Grimm Racing turned in yet another outstanding performance this weekend at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Eddie MacDonald and his teammates traveled to Loudon for Friday evening’s NASCAR Camping World East Series stop. The Waymart-based squad competed in the Heluva Good! 125 and came home with a solid sixth place finish.
Out in Front
Grimm Racing looked like the team to beat at the beginning of the race.
MacDonald qualified second and stated on the front row. He then proceeded to pass polesitter Ryan Truex in Turn #2 and held onto the lead for 39 laps.
Despite this stellar start, a late pit stop cost MacDonald the lead. He spent the last 10 laps of this race fighting his way back to through the pack and eventually finished just outside the Top 5.
“I guess I’m a little bit disappointed by where we finished,” Eddie told TWI Sports. “I really think we had the fastest car. I guess I can’t complain too much, though, because we did move up the points standings.”
And, what a move it was!
MacDonald leap-frogged all the way from fourth to second in the overall driver rankings. Thus far on the 2009 campaign, Eddie has accumulated 883 points. He’s started all six races and finished in the Top 10 five times.
“I’m really happy with how the season’s gone so far,” Eddie said. “I’d definitely like to have a couple of wins under my belt by now, but we’ll take being second in points.”
Jody Lavender is now alone atop the standings with 903 total points. Truex is currently in third (872 pts), followed by Matt Kobyluck (857) and Brett Moffitt (846).
Matt DiBenedetto, who won the race in Loudon, is now 12th with 674 points.
Start to Finish
MacDonald wasted no time taking the lead from Truex.
Eddie surged out front early in the race, then stayed there for the first half of the race. He and Truex powered away from the rest of the pack and, for a very long time, this was quite simply a two-man race
“The car was running great,” Eddie said. “We (MacDonald and Truex) were having alot of fun out there. The car was very fast right off the bat.”
Slowly, though, the Grimm Racing Chevy began to “tighten up.” According to Eddie, his #71 car began bouncing in the turns and washing up the track.
Even in light of these developments, the team decided not to take fresh tires during a pair of cautions on laps 39 and 63. This key decision, although agreed upon by all hands, ultimately cost Grimm Racing a shot at the checkered flag.
