GRIMM RACING - NASCAR K&N Pro Series East

Home Tracks 150
presented by
Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet

Greenville-Pickens Speedway
Greenville, SC - .500 mile
April 11th, 2009

THIRD PLACE FINISH FOR EDDIE AT GREENVILLE

The Home Tracks 150 at legendary Greenville-Pickens Speedway opened the season for the NASCAR Camping World East Series with a very satisfying third place finish for Eddie and the #71 Grimm Racing team.

“ It was a great start to the season and I am very happy that we ran so well at this track,” said Eddie after the race. “It was a little disappointing not to finish second after running most of the race in that spot. But overall, everyone is pleased with the run.”

Eddie started third after a solid qualifying run. “We improved nearly a second from our best practice run and the car was fast. It was almost the same set-up we had last year so it felt great to run that well (20.937 sec.-85.972 mph). We had a brake problem in practice but we were able to fix it in time for qualifying.”

A huge wreck at the start of the race forced a restart and when the green flag flew the rookie Moffitt missed a shift and the Grimm Chevy slid under the rear of the #44 causing considerable damage to the nose of Eddie’s car. “The car started overheating right away and it was a problem for the rest of the race but fortunately everything worked out.”

When the race finally got underway, Eddie quickly grabbed second and was able to maintain a good lead over the third place car with the Rowley, Mass. driver saying, “ It was great to start up front because I was able to run the car hard for five to ten laps then save the tires for the end. I could get the car to run a little cooler since I didn’t have to run hard all the time. My strategy was to run hard, then get a few lapped cars between me and the third place car.”

Eddie led the race three times but it was readily evident Ickler was the dominant car. “Ickler’s car was awesome. I knew we did not have the car to beat him. We had a great car today but he was better.”

A late race caution for debris forced Eddie to restart on the outside giving the #88 the inside lane. The two raced for position with the #71 making a move under the #88 when the fourth place car hit Eddie’s rear bumper driving the car sideways. “I was able to save it but with only eight laps to go I couldn’t get around Jody. We were just washing up the track in turns one and two after that. We had a second place car today but finishing third is pretty good. Rollie and the team did an excellent job preparing the car and now we have to get ready for Tri-County. It feels great knowing we have a car that will compete for the win every time we race.”

Race Report by Penny Aicardi at
NERacing.com

EDDIE MACDONALD & GRIMM RACING
READY FOR SERIES OPENER

The NASCAR Camping World East Series Home Tracks 150 presented by Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on April 11 kicks off what hopes to be a successful season for the Grimm Racing Team. After finishing seventh in the points last year, Eddie feels all the hard work and dedication will pay off for the team in only its second full year of operation.

“Last year was our first full season with Rob Grimm as an owner and we were very happy with our success. Rob continues to provide us with what we need. This year we expect to do even better because we have essentially the same crew and this is really important to any success we have on the track. We have had all winter to prepare our cars and everyone has done a great job. We are ready to go”, said Eddie at the Newbury, Mass. shop.

The Grimm Construction Chevy finished fifth in last season’s opener at the historic half mile oval but Eddie is hopeful this year’s run will be a lot better saying, “ Last year we did not qualify well at all and had to start in the back of the pack. The car did not handle well at all but we were lucky enough to miss the wrecks and work our way up through the field. It was good enough for a fifth place finish but we hope to have a much more competitive car this weekend. We need to get there to work on the race set-up. It is a unique track and it is really fun to drive.”

Eddie has had a lot of his success on flat tracks and sees Greenville-Pickens as an opportunity to start the season on a very positive note saying, “We would like nothing better to start off with win at this track. There is so much history there. It is fun just to be out there running on the track that had so many great drivers compete there. But you have to be patient, try to run the inside, and stay out of trouble. You have to manage your tires because that place eats them up quickly. There are a lot of good teams and drivers in the series this year so it should be a fun race for everyone.”

With only eleven races on the schedule, Eddie knows that finishing every race is important to challenge for the championship saying, “We need to eliminate problems. Last year we had two engine failures at the road course tracks. We had a fuel pump issue that knocked us out of another race. If we just had decent runs at those tracks we could have finished much better in the points. We need to stay on the track and stay out of trouble.”

Eddie is eager to start the season knowing crew chief Rollie LaChance and the crew will do whatever it takes to win saying, “I can’t say enough about how well Rollie and the crew work together. I am very happy to have everyone back and focused on improving on last year. These guys work hard so we can be successful every week.”