By Lou Modestino
The American Canadian Tour opener at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida will feature three nights of racing as part of the World Series of Asphalt Racing with Eddie MacDonald ready to participate in the inaugural American Racer Challenge Cup. The Cup Challenge is slated to take the green flag for two 100 lap events on Monday, February 16 and Tuesday, February 17. The ACT cars will also be in action on Sunday, February 15 as a stand-alone 100 lap event made possible when a racing series cancelled their participation.
“We are ready and excited to race at New Smyrna Speedway in February,” said Eddie Mac. “Last time we were there (2011), we didn’t finish too well (seventh overall) but we have the new car that won a couple of times last year so we are looking to greatly improve that finish. This car won the ACT opener at Lee in the Governor’s Cup and the Milk Bowl at Thunder Road plus a couple of other solid finishes last season.”
Upwards of thirty cars have entered the event and will be racing for the $35,000 purse. The overall winner will be crowned based on the two best combined finishes. Individual winners will be recognized each night. The special stand-alone race on Sunday will be run after the season opener for the K&N Pro Series East race with 26 cars entered.
The Hancock Electric-Grimm Construction Chevy will run all three events with Eddie Mac recognizing a number of people responsible for making the trip possible saying, “This is an expensive trip for all the teams and our trip would not be possible without the help from Freddie and Sheila Peterson our car owners, Ken and Scott Thompson from Hancock Electric in Quincy, and Rob Grimm our K&N team owner who continues to support Rollie (LaChance- crew chief) and me in the ACT series. I can’t thank Freddie and Sheila enough for everything they do. They have fun racing and hopefully winning and give us whatever we need to be successful. Kenny and Scott have been helping us out for many years and we are very grateful. Kenny is making the trip so we hope to get a win for him.”
“Of course our crew deserves a lot of credit for their efforts,” continued Eddie Mac. “Our success at the track starts in the shop with Joe St Jacques working on the body and John Tiernan handling the painting with Bobby Wood providing the transportation as well as machining parts we need. Our regular racing crew of Rob Drandson, Tom Rice, Donny Higginbotham, and Rollie’s family will be making the trip.”
“New Smyrna is a fast, high banked half mile track that provides great racing with Eddie Mac saying, “The track is a lot like Thompson, fast and a lot of fun to drive. With the long straights and banked turns you have some great side by side and tight racing. It will be a tough field of cars with a number of top drivers but we are confident we can win there.”
“Everyone is excited and ready to go racing. It should be fun.”
Source: Lee USA/ACT Tour PR