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3 AMIGOS TEQUILA 125
Phoenix International Raceway
Saturday, November 13th |
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| EDDIE 24th after a LAP 107 FIVE CAR
WRECK |
Eddie MacDonald finished 24th in
the 3 Amigos Tequila 125 at Phoenix International
Raceway while participating in the final race for the K
& N Pro Series West. The Grimm Construction Chevy was
running in the eighth position when taken out with a
hard crash into the turn one wall.
The race was marred with 11 caution flags for 49 laps
including three red flags in the 125 lap event on the
mile oval. MacDonald was involved in the ninth caution
on lap 107 when the #2 car of Daryl Harr tried to make
in three wide in turn one with a bonzi move below the
yellow line. The west driver lost it and slid into
MacDonald sending both cars up into the
MacDonald was okay but said, "That was two hard hits. I
don't know what the #2 car was thinking. You can't run
three wide in that turn. The car is junk now. It is just
a shame because we qualified good and wanted to have a
solid finish. We didn't have anything for the leaders
but we were in position for a top ten and possibly a top
five but it was not to be." MacDonald ran a qualifying
lap of 27.906 sec. (129 mph) that was good enough to
start fifth in the 40-car field. When the green flag
waved MacDonald took
the fourth spot but it didn't take long for the first
caution flag to fly on the second lap. After racing
resumed the yellow flags flew regularly with MacDonald
saying, "It was really hard to get any kind of rhythm
going with all the flags. We were bouncing a bit and the
car was free of but the green flag run were not long
enough to get the car settled in."
MacDonald ran in the top eight until pitting for tires
on caution lap 63 then began making his way back up
through the pack. The Rowley, Mass. driver managed to
miss a couple of wrecks but was tagged in the right rear
and spun on lap 70. The crew repaired the damage and
MacDonald restarted in the 25th position. By lap 87
Eddie Mac was 13th and moving to the front. On lap 101
MacDonald was eighth and poised to make a run for a top
five finish but his night ended in turn one on lap 107.
"It was getting crazy out there with the laps winding
down and I had to back out a couple of times with guys
pinching me. We were running three wide a couple of
times and you knew something was going to happen and
unfortunately it happened to us. It is a shame to come
all this way and the only thing to show for it is a
wrecked racecar. We had fun up to that point. This track
is
a lot of fun to drive and it is not anywhere near as
similar to Loudon as we thought. The dogleg on the back
stretch makes it totally different that anything we ever
raced on. I just want to thank Rollie, the crew, and
team owner Rob Grimm for all the hard work and support,
as well as, all our sponsors and fans." |
| NASCAR HOME TRACKS:
Race Report
Results |
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| EDDIE QUALIFIES 5th at PHOENIX out of 44
CARS |
| Greg Pursley wins his third
Coors Light Pole Award of the season and the fifth of
his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West career. Tom Dyer
qualified second, followed by David Mayhew, Dusty Davis
and Eddie MacDonald. Justin Johnson,
Michael Waltrip, Stan Silva, Brennan Newberry and Ty
Dillon round out the top 10. Eric Holmes qualified 13th
and will clinch his third championship by starting
Saturday's race.
Full
Qualfying Results |
| NASCAR HOME TRACKS:
Lap by
Lap
K&N
West at Phoenix
Practice Times |
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MACDONALD IS ENTERED in K&N PRO SERIES WEST RACE at
PHOENIX |
Eddie MacDonald and the Grimm Racing Team will travel west this
week to compete in the season finale for the K & N Pro Series
West at Phoenix International Raceway. The 3 Amigos Tequila 125
will be held on Saturday, November 13th as a prelim to the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase race to be run on Sunday.
“We have wanted to run out there for some time and the entire
team is really pleased to be going out there to compete with the
west guys,” said MacDonald. “It will be a lot of fun to be part
of another Chase weekend and we hope to have a good finish. The
west guys definitely have an advantage at Phoenix since they run
there twice a year but the track is similar in some ways to
Loudon in length and banking, so hopefully we will have the
right set up there. I know Rollie and the crew are excited about
racing there and putting on a good show. ”
The final will be the twelfth race of the season for the K & N
Pro Series West as Eric Holmes has dominated with five wins in
eleven races and will certainly present a challenge to MacDonald
and the rest of the field. “Eric is having an awesome year and
has had great success at Phoenix over the years but there are
also a lot of other guys who can get it done. We have seen how
well David Mayhew runs and Paulie Harraka has had a great
season. We have run with most of those guys at Iowa and
Irwindale so we know what to expect. They are every bit as
competitive as the guys in the East series.”
MacDonald and crew chief Rollie LaChance would like nothing
better than to steal the win out there with Eddie Mac saying,
“We finished fifth in the points race this year and we did not
have a win so the season was a little disappointing. It would be
great to take the win out there to finish the season off strong.
Everyone on the team is happy to be racing out in Phoenix but we
are not just going for the fun of it, we are going there to
win.”
Practice and qualifying for the 3 Amigos Tequila 125 on the mile
oval will be held on Thursday then have Friday off before
competing on Saturday. |
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