Eddie MacDonald Will Open ACT Season at Lee USA Speedway April 24th
Eddie MacDonald will take the green flag at Lee USA Speedway, his family-owned track, on Sunday, April 24th in the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 American Canadian Tour’s 25th season opener. As the 2014 Governor’s Cup winner, Eddie Mac would like nothing better than to start the season off with a victory on the track he honed his skills as a teenager.
“We are really looking forward to this race and hope to win in front of all our families and friends,” said Eddie Mac. “My parent’s, Judy and Red, will be celebrating their 30th season owning and operating Lee. It would be awesome to win this for them for everything they have done for me. They haven’t put any pressure on me to win other than my father expecting me to win every race, but I know it would mean a lot to them.”
Following last season’s finale in the Fall Brawl at Speedway 51 the #17 Freddie Peterson owned Hancock Electric/Exit Realty Chevy needed extensive body repairs with Eddie and the crew spending a lot of shop time getting the car back in shape with Eddie saying, “We had to replace all the body panels, nerf bars and just about everything else you could think of but it looks great and we think it will be fast once we hit the track. The guys worked hard getting everything done. Joe St. Jacques did a great job with metal and tin and John Tiernan did his usual great job with the paint and lettering. Rob Drandson took care of all the welding. Herbie Wing and Dick Casey were the guys taking everything apart and putting it all back together. Rollie and I have been putting the final touches in for the set up so we are ready to go.”
A full field is expected to be on hand this year when Tom Curley’s ACT Tour takes the green flag for the first of the thirteen scheduled races for the 2016 season. Eddie Mac and crew chief Rollie LaChance will attempt to run as many ACT races as possible to compete for the ACT championship with Eddie saying, ”Rollie and I talked about running for the championship and we will run as many as we can as long as they don’t conflict with our K&N Pro Series East schedule. We will run a limited K&N schedule but of course that is our main focus. There are a few scheduling conflicts and one coming up soon. We will race the K&N Pitlite 125 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night April 16 then fly back Sunday morning April 17 to run the afternoon ACT race at Oxford Plains Speedway. There are a couple of other races we have to work out logistics. We will be busy but it will be fun.”
Of course none of this would be possible without the help of the sponsors. Celebrating another anniversary is the relationship with Kenny and Scott Thompson from Hancock Electric Motor Service in Quincy, Mass with Eddie saying, “This is the tenth year Hancock Electric has sponsored our efforts. When we didn’t know if we would get to the next K&N race ten years ago, Kenny Thompson stepped up to keep us racing for the season and I will be forever grateful. After Rob Grimm bought our K&N team Kenny stuck with us and sponsored our Late Model. Even after Kenny retired and his son Scott took over the business, Hancock Electric is still on the car. I can’t thank them enough. They are and will always be a member of our family.”
Last year Exit Realty Beatrice Associates located in Middleton and Somerville came aboard and will again sponsor the car for the upcoming season with Eddie Mac saying, “Last year we welcomed aboard Exit Realty and we have a great relationship with Derek Beatrice and have had a lot of fun with the Exit Realty family in a number of promotional events last year. Derek is a terrific guy and we continue to look forward to expanding our relationship.”
The #17 will again display the Grimm Construction logo on the hood of the car as it does in the K & N series. Also on the car are the logos of Stilo, HMS Motorsports, and Schroth Racing. Also, Bobby Wood is a huge contributor to the Freddie and Sheila Peterson owned ride from Peterson Automotive Inc. in Peabody, Mass.
The action begins with a test and tune day scheduled for Saturday at Lee with the action beginning on Sunday at noon with the ACT car’s Happy Hour practice. Qualifying and last chance qualifiers will follow with the Governor’s Cup 150 scheduled to take the green flag at 4:00 pm.
Sources: Eddie MacDonald PR