Better Late for MacDonald
GWC Pass Nets Bristol Win For Mass. Driver
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Veteran Eddie MacDonald showed a little late-race mastery Saturday afternoon and brought home the winning trophy from Bristol Motor Speedway.
The 33-year-old driver from Rowley, Mass., took the lead on the green-white-checkered finish to the PittLite 125 and held off Gray Gaulding and Ben Rhodes to win the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at “The Last Great Colosseum.”
It’s MacDonald’s first win since September of 2009 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the seventh of his career.
The rookie Rhodes, 17, was looking for his first career win in his 10th start. He won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award in qualifying Thursday and led every lap Saturday up until the final restart. A late wreck set of the extended finish that pushed the race to 132 laps.
MacDonald qualified 13th and steadily worked his way to the front on the high-banked half-mile. He took second on Lap 120 and got past Rhodes for the lead heading into Turn 3 on the penultimate lap. Gaulding also got past Rhodes at the finish to take second.
Brennan Newberry and Austin Hill rounded out the top five.
Patrick Staropoli finished sixth, followed by Dave Garbo Jr., Brandon Jones, Matt Tifft and Michael McGuire.
Daniel Suarez, who won the first two races of the season, pitted out of the top 10 late in the race for a flat tire and wound up 26th. His misfortune allowed Gaulding to take the points lead by four over Suarez and six over Rhodes.
The PittLite 125 will air on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday, March 22 at 11:30 a.m. ET. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to the track on Saturday, March 22 for the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH GRAY GAULDING AND BEN RHODES | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH EDDIE MACDONALD
Sources: Shon Sbarra/NASCAR
NKNPS East Bristol 03/15/14 Results
K&N Pro Series East
Race: NKNPSE Bristol 3/15/14
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 13 71 Eddie MacDonald Grimm Const./National MS Society Chevrolet 132 47 4 Running
2 5 20 Gray Gaulding Krispy Kreme Chevrolet 132 42 Running
3 1 41 Ben Rhodes * Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet 132 43 2 Running
4 14 24 Brennan Newberry Qore24 Chevrolet 132 40 Running
5 3 22 Austin Hill * A&D Welding/Don-Rich Ford Ford 132 39 Running
6 24 99 Patrick Staropoli * PEAK Toyota 132 38 Running
7 29 1 David Garbo, Jr. * Big Machine Records/Garbo Lobster Toyota 132 37 Running
8 12 33 Brandon Jones Wolfpack Energy Services Chevrolet 132 36 Running
9 9 52 Matt Tifft Federated Auto Parts Dodge 132 35 Running
10 18 7 Michael McGuire * Woods Towing & Transportation Toyota 132 34 Running
11 11 7 Clint King * King Oil Products Toyota 132 33 Running
12 21 43 Brodie Kostecki * Arcoplate Toyota 132 32 Running
13 10 97 Jesse Little NASCAR Technical Institute Chevrolet 132 31 Running
14 20 0 Cole Custer NAPA Auto Parts/Haas Automation Chevrolet 132 30 Running
15 32 42 Jay Beasley * Toyota Racing Development Toyota 132 29 Running
16 36 12 Brandon Glover * Amer. Legion Post 772/Rinker Oil Dodge 132 28 Running
17 7 98 Cameron Hayley Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet 132 27 Running
18 15 18 Sam Hunt Drive Technology Toyota 132 26 Running
19 16 77 Anderson Bowen * Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 132 25 Running
20 19 31 Kaz Grala * OzLINK Chevrolet 125 24 Running
21 33 21 Mackena Bell Special Smiles Pediatric Dentistry Toyota 125 23 Running
22 6 96 Kenzie Ruston Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet 121 22 Accident
23 28 4 Ronnie Bassett, Jr. * Butler Trailer Mfg. Toyota 116 21 Electrical
24 26 4 Sergio Pena Toyota Racing Development Toyota 111 20 Accident
25 2 46 Brandon Gdovic American Messaging/Windstax.com Toyota 111 19 Accident
26 17 6 Daniel Suarez Toyota Racing Development Toyota 111 18 Accident
27 25 34 Scott Heckert Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet 110 17 Accident
28 27 81 Jeremy Burns * Tomato Vine/BBR Chevrolet 109 16 Accident
29 22 15 Nick Drake * NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 101 15 Accident
30 4 47 Cale Conley PMC Chevrolet 52 14 Accident
31 8 11 Lee Pulliam * Don Valley North Toyota 51 13 Accident
32 34 55 Jerry Dawson * Annie Mac Mortgage/EXIT Realty Toyota 50 12 Accident
33 31 14 Trey Hutchens * Borla Exhaust Chevrolet 40 11 Accident
34 23 2 Ryan Gifford UTI/NASCAR Technical Institute Toyota 18 10 Accident
35 35 19 Chuck Buchanan, Jr. * Spring Drug Chevrolet 6 9 Mechanical
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ben Rhodes *, Time: 16.036 Seconds, Speed: 119.656 mph
Failed to Qualify: (2) Zach Bruenger * (#54), Akinori Ogata (#56).
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 13 mins, 55 secs Average Speed: 57.110 mph Margin of Victory: .728 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 19-24 (Turn 4 Spin # 2 – FP=55); 32-37 (Turn 2 Spin # 14 – FP 55); 52-56 (Turn 2/Backstretch #55, 11, 47 – No FP); 71-73 (Break – FP #18); 104-108 (Turn 2 Spin # 15 – FP #12); 112-118 (Frontstretch #00, 81, 43 – No FP); 122-129 (Spin Turn 3 #96 – FP #77). 7 for 40 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ben Rhodes * 1-130, Eddie MacDonald 131-132.
Total Laps Led: Ben Rhodes * 130, Eddie MacDonald 2. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender