Eddie MacDonald won Saturday’s Granite State Pro Stock Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Troy Bregy photo)
LOUDON, N.H. – Heading into Saturday’s inaugural New England Short Track Showdown presented by AR Bodies at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Eddie MacDonald was heralded as one of the favorites to capture the Granite State Pro Stock Series checkered flag.
Behind the wheel of his No. 17, MacDonald showed exactly why during the course of the race day.
‘Eddie Mac’ scored the victory in his heat race and then went on to notch the win in the 50-lap feature event as part of the inaugural stop for the series on the 1.058-mile oval.
D.J. Shaw and Matt Swanson joined MacDonald as podium finishers.
Although MacDonald got out front early and seemed to be the race dominator, he faded just before the halfway point and Shaw was able to slide by and take the lead at lap 19.
MacDonald mentioned post-race that he had a right-rear tire blistering, and also had the deck lid of the car come off while on the track, which slowed his efforts in the first half.
However, during a halfway break with 22 laps to go, MacDonald’s team went to work and fixed the body and gave him two new right side tires to attempt to work his way back to the front.
On the restart, MacDonald slid to the inside of Shaw and took over the advantage, pulling away into glory and capturing another Loudon victory.
Going into Saturday’s main event, MacDonald had already won races on the ‘Magic Mile’ in multiple different touring series and he was able to use that experience to his advantage and capture the inaugural Granite State Pro Stock Series stop at the ‘Magic Mile’.
Shaw finished second behind the wheel of his No. 90, just a little bit short of capturing the checkered flag, while his team car followed in third courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regular Swanson.
Mike O’Sullivan was fourth, while brother Tommy O’Sullivan came home just behind in fifth.
Nick Lascuola, Mike Scorzelli, Barry Gray, Josh King and Wyatt Alexander completed the top 10.
Early cautions plagued the race, including an incident on the backstretch that took out Travis Fisher and Kevin Casper.
Shortly after, a major crash in turn one started when Scott MacMichael blew a motor in front of the field. Ben Rowe, Derek Griffith and Billy Brady, along with others, were involved and the crash ended their days as well.
Next up for the Granite State Pro Stock Series is the series’ second of two stops at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H.
RESULTS: Granite State Pro Stock Series; New Hampshire Motor Speedway; July 1, 2017
- Eddie MacDonald
- D.J. Shaw
- Matt Swanson
- Mike O’Sullivan
- Tommy O’Sullivan
- Nick Lascuola
- Mike Scorzelli
- Barry Gray
- Josh King
- Wyatt Alexander
- Joe Decker
- Heywood Herriot
- Greg Nanigian
- Cory Casagrande
- Eddie Fatscher
- Zig Geno
- Scott MacMichael
- Derek Griffith
- Joe Graf
- Ben Rowe
- Phil Richardson
- Devin O’Connell
- Billy Brady
- Zane Zeiner
- Travis Fisher
- Kevin Casper
CREDIT: Granite State Pro Stock Series