with the Rowley, Mass. driver saying, “The
car was not very fast for most of the race. We have been missing
something here the last few times. I wish I knew what it is but in
spite of that we had a good finish. Rollie and the crew never give
up and with the adjustments and the tires with about 50 laps to go
made the car a lot better.”
MacDonald
restarted in 13th with a third of the race left to run the leaders
down saying, “It was really tough to get back to the front with all
the cars I had to pass. It isn’t easy passing there and with the car
not as fast I had to pick my spots to get by. Plus, I had to be very
careful with Danica and Quarterly banging off one another. With ten
to go I was outside the top ten but I was able to get by a number of
cars into fifth place on the second green white checker restart. I
was happy to get past Quarterly for fourth at the end of the race.”
The fourth
place run gave MacDonald two top five and seven top ten finishes for
the ten race season. “We finished second in the points last season
and I know we could have been a top three team this year but we had
bad runs at Martinsville, Gresham, and Greenville-Pickens. With such
a short season you have to have good runs every race. We are pleased
with the fifth place finish but know we could have done better.
Isn’t that what racing is all about? Unless you finish first,
drivers are never satisfied. It has been a lot of fun this year and
I thank the crew, sponsors, and fans for all the help and support.
The
Sunoco 150 will be televised on Speed on Thursday, October 7, at 6
PM.
|
| Moffitt wins at Dover;
Truex wraps up 2nd straight K&N East title. |
NASCAR Race Report
Race Results
Eddie qualified in the 10th starting spot
at Dover.
NASCAR Lap by Lap
Qualifying:
Story
Grid
Event Statistical
Analysis
Dover Notebook |
| |
To date, Eddie
MacDonald (No. 71 Grimm Construction Chevrolet)
•
Has six wins, two poles and 55 top 10s in 130 career NKNPS East
starts.
• Is fifth in points after nine races with best finish of
fourth at Lee USA Speedway.
• Has two top 10s, an average finish
of 14th and a best finish of third in eight starts at Dover
International Speedway |
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Friday, Sept.
17th |
Saturday,
Sept. 18th |
Saturday,
Sept. 18th
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TWO TOP TEN FINISHES FOR MACDONALD
AT NHMS |
Eddie
MacDonald and the Grimm Racing Team competed
in three of the five feature races at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway and their effort
was rewarded with a sixth place finish in
the K&N Pro Series East and a fifth place
run in the ACT Invitational. The
“experiment” in running a “spec” engine in
the Camping World Truck Series ended with a
wrecked truck and scored in 30th place.
The
K&N Pro Series East
race kicked off a busy weekend for the team
with MacDonald posting the fifth fastest
speed in the practice and followed it up
with a fourth place run in qualifying. The
Rowley, Mass driver maintained the position
early in the race then slipped back to ninth
on lap 45 as the car became tight. MacDonald
restarted in second place on lap 51 after
the leaders pitted and held on to the spot
until the caution on lap 74.
MacDonald restarted in 22nd on lap 79 after
pitting for tires and fuel then began making
his way to the front. On lap 85 the Grimm
Construction Chevy was tenth and with 15
laps to go, MacDonald was in sixth place
then moved to fourth when the two leaders
took themselves out forcing the first
green/white/checker. MacDonald was in third
when another crash caused a second G/W/C
attempt when the #9 car did not go on the
first restart from his second spot on the
grid sending cars all over the track at the
start finish line. Officials then decided
that the #71 car did not maintain speed even
though MacDonald slowed to avoid slamming
into Swindell’s car that was facing the
wrong way on the track and placed him in the
tenth position for the final restart.
MacDonald was able to gain four positions
over the last two laps.
The
finish pushed him into fifth place in the
points with MacDonald saying, “It is great
that we moved back into the top five despite
the tough day. The car was tight the entire
race and to have that call at the end really
hurt but we’ll take the finish and get ready
for Dover next week. We want to finish up
strong there and it is one of our favorite
places to race.”
MacDonald and the crew prepared for their
first
Camping World Truck
Series
race in what was considered an experiment.
No one ever ran a “spec” engine in a truck
race so there was a lot of interest
throughout the NASCAR community. MacDonald
hoped to run in the top 20 saying, “The
engine is one of our East engines and is a
lot less horsepower than the teams running
the trucks and because it is lighter NASCAR
added a 100 pounds of weight to our truck so
it will be tough but we’ll see how it goes.”
MacDonald qualified 22nd and when the green
flag waved it was evident the added weight
and less horsepower would play a major role
in the race with MacDonald saying, “We just
couldn’t keep up with those guys on the
restarts. They had way more power than us.
It took us a while to get going and the
truck was really tight like the East car so
we were just hoping to maintain our position
which we did until we got taken out on lap
84 in turn one by David Starr. That was the
hardest I ever hit the wall and the official
said afterward it registered 39 g’s. The
truck is pretty torn up and if we got out of
here without too much damage we were going
to run at Martinsville but now I don’t know
if we will be able to get it fixed. It was a
tough day but it was fun to race with those
guys.”
MacDonald won the first
ACT
Invitational
at NHMS last September and hoped to repeat
but it was not to be. Teams were placed on
the starting grid according to their
performance ability and the Bank North 250
champion was slated to start 23rd but a
penalty was levied forcing MacDonald to
start 33rd. After passing inspection both
driver and crew chief Rollie LaChance headed
to the truck garage to prepare for that
race. The remaining crew jacked up the left
side of the Late Model to attach the
transponder. It was at that time ACT
officials measured the height of the right
side and determined it to be too low forcing
the team to cut a quarter of a inch off the
bottom side panel and leveling the penalty.
MacDonald said of the penalty, “I told them
that when you jack up one side of the car
you just can’t measure it then. The car has
to be re-set and then you can measure it. We
went through inspection once and it was
okay. After the race we measured it and it
was an inch and a half higher than what is
mandatory. Starting back where we did was
tough because we had to pass so many cars
that were running side by side and the car
was tight just like the East car and truck.”
Despite the penalty, MacDonald drove the
NEMO Pontiac from 33rd to sixth at the
halfway mark of the sixty lap feature and
into fourth with nine laps remaining, Brian
Hoar took the fourth position with six laps
remaining giving MacDonald the fifth place
finish.
“It
was a great weekend of racing for us and the
crew did an incredible job getting three
vehicles ready,” said MacDonald after the
race. “It was amazing because we were really
spread so thin. Everyone worked their tails
off and I really want to thank them for all
the hard work. A number of other people
stepped in to help and we really appreciate
it. We have great support and we could not
have done any of this without them.” |
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5th in the ACT
INVITATIONAL
ACT Tour Race Report HERE
ACT
Speed51 Trackside Live HERE |
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EARLY OUT in the CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS |
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EDDIE 6TH in the NEW HAMPSHIRE 125
RACE RESULTS HERE
LAP BY LAP HERE
NASCAR HOME TRACKS RACE STORY HERE |
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EDDIE 4TH in K&N
QUALIFYING with a 30.578 for 124.560 mph
NASCAR Home Tracks
K&N
Qualifying Story HERE
K&N QUALIFYING RESULTS HERE |
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| BUSY WEEKEND FOR
MACDONALD AT NHMS |
Eddie
MacDonald and the Grimm Racing Team will have their hands full this
weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as they will participate in
three of the scheduled five events at “The Magic Mile.” MacDonald
will take the green flag in the K&N Pro Series East” New Hampshire
125 on Friday, then compete in the Camping World Truck Series and
the American-Canadian Tour Invitational races scheduled for
Saturday.
The
team has been preparing for the weekend for some time and MacDonald
realizes the pressure saying, “This is something we have planned on
since the beginning of the season but we have been out straight
preparing both cars and the truck. I can honestly say that all the
preparation is worth it because we feel really good about our
chances, at least in the East and ACT races. We decided to race our
truck, we bought two Roush trucks earlier this year, and it’s really
an experiment, so our goal is to qualify for the race and hope for a
good finish. We are definitely excited to be in three events. We
will be dragging afterward but it should be a lot of fun.”
The
experiment MacDonald spoke of will be in running a “spec” engine for
the first time in the Camping World Truck Series. Running a “spec”
engine has been talked about for a while and has been tested at some
tracks but no team has decided to use one in a race. Questions about
horsepower have generally kept its use on the back burner. NASCAR
claims the engine produces only 20 less horsepower than the
conventional power plants but independent tests claim the difference
to be between 80 and 100. The engines are lighter in weight but
NASCAR has decided that anyone running the “spec” engine will have
to add 100 pounds to the car in order to level the playing field.
Probably the reason the spec engine has not been used is the
horsepower disadvantage and the added weight to the car. The
experiment will begin with qualifying for the New Hampshire 175 on
Saturday at 10:05 a.m. followed by the race at 3:00 p.m.
With
three wins in the last five races in the K&N Pre Series East races
at NHMS, MacDonald knows what it takes to get to victory lane
saying, “We have had great success there in the past and we
definitely learned a what not to do after our June race. We made
some changes that we thought would help the car but they went the
other way. The car is always fast there so we are just going to go
with what got us there before. Of course we would like to win there
again since all our fans are from the area and will be there, so
every win there is special. After our run at Gresham we need to get
back on track and there is nothing like being at home to do that.”
After
the Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday, MacDonald will
climb into the #17 Late Model to defend his title in the ACT
Invitational. Last year was the inaugural race for the ACT Tour and
it was so successful both NHMS and ACT officials decided to stage
the event again. MacDonald has won races running the ACT Tour this
season when his schedule permitted and won the prestigious TD Bank
250 at Oxford Plains earlier this year. MacDonald is the early
favorite to repeat as champion at NHMS but is quick to point out,
“It would be awesome to win it again and that is what we are going
there to do but there are a lot of strong cars entered this year
with a year of racing at NHMS under their belts so I expect a tough
race.”
MacDonald and crew chief Rollie LaChance were not pleased with the
car during the test session held in August at Loudon with MacDonald
saying, “It just didn’t go as we expected it to go. It just wasn’t
fast as it usually is so we made some changes since then and we just
tested at Lee and it was fast. It handled great so it is where we
want it to be.”
LaChance was pleased with the car saying of the chance to repeat, “I
am now. The car was great. I am really happy with it and I am
looking forward to racing it at Loudon. Hopefully we can win another
one.” On the truck test LaChance said,” It was okay until we
developed a leak in the master cylinder, which I didn’t need with
everything going on but better to find it here that at Loudon. We
pretty much got rained out at Oxford Plains testing this week so it
was good to get out on the track. I think we will be alright.”
Practice for the K&N Pro Series East race begins at 11:30 a.m. on
Thursday with qualifying at 3:15 p.m. The New Hampshire 125 will
take the green flag at 5:00 p.m. on Friday following the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series qualifying for Sunday’s Sylvania 300. The Grimm
Race Team will have only a few hours of rest until the 8:00 a.m.
start of ACT practice on Saturday morning.
“I hope
we get a lot of people to come out to support us in all three races,
said MacDonald. “Hopefully we can post two wins and a top twenty
finish. That’s the goal. We are really looking forward to the
weekend.” |
|
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American Fence
Association 150
presented by
Mayfield Ice Creamier
Saturday, August 28th |
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Eddie Out of Race in
Lap 133 Accident for a 16th Place Finish
NASCAR LAP BY LAP
HERE FINISH RESULTS
HERE
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| EDDIE
READY FOR GRESHAM MOTORSPORTS PARK |
With only three races remaining in the K&N Pro Series East schedule,
Eddie MacDonald is prepared for a solid finish to move into the top
five in the championship point’s race in the American Fence
Association 150 presented by Mayfield Ice Creamier at Gresham
Motorsports Park on Saturday, August 28. The team currently sits in
sixth place as they have come on strong in the last three races.
“We are really expecting to do well at Gresham despite never
racing there because we are bringing the car we raced at
Martinsville and that thing was fast,” said the veteran driver. “We
were running up front there until we had a flat tire that ending up
causing a lot of damage. I believe the tracks are similar in length
(one-half mile) and banking (12 degrees in the corners), so
hopefully we won’t have any issues and have a top five finish, at
least.”
MacDonald received the Wix Filters Leader Award after
his performance leading the most laps at Lee USA Speedway and knows
a similar effort at Gresham is necessary to move into the top five
in points. “We are not too far out of the top five (18 points) and
we are in seventh place in owner points so a good run at Gresham
would be awesome. Rob Grimm is such a great guy the team would
really like to finish up strong to get him into the top five.”
“We have two races left at tracks we have been successful at, so
a really strong run this Saturday will put us in a good position for
the end of the season. We had some frustrating runs at the beginning
of the season and with only ten races, it is hard to make up lost
ground but the team has really come on strong over the last half.
Rollie and the crew have worked really hard and the results prove
it.”
The one day event is scheduled for a morning and
afternoon practice, qualifying at 4:00 pm., and racing at 8:30 pm.
for 150 laps. Lap by lap coverage is usually provided on the NE
Racing website and/or NASCAR Home Tracks. Speed will televise the
event on Sept. 2 at 6:00 pm.
NASCAR Night At Funopolis To Kick Off GMP K&N Pro Series Weekend
Top NASCAR K&N Pro
Series East drivers expected to attend the Funopolis event include
Darrell Wallace, Jr., Matt Kobyluck, Max Gresham,
Eddie MacDonald, Mike Olsen, Jr.,
Miguel Paludo, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Gifford, Sergio Pena’, Mike
Cherry, Ty Dillon, Zach Germain, Ryan Truex and Brandon
Haley.
FULL STORY HERE
News & Notes: K&N Pro Series East Makes First Trip To Gresham
HERE |
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The
K&N 125
Friday, July 30th |
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| MACDONALD 4TH
AT LEE |
Eddie MacDonald
returned home and came close to achieving his goal to win on the
track that began his racing career when he was sixteen years old on
the family owned Lee USA Speedway facility. While most drivers would
be happy to finish fourth in the K&N Pro Series East 125 at Lee, the
run for the Grimm Construction Chevy was bittersweet.
“Obviously we wanted to win at home in front of family and friends
and the car was certainly fast enough but finishing fourth was our
best run this season so we are happy about that,” said the Rowley,
Mass. veteran. “For the last part of the race, Truex and I had a
great battle going and were running each other real clean but I
guess he should have been protecting the bottom instead of pushing
me up the track. Wallace made a real aggressive move on the bottom
and used twelve tires instead of four to hold the bottom.
Unfortunately we were four of those tires.”
MacDonald qualified second with a
fast time of 86.6 mph (15.589 sec) on the three-eighths mile oval,
and then took the lead on the green flag lap from polesitter Kevin
Swindell. MacDonald led five times for a race high 65 laps to earn
ten bonus points. The bonus points were enough to move into sixth
place, one ahead of Matt Kobyluck, in the championship point’s race
with three races remaining on the schedule.
MacDonald was running second when
contact was made with Swindell in turn two on lap 54, “I really felt
bad for Swindell but I didn’t do on purpose. My car was tight and
when I hit the gas it pushed up the track just as he was making a
diamond turn in the corner. He came down and I went up and we got
together. I know he was upset with me and I don’t blame him. He had
a car capable of winning but as I said, it was not intentional. You
can ask anyone I race with and they will tell you, I don’t race like
that.”
MacDonald led until Truex finally made the pass just as the yellow
flag flew on lap 116 and the battle was on when the green flag waved
with three laps to go. “I had to restart on the outside for the
earlier restarts because we were pushing up the track and Truex was
really good on the inside so I knew it be a great race the final
three laps. I was surprised when Rollie told me we were three wide
and that worked for about one lap but it was not going to last the
rest of the way. We almost wrecked in turn one and by the time I got
it back we were in fourth. I know Truex was pretty upset with
Wallace but he did what he had to do to win the race. Unfortunately
we got caught up in it and it definitely hurt us. We had a good
point’s race and now we will try to get more at Gresham Motorsports
Park at the end of the month.”
Many of
the former drivers and officials of the old Busch North Series and
the family of former director Bunk Sampson were on hand for the
event with MacDonald saying, “It was really great to see some of the
guys that made all of this possible, especially Bunk’s family. I
knew Bunk when I was just a kid and he was a great guy. He did a lot
for this series but he was the kind of guy you wanted as a friend.
His name is all over this series and always will be.”
The
Grimm Construction Chevy will be in action next in the K&N Pro
Series East at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia on Saturday,
August 28. |
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NASCAR REPORT - LEE, N.H. -- Darrell
Wallace Jr. made a three-wide pass for the lead with two laps to go
and held on for the victory Friday in the K&N Pro Series 125 at Lee
USA Speedway.
Wallace
started behind Ryan Truex and Eddie MacDonald on the race's final
restart. Truex and MacDonald had swapped the lead four times over
the previous 35 laps, and appeared setting up for a final dash to
the checkers for the win. But it was Wallace who had drove up
through the field after getting tangled up in an early race incident
and wound up stealing the spotlight. He dove inside the side-by-side
leaders going into Turn 3, and emerged with the lead coming out of
Turn 4.
MacDonald ended up fourth. The Rowley, Mass., driver seemed poised
to win at his home track, where he made his series debut in 2001. He
led five times for a race-high 65 laps only to get shuffled out of
the lead in the final laps.
The K&N
Pro Series 125 will air on SPEED on Thursday, Aug. 5 at 6 p.m. ET.
WIX
FILTERS LAP LEADER AWARD:
Eddie MacDonald
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MACDONALD, K&N PRO SERIES EAST
RETURN TO LEE |
Follow the action 7/30 at NASCAR Home Tracks
Lap by Lap HERE |
The next stop for the NASCAR K&N Pro
Series East will take place at an old familiar facility.
Lee (N.H.) USA
Speedway, has returned to the schedule for the first time since the
2004 season. The .375-mile banked oval played host to the K&N Pro
Series East 16 times from 1992-2004.
While the NASCAR K&N Pro Series 125 will be
the first trip for the vast majority of teams and drivers to Lee,
for one driver, it will be a homecoming.
Eddie MacDonald, who
hails from Rowley, Mass., has a strong connection to the New
Hampshire short track. As the son of track owner and operator Red
MacDonald, he has spent many a Friday night at Lee.
"Before I started
racing there, they would bring us up - my sister and I - to the
track and someone would put us to work," MacDonald said. "A couple
of the employees would look over us because we were still fairly
young. I'd be selling popcorn and pizza and she would be selling
50/50 tickets and
different stuff like that. We did that for quite a while."
MacDonald moved from
one side of the fence to the other at age 15 in the Hobby Stock
division. He then moved up to Late Models and eventually made his
K&N Pro Series East debut there in 2001.
Since he began
competing in the K&N Pro Series East full time, MacDonald hasn't
been back to the track a whole lot. In addition to the commitments
with his East team, he's just not very comfortable as a spectator.
"I hate going to races
unless I'm racing," MacDonald said. "It gets my mind going, thinking
I need to go home and get a car ready to come back and race. I do
love going up there and watching the guys I used to race with, but
every time I go up there I wish I had my own car. "
As one of the
veterans, and combined with the series' six-year absence from
competition at the track, MacDonald and Matt Kobyluck are the only
drivers on the preliminary entry list who have K&N Pro Series East
experience at Lee.
MacDonaldhopes that his extensive experience
at Lee will provide an edge on the competition, and he will
undoubtedly have a comfort level that the other drivers will not.
"That's going to go
quite a long ways - having raced there so many times in the past,"
MacDonald said. "The tough thing is, the development teams have so
much technology and experience. Hopefully we can really get our car
to handle there, and my experience from being there so much will
give us an
advantage."
MacDonaldhas embraced the perceived pressure
on him and the team as the hometown favorite, and is using it as
further motivation.
"We put pressure on ourselves for every
race, but having not won a race there in the K&N Series yet,
definitely puts a little more pressure," MacDonald said. "It is our
home track, and it just means that much more."
Fast Facts
The Race: NASCAR K&N Pro Series 125
The Place: Lee USA Speedway
The Date: Friday, July 30
The Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV Schedule: SPEED, Aug. 5, 6 p.m. ET
Track Layout: .375-mile oval
Race Purse: $101,209
Event Schedule:
Practice 2-2:45 p.m., 3:15-4 p.m.; Qualifying 6 p.m.
Track Contact: Bob
Watson, (978) 462-4252,
sales@leeusaspeedway.com,
Twitter: @LeeUSASpeedway
NASCAR PR Contact:
Jason Christley, (386) 547-2469, jchristley@nascar.com,
Twitter: @NASCARHomeTrack
Raceday Notes
The Race ... The NASCAR
K&N Pro Series 125 at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway is the seventh event
in a 10-race schedule this year for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
This will mark the 17th time that Lee USA has played host to the K&N
Pro Series East, and the first since 2004.
The Procedure ... The
starting field is 24 cars, including provisionals. The first 20 cars
will have secured starting positions through two-lap time trials and
the remaining four spots will be awarded through the provisional
process. The race will be 125 laps (46.875 miles).
The Track ... Lee USA Speedway is a .375-mile asphalt oval that
features 12 degrees of banking in the turns and eight degrees in the
straights. It is the smallest track - in terms of distance - that
the K&N Pro Series East will visit in 2010.
Race Winners ... Brad
Leighton recorded four wins at Lee USA to lead all K&N Pro Series
East drivers. No active drivers have a win at Lee. Current team
members Andy Santerre (3) and Dale Shaw (1) have reached Victory
Lane there.
Pole Winners ... In the first 16 K&N Pro
Series East events at Lee USA, only Dave Dion has earned more than
one pole award, with seven. Santerre and Mike Olsen are the only
current team members that earned poles behind the wheel.
'Busch North' Reunion
To Highlight Series' Return To Lee
When the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East returns
to Lee USA Speedway, past and present will meet as the track has
organized a 'Busch North' Reunion.
The K&N Pro Series East was established in
1987 as the Busch North Series, and has strong ties to Lee, which
played host to the series in 13 of its first 18 years of
competition.
Among the many former K&N Pro Series East
drivers expected to attend the reunion are past champions Joey
Kourafas, Dick McCabe, Mike Olsen, Andy Santerre and Dale Shaw.
Olsen, Santerre and Shaw are still involved
in the K&N Pro Series East. Olsen owns his own team, Santerre is
director of competition for the four-team Revolution Racing and Shaw
helps field a team for his son, D.J Shaw.
Fans in attendance
will have a chance to meet the former drivers in an autograph
session as part of the evening's activities. Race fans are
encouraged to bring collectors items to have signed by
NASCAR North Series drivers from past and
present, as an autograph session will also be held at 6:30 PM for
the current North Series drivers, some of who will become the future
stars of the top three divisions in NASCAR.
The
NASCAR K&N Pro Series 125 will also feature a tribute to former
series director, the late Bunk Sampson. Former K&N Pro Series East
technical director Ken Farrington will also serve as grand marshal
for the race. |
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Previous Race Results HERE << |
