Eddie’s fourteenth place finish in the Mansfield 150 in the Busch East Series event at the Mansfield Motorsports Park was due to a late race incident that knocked the Rowley, Mass. driver out of the sixth position. With 19 laps to go, the car driven by Jesus Hernandez got into the Grimm Construction Chevy causing extensive damage. Eddie lost a number of positions but was able to continue and finished on the lead lap. The #4 car also got into Eddie earlier in the race causing him to spin out.

Eddie was certainly not pleased with finish saying, “We had a really good car at the end so it is really frustrating to get taken out like that. We may have even gotten a top five. I don’t know what the #4 car was doing. All I know is we lost a lot of spots and have a pretty torn up racecar.”

The #71 Grim sponsored ride was 11th fastest in the first practice and 12th fastest in the second one. However, the car lost its grip in qualifying and Eddie had to settle for the 21st starting spot on the grid saying, “ We may have tweaked the car a little to much after the practices because it did not handle the same way in qualifying. I knew we would be okay for the race though because Rollie (LaChance crew chief) and the guys always have it set up right for the race. We just had to be patient, avoid the wrecks, and save the car for the end of the race. Unfortunately that did not happen.”

Eddie was running comfortably in the pack when the #4 car spun him out on lap 52. By lap 84, Eddie had moved into the 18th spot and was gaining on the leaders. On lap 101 Eddie was ninth and felt the car really coming in saying, “The car was handling really well. I was able to drive it where I wanted and it just stuck to the track. I was passing a lot of cars easily and felt I had something for the end.”

With 39 laps to go, Eddie was running in the sixth position feeling he could move up saying, “The car was so good at that point, I knew I just had to be patient and felt like I could have moved up one or two more spots by the end of the race. We always set our sights on a top five finish and that was certainly a possibility. It is just too bad we got taken out. The car was pretty messed up. It was drivable but I couldn’t make up that much ground. I am disappointed for all the guys that worked so hard on the car. I want to thank Rob Grimm for his support in sponsoring us for the race and hope we can work together again. We will just get ready for Loudon and try for a top five finish there.”

Eddie will run the car he co-owns with Rollie for the NHIS race and will have his regular sponsors NEMO Mechanical Overlay, Hancock Electric, Stripers Grill, Hanover Place, and Tri-State Roofing on board.

Source: NASCAR Public Relations

MANSFIELD, Ohio – Sean Caisse scored his third NASCAR Busch East Series win of the season Saturday afternoon in the Mansfield 150 at Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park.

The 21-year-old Caisse outran the constant pressure from the previous week’s winner Matt Kobyluck, right through the race’s final restart with three laps to go, and the looming threat of rain.

Caisse (No. 44 Casella Waste Systems Chevrolet) won the Busch Pole Award for the inaugural event at the half-mile paved oval in 109.170 mph (16.488 seconds). He then led 136 laps.

Runner-up Kobyluck (No. 40 Mohegan Sun Chevrolet) was a constant presence, however, leaving the outcome in doubt until the finish. And showers ended up interrupting Caisse’s victory lane celebration.

Series point leader Joey Logano (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Driven Chevrolet) finished third, followed by Jerry Marquis (No. 35 Waste Management/Recycle America Chevrolet) and Jeffrey Earnhardt (No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet).

Completing the top 10 were Marc Davis, Peyton Sellers, Jamie Hayes, Bryon Chew and Belgian Max Dumarey, who posted his first top-10 finish of the season.

The NASCAR Busch East Series now heads to New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H., for a 125-lap event on Friday, September 14.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 13 minutes 15 seconds
Margin of Victory: .495 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: S.Caisse (109.170 mph, 16.488 seconds)
Caution Flags: 9 for 57 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: S.Caisse 1-104; M.Kobyluck 105-109; S.Caisse 110-129; M.Kobyluck 130-136; S.Caisse 137-150.

Point Standings: 1. J.Logano, 1753; 2. M.Kobyluck, 1671; 3. S.Caisse, 1597; 4. P.Sellers, 1564; 5. M.Olsen, 1494; 6. J.Earnhardt, 1441; 7. M.Anton, 1430; 8. J.Hayes, 1427; 9. M.Davis, 1408; 10. B.Chew, 1395.

Sunoco Rookie Standings: 1. J.Logano, 92; 2. J.Earnhardt, 66; 3. R.Lopez, 65; 4. J.Hayes, 63; 5. J. Hernandez, 60; 6. M.Davis, 57; 7. M.Theriault, 47; 8. Chase Austin, 44; 9. J.Smith, 38; 10. M.Dumarey 33; 11. T. Schendel, 26; 12. J. Pritchard Jr., 17; 13. R. Jarvis Jr., 12; 14. G. Quiroga, 5; 15. A.J. Lane, 2; 16. Jonathan Cash, 1.

Media Contact: Jennifer MacDonald - jennymac29@hotmail.com