|
ROB GRIMM
Waymart, PA - Team Owner
Rob is in his second full year as owner of the #71 Grimm Racing
team. A decision to purchase a then Busch car was made two and a
half years ago after Rob had been involved in working on dirt cars
and sponsoring racecars for many years. Rob had always enjoyed the
old Busch North Series and decided to purchase a car owned by Eddie
MacDonald and crew chief Rollie LaChance. After speaking with a
number of racing people, Rob decided to keep the team intact and has
enjoyed the growth and the success the team has experienced,
culminating with the two wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last
season. Rob believes the second win showed everyone the first win
was not a fluke and to come back strong to win the second race at
NHMS again says a lot about the depth and dedication of the team.
Rob looks at this volunteer team as another family that strives to
do better each race. Rob’s goals for the team are to run
consistently, keep adding to the equipment, and making a long-term
commitment to the success of the team. Rob has been in the
construction business for 25 years, currently owning and operating
Grimm Construction. He is married to Carla and is the proud father
of seven children: Megan, Victoria, Dylan, Grace, Kelli, David, and
Noel. |
|
ROLLIE
LACHANCE
New Gloucester, ME - Crew
Chief
Rollie’s racing roots began on the small bullrings in Maine and drag
strips at the age of five. A friend from Rollie’s hometown of Auburn
got him involved in 1990 as a crewmember for Tracy Gordon who was
running the old Act Tour. One of Rollie’s greatest memories is the
win at Thunder Road as a crew chief for Tracy that was televised
nationally. Rollie participated in many Pro Stock races at his home
track Oxford Plains Speedway. One of his enjoyments when not racing
on the Camping World Series East is “fooling around” with the Late
Model both he and Eddie own on the Act Tour circuit, especially at
Oxford. Rollie would like nothing better than to win the prestigious
Oxford 250. All of his wins are special beginning in the Busch
Series in 1997 and considers the first win at Loudon very special
“because it’s Loudon.” The goal for the team is to win the
championship and Rollie feels this can be accomplished if they keep
putting good cars on the track and compete in the top five each
race. He is married to Laura and have two children named Rachael and
Ryan. |
|
JOE ST. JACQUES
Rowley, MA - Body Metal Work
Joe has been with Eddie for six years sine the day he was shopping
at the local grocery store and ran into John Tiernan who asked him
to stop by the race shop to help out with some metal work. At the
time Joe was a tin knocker and duct-work specialist for Amanti
Plumbing and Heating located in Amesbury, Mass. Joe has been with
the team since and feels the greatest pride when he can build
something better than anyone else. The realization of all the team’s
hard work naturally came with the two Loudon wins but Joe’s favorite
win was the one at Beech Ridge “because it was the first.” Joe feels
the team is getting better, needs some improvement, and likes their
chance to win a championship. Ask Joe and he will proudly show you a
picture of his grandson and recalls the best time he has had with
racing was going to the track with his two girls Theresa and
Stephanie. |
|
JOHN “JT” TIERNAN
Rowley, MA - Body and Paint
Man
JT has been involved with racing for 50 years including
Supermodifieds, Funny Cars, and Jet Cars before settling in on a
career with full-bodied racecars. JT has been painting and repairing
Eddie’s cars since Eddie’s teenage years running at Lee USA
Speedway. JT owns and operates Hanover Place, a body shop that
specializes in restoration of classic cars. The shop is located
across the street from Eddie’s garage in Newbury, Mass. JT is
particularly proud of his three year in a row New England Dragster
Championships at New England Dragway “back in the day.” JT has
worked with Jet car driver Al Hanna, Donny McTavish, ISMA’s Chris
Perley, and Jamie Aube, just to name a few. He cites the
back-to-back wins last season at Loudon with Grimm Racing as his
most satisfying. When not involved with racing and meticulously
restoring cars, JT enjoys spending time with his daughter. |
|
SHAUN MORAN
Bradford, MA - Gasman
Shaun is a forklift mechanic at Crown Lift Trucks in Woburn, Mass.
and has been a member of the race team for six years. Previously,
Shaun was a mechanic for a GM dealership for twenty years. He began
working on the crew with former crew chief Mark Durgin. The two wins
at NHMS were important to Shaun because, “we had a lot of bad luck
in the past at the big races so it felt pretty good to win.” He
enjoys working with “a great bunch of guys” and looks forward to
repeating their success at Loudon. Shaun has been married to Lori
for nine years and has a house full of cats and dogs. |
|
DAVID “LOGGER” RICKER
Hinsdale, NH - Tire
Specialist
Logger has been with the team for six years as the tire guy and
spotter for Eddie on race day. During the week he is a sawmill
maintenance mechanic for a Vermont company. Logger began working on
Pro Stock racecars 22 years ago before moving into the Camping World
series. He has worked for Andy Santerre’s ASM Motorsports doing the
tires for Jeffrey Earnhart and spotting for Sean Caisse. His
greatest thrill working with the Grimm team was the two NHMS wins,
especially the second because “it proved the first one wasn’t a
fluke and it dotted the ‘I’.” Logger has fun on the team that is
made up of volunteers saying they are a great group of guys. Logger
is married to Jennifer and is very busy in kid’s sports with his two
daughters Kaitlyn and Emily |
|
KENNY GROOMS
Merrimack, NH - Crewmember
Kenny signed on with Eddie nearly six years ago after working with
Jamie Aube for three years. He is the guy on the team that makes
everyone’s life a lot easier. Kenny makes sure the hauler, pit box,
radios, water, shocks and springs and whatever else is needed for
race day is at the ready. At the shop, he is often sweeping,
cleaning the car, chasing, cleaning, and putting away tools. Kenny
knows this allows the rest of the team time to focus on working on
the car. At an early age, he and a few neighborhood buddies worked
on a dragster and that experience gave him the racing bug. Kenny got
into the then Busch series after volunteering to sweep the floors
and take cars apart after a race at Aube’s garage in Manchester, N.H.
Kenny is respected on the Grimm team as the guy who will do anything
asked of him and enjoy every bit of it. His favorite racing memory
is standing on pit lane for the pre-race activities at NHMS
thinking, “Wow, this is fun. How many people in the stands would
like to be in my position?” Kenny is the manager of Nashua
Wallpaper, the company he started in as a stock boy 33 years ago.
Debbie is his wife and the two have three grown children and three
grandkids. |
|
ROB DRANDSON
Sandown, NH -
Welder/Fabricator
Rob got the racing bug after attending the Thompson Icebreaker in
1984 and had been a fan ever since. Rob joined the Grimm Racing team
last year and enjoys his membership as part of the crew. For many
years Rob has worked in the Media Center at Loudon on Cup weekend
and will continue to do so this year. He sees his transformation
from fan to track worker to crewmember as an opportunity to
experience racing from all sides. Traveling to new tracks is part of
the fun and he looks forward to visiting the new remaining tracks on
the schedule. Rob is a welder at Bentley Machine in Amesbury, Mass.
and is married to Jolene for the last ten years. They share their
home with two dogs. |
|
TALON PACKER
Amesbury, MA - Tire Carrier
Talon joined the Grimm team, coming over from three years with Mike
Johnson’s team. As the new kid, Talon gets to experience a little
bit of everything beside his job as tire carrier on race day. Talon
began his involvement in racing by attending NASCAR’S Technical
Institute while living in Mooresville, N.C. for two years. During
that time he worked for a Drift Team before heading home. Talon says
there is nothing like working in this series and there is so much to
like, especially seeing the finished product run up front. He enjoys
working on the set-up of the car and watch it go out and go fast.
Talon likes the series because it gives him the opportunity to work
at his full-time job as a technician at Smith Motor Sales in
Haverhill, Mass. while working on a NASCAR Touring series team. He
feels it gives him the best of both worlds. |
|
DAVE BIGLIN
Honesdale, PA - Hauler
Driver
Dave works as construction foreman for Grimm Construction and has
done so for the past eleven years. Dave drove a truck early in his
career until giving up the road in 1992 for a hammer. Recently, he
was asked to drive the hauler for the #71 team and is currently
enjoying the experience. Besides driving, Dave also works in the
Waymart racing shop doing whatever is asked of him. With no racing
experience, except for being a Cup fan, Dave enjoys everything and
is excited about it all. Starting at the ground level has given him
an appreciation for all that is involved in racing. Dave’s attitude
is to “go with the flow and try to stay out of the way.” So far, he
enjoys going to the different tracks, learning something different,
and watching Eddie and the team do well. Dave has three daughters,
one son, and two grandkids with one more on the way. |
|
HERBIE WING
Rowley, MA - Shop Steward
Herbie is at Eddie’s Newbury shop nearly every day doing just about
anything to help prepare the car for race day. He has been with
Eddie since his teenage years racing at Lee USA Speedway. Herbie’s
ties to the MacDonald family extend back to the days when Eddie’s
father Red owned the #1 Supermodified. His greatest memory from the
“early” days was the CanAm Championship at Star Speedway with Dave
Thomas at the wheel with just Red and himself as the mechanics. His
greatest memory of racing with Eddie is, “standing on the podium
after the second Loudon win, because I was not there for the first
one.” Herbie loves working at the race shop because of the good guys
and the relaxed atmosphere. His goal this year is to win the next
Loudon race and possibly the one after that. He is retired from
Jackson Lumber where he worked in the Mill Works division. His next
anniversary will be his 50th with Joanne and will celebrate the
event with their five kids and five grandkids. |
|
DICK CASEY
Salisbury, MA - Press
Releases
Dick wrote racing articles for the Daily News of Newburyport and
first met Eddie at Lee USA Speedway, the family owned track, and
began writing his press releases six years ago. He has watched Eddie
and the team mature into serious contenders anytime the green flag
waves whether it is in the Camping World Series East or the ACT Late
Model. As a regular at the old Pines Speedway in Groveland, Mass.
watching Ollie Silva, Eddie West, Don MacLaren and many others, Dick
has been involved in racing for many years, even driving an Enduro
car at Star Speedway eons ago. His greatest racing memory involves
sitting next to Eddie’s father Red for the first win at Beech Ridge
and the two Loudon wins. As a proud father of a son who excelled on
championship football teams, Dick could relate to the thrill in
Red’s eyes as Eddie took the checked flags and the tears the two
shared in victory lane. After teaching in the Bronx, N.Y. for seven
years and later in the Newburyport, Mass. Middle School for thirty
years, Dick retired to play golf and go racing. Helen has put up
with him for thirty-two years of marriage. Michael is their grown
son with Sarrah their daughter-in-law, and Winnie, their American
Bulldog granddog. |
|
MacDonald
Motorsports & Robert Grimm Racing, LLC
Join Forces for 2008 Camping
World Series
After months of preparation,
MacDonald Motorsports and Robert Grimm Racing, LLC are excited to announce
their plans for 2008 season in the NASCAR Camping World Series.
MacDonald Motorsports with Eddie MacDonald and Rollie Lachance will be
combining forces with Robert Grimm Racing (RGR) for the 2008 Camping World
Series season. They will be fielding the #71 Chevy Monte Carlos of Robert
Grimm Racing (RGR) full time under the East Series banner. MacDonald as
driver, Lachance as crew chief and Grimm as car owner.
MacDonald's success in 2007 includes his season debut at Stafford Motor
Speedway in Victory Lane and the top 5 finish at the 2007 All-Star Showdown
in Irwindale, CA. MacDonald Motorsports will be parking their #48 for the
#71 full time ride with RGR.
"I had a good season in 2007 running part time in the #48 and part time in
the #71 for Rob (Grimm) but this opportunity to run full time for Rob and
still with Rollie as my crew chief was too good to pass up", stated
MacDonald.
"Rob has been busy the past few months getting us really good competitive
equipment for the'08 season. Combining teams is something that Eddie and I
are really looking forward to", continued Lachance.
Lachance has been MacDonald's crew chief for the past three years in the
NASCAR Camping World Series (formally the Busch East Series) and together
they have two wins during that time.
Robert Grimm Racing entered the NASCAR Camping World Series arena in 2007
having MacDonald driving select races in his #71 Grimm Construction
Chevrolet. His best finish in the #71 was 5th at Adirondack Speedway.
"Last year I was learning about this series and with the help of Eddie and
Rollie, I decided I wanted to do it full time in 2008. Those guys (Rollie
and Eddie) have proven they can get it done with a limited budget. I'm
looking to make it easier for them to get it done more often with more
equipment at their disposal", reports Grimm.
"I'm looking forward to becoming a full time car owner in 2008. We are
concentrating hard on preparing for the upcoming season with competitive
equipment, personnel and sponsorship inquiries", continued Grimm. |