photo by Rich Hayes
Eddie MacDonald opened last season’s PASS schedule with a victory at Thompson Motorsports Park’s Icebreaker and hopes to repeat that performance this Sunday, April 8 on the famed Thompson speedway. Eddie Mac will pilot the Dave Lemieux owned Pro Stock in as many as nine events with his sights set on an Icebreaker win.
“Racing at Thompson is always fun and you couldn’t ask for anything better than starting the season off competing in the Icebreaker,” said the Rowley, Mass. veteran racer. “Everyone is excited to get going this season and we have the car ready to go so it should be a lot of fun. EXIT Realty Beatrice Associates will be our main sponsor for this race and we are thankful to Derek Beatrice for all his help. We had a great car last year in the opener to get the win so the goal we have is to get another victory to start the season. “
The Pro All-Star Series race on Sunday is scheduled for 100 laps as opposed to 75 laps last season with practice and qualifying scheduled for Saturday. The first practice is 9:30-9:55 AM, with the second and final practice 11:50-12:15 PM. Qualifying races of 10 laps are scheduled after the 12:15 opening ceremonies with consolation races, if necessary, of 12 laps to follow later in the afternoon.
“We don’t have a lot of practice time so it is very important to have the car set-up and ready to go right from the start of practice,” said Eddie Mac. “Rollie (crew chief Rollie LaChance) and I know what we need to have to be competitive at Thompson but we have to be ready to make quick adjustments. Everyone is in the same boat so it will fun to get things dialed in for qualifying. This track is very fast with long straights and high banked corners so the car has to have a lot of power but also needs to turn in the corners. You can’t win at this track unless you have both.”
“None of this would be possible without the help of a lot of people and we are thankful to have the continued support of many of the same people through the years, “said Eddie Mac. “Dave Lemieux (Lemieux Home Builders) and Brian Neal (Neal Excavating) have given us everything we need to be successful. Derek Beatrice has been great as well as Rob Grimm. Our Late Model owner Freddie Peterson (Peterson Auto Body) helps us out and huge thanks to Paul Rinaldi for his engine building expertise. Our crew from last year will be returning and their experience and dedication is a huge part of our success. We hope to see a lot of our friends at Thompson this weekend.”
Eddie Mac’s American Canadian Tour first race this season will take the green flag at Lee USA Speedway in the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 rescheduled for Sunday, April 22nd with practice on Saturday, April 21st.