TRACKSIDE
Tom Herzig
BIG WIN IN HAND, MACDONALD LOOKS FOR MORE
Eddie MacDonald the 28 year-old Rowley, MA driver coming off the biggest victory of his career in the Camping World East Series Helluva Good 125 at Loudon, will be at Thompson Speedway (CT) Saturday looking for his second straight NASCAR East win. It’s Full-Fendered Frenzy Night at the Connecticut 5/8 mile, which includes both NASCAR East and the Pro All-Star Series.
MacDonald claims he and crew chief Rollie LaChance have had two goals since they teamed up three years ago to run the Camping World East Series, which at the time was known as Busch North and later Busch East. “We agreed we wanted to win a Series race at Loudon and the Oxford 250 and now to have a shot for both in the same year, it’s pretty incredible,” he said. LaChance worked with the likes of Tracy Gordon, Dale Shaw and Ryan Moore. He was a key part of many wins, but never at Loudon or the 250. This year, Eddie and Rollie are working with the added backing of Rob Grimm of Grimm Construction. The car MacDonald drove at Loudon was a rebuild that had been wadded up by Denny Hamlin in a Sprint Cup race in ’07.
The Oxford 250, formerly titled the TD Banknorth 250, is the biggest short track race of the year in New England. It’s slated for Sunday, July 20. It’s for American Canadian Tour-type Late Models, one of which will be driven by NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick. The machine MacDonald will wheel is an old hybrid NRP chassis with a newer front clip by Dale Shaw and the obligatory GM crate motor. Last year, “Rocket” Roger Brown of Lancaster won the race and pocketed 35 grand.
In last year’s 250, MacDonald ran afoul of a pit road rule, since discarded, and got hit with a lap penalty that took him out of contention. Since then, MacDonald’s looked the part as a major 250 contender. He won the Time Warner Cable 100 at Oxford in October, finished second to Hudson’s Joey Polewarczyk at Lee’s ‘08 season opener (his parents Red and Judy MacDonald own and operate the track), was fourth behind Ricky Rolfe, Jean-Paul Cyr and Brent Dragon at Oxford in April and, a few weeks ago, was on the Oxford podium again (2nd) with Polewarczyk (1st) and Rolfe (3rd).
To make things more interesting, MacDonald is scheduled to compete in a Camping World Series event in Nashville, TN the day before the 250. “The flights are already booked,” reports MacDonald. “I should be getting off a plane in Portland around 10 a.m. Sunday.”
This weekend open-wheel racing gets the spotlight at Lee USA and All-Star Speedway. Lee hosts the True Value Modified Series. Three-time and defending TVMS champion Kirk Alexander won rather handily upon the Mods first visit to Lee in April. He’s coming in off a win at Monadnock last Saturday and has moved within 20 points of series leader David Pinkham, who had motor problems. Dwight Jarvis stuck with Alexander at Monadnock, but couldn’t overtake him.
All-Star is continuing its attempt to get big-block Supermodified racing off the ground and also plans twin 40’s for its weekly Modified division. Chris Perley won the International Supermodified Association (ISMA) race at Stafford Tuesday by outgunning the legendary Bentley Warren on a red flag restart with 14 laps left. Perley and Warren are Vic Miller stablemates. Russ Wood of Fremont, driving a Brian Allegresso-prepared machine, got up for second. When the three accepted their trophies in victory lane it was, I believe, a photo-op of the three winningest drivers is ISMA history. The NEMA Midgets were also on the Stafford card. Bobby Santos III of Franklin, MA, one of the most versatile and talented racers in the Northeast, took the checkers. Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA, finished second.
I mentioned Adam Bates, the young Pro-Stock driver from Warner a couple of weeks ago and a top-5 finish he had in a big PASS race in Maine. Over the weekend, Bates drove to his first PASS win at Beech Ridge Speedway. Second place went to another talented youngster, DJ Shaw of Center Conway.
At Riverside Speedway, defending Late Model champion Corey Mason of Groveton won the 2nd round of the Bond Auto Parts Triple Crown Series for the North Country Ford Late Models, a victory worth $1,000. This week’s card, sponsored by Bean’s Homes, includes Late Models, Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Angels, Dwarf Cars and Cyclones.

On Track This Weekend
Thunder Road (VT) Thurs 6:30 pm
Lee USA Fri 7:15 pm
Riverside Speedway Saturday 6 pm
Twin State Speedway Fri 7 pm
All-Star Speedway Sat 5:30 pm
Bear Ridge (VT) Sat 6 pm
Canaan Speedway Sat 6 pm
Legion Speedway Sat 6 pm
Monadnock Speedway Sat 6 pm
White Mountain Sat 5 pm
Sugar Hill Speedway Sun Noon
Hudson Speedway Sun 6 pm