MacDonald Kisses Thunder Road Milk Bowl Queen
Posted By Tj Ingerson On October 12, 2014
Categories: American-Canadian Tour | Thunder Road
PHOTO: Eddie MacDonald plants a tender kiss on Daisy Dalton following his 52nd Annual People's United Bank Milk Bowl win. (T.J. Ingerson/VMM photo)
--by T.J. Ingerson (@TJIngerson)
VMM Editor
BARRE -- What a difference a year makes.
Eddie MacDonald didn’t even qualify for the People’s United Bank Milk Bowl one year ago, but on Sunday, he shared a sweet smooth with the Vermont Dairy Queen after he was crowned Milk Bowl champion.
“It’s pretty cool,” MacDonald said. “We weren’t really sure that (he’d be racing). We kept going back and forth because we really wanted to run Lee (at Oktoberfest) being my home track and everything. We’ve struggled so bad here in the past.
“You like a challenge, but to go from last year to this year is just great. Freddie Peterson, the car owner, really loves this place and really talked us into coming. I’m glad he did now.”
The Rowley, Mass., driver started the first three-segment, 150-lap event in the third spot and quickly moved into the second spot behind polesitter Joey Polewarczyk Jr. A lap nine restart netted MacDonald the lead and held off two-time track champion Derrick O’Donnell on a late race restart to win the first segment.
MacDonald was relegated to the 24th starting spot after the invert and glued himself on O’Donnell’s rear bumper as the two, along with third place finisher in the first segment John Donahue, weaved their way through the field. A restart with eight laps to go allowed MacDonald to work his way past O’Donnell and finish fifth, while the Thunder Road champion finished seventh.
“We were in front of (O’Donnell) at one point and I got jacked up coming off of (turn) four and thought I was going to lose it,” MacDonald explained. “They both got by me and I didn’t think that was going to be too good because I wanted to make sure I had a little bit of a lead going into (the final segment).
“When there were about five laps to go, I really ran it hard on the outside and was able to just clear him enough and was able to put one car between us to gain that extra point. I think that was a huge part of it and it gave us a little bit of comfort going into the third round.”
MacDonald once again started behind O’Donnell and Donahue, but stayed glued to them through the first 25 laps of the final 50-lap segment. On lap 20, MacDonald was able to work himself past O’Donnell and stayed in front of him to secure the Milk Bowl triumph.
“I was driving real hard, but I was really just trying to keep it smooth because the tires were pretty worn out,” MacDonald said of the third segment. “I was just hanging on trying not to spin them and let John get up underneath me. I knew he was there a couple of times. I just wanted to make sure I stayed ahead of him.
“That was the whole plan and then we had ten to go. I just wanted to stay out of trouble and it all paid off.”
MacDonald, who made his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start earlier this year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will now see his name be etched in Milk Bowl history forever.
“I saw a picture of (the monument) with all the names on it and it seemed really neat to be able to do that,” MacDonald said. “But I wasn’t even thinking that way because then you start thinking you’re going to win. I always try to put that out of my mind until we actually pull it off.”
The only part of the day that may have been less than great was his kiss with the cow.
“I’m not a big fan of kissing the cow thing,” MacDonald laughed, “but it’s a pretty cool tradition.”
O’Donnell, of North Haverhill, N.H., finished second overall with 20 points overall after finishes of second, seventh, and 11th. Donahue, of Graniteville, Vt., finished third overall with finishes of third, eighth, and tenth for 21 points overall. Donahue was involved in a vicious crash after the checkered flag had flown that saw him hit the wall, spin out, and then hit by Matt White. Both drivers were uninjured.
Scott Dragon of Colchester, Vt., finished fourth overall with finishes of seventh, 11th, and fourth for 22 points overall while Cody Blake used finishes of sixth, 17th, and second to finish fifth overall with 25 points.
Segment three winner Brad Babb finished sixth overall while Trampas Demers finished seventh overall. Chip Grenier, Dave Pembroke, and Bobby Therrien completed the top-ten finishers overall.
Jimmy Hebert won the second segment.
Vermont Motorsports Magazine will have more from the 52nd Annual People’s United Bank Milk Bowl this week.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS -- 52nd Annual People’s United Bank Milk Bowl
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl, Barre, Vt.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown-Score
1. (3) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass. -- (1 + 5 + 8 = 14 pts)
2. (4) Derrick O’Donnell, North Haverhill, N.H. -- (2 + 7 + 11 = 20 pts)
3. (7) John Donahue, Graniteville, Vt. -- (3 + 8 + 10 = 21 pts)
4. (13) Scott Dragon, Colchester, Vt. -- (7 + 11 + 4 = 22 pts)
5. (5) Cody Blake, Barre, Vt. -- (6 + 17 + 2 = 25 pts)
6. (10) Brad Babb, Windham, Maine -- (4 + 23 + 1 = 28 pts)
7. (8) Trampas Demers, South Burlington, Vt. -- (10 + 6 + 15 = 31 pts)
8. (16) Chip Grenier, Graniteville, Vt. -- (16 + 9 + 7 = 32 pts)
9. (14) Dave Pembroke, Middlesex, Vt. -- (9 + 10 + 14 = 33 pts)
10. (9) Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, Vt. -- (8 + 20 + 6 = 34 pts)
11. (28) Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown, Vt. -- (18 + 1 + 16 = 35 pts)
12. (12) Matt White, Northfield, Vt. -- (11 + 14 + 13 = 38 pts)
13. (30) Jeff White, Winthrop, Maine -- (24 + 3 + 12 = 39 pts)
14. (29) Eric Badore, Milton, Vt. -- (22 + 4 + 18 = 44 pts)
15. (2) Alex Labbe, St-Albert, Que. -- (29 + 13 + 3 = 45 pts)
16. (18) Eric Chase, Milton, Vt. -- (21 + 15 + 9 = 45 pts)
17. (6) Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton, Vt. -- (14 + 12 + 19 = 45 pts)
18. (20) Tyler Cahoon, St. Johnsbury, Vt. -- (23 + 2 + 22 = 47 pts)
19. (27) Shawn Fleury, Middlesex, Vt. -- (26 + 24 + 5 = 55 pts)
20. (22) Nick Sweet, Barre, Vt. -- (17 + 18 + 21 = 56 pts)
21. (15) Phil Scott, Berlin, Vt. -- (13 + 19 + 27 = 59 pts)
22. (24) Brooks Clark, Fayston, Vt. -- (15 + 27 + 20 = 62 pts)
23. (26) Jean-Francois Dery, Quebec, Que. -- (20 + 16 + 26 = 62 pts)
24. (1) Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, N.H. -- (5 + 23 + 28 = 62 pts)
25. (25) Ricky Roberts, East Barre, Vt. -- (25 + 26 + 17 = 68 pts)
26. (17) Mike Bailey, South Barre, Vt. -- (19 + 25 + 24 = 68 pts)
27. (11) Brandon Atkins, AuSable Forks, N.Y. -- (12 + 28 + 28 = 68 pts)
28. (23) Elie Arseneau, Morin-Height, Que. -- (28 + 22 + 23 = 73 pts)
29. (21) Stacy Cahoon, St. Johnsbury, Vt. -- (27 + 21 + 25 = 73 pts)
30. (19) Jason Corliss, Barre, Vt. -- (30 + 30 + 28 = 88 pts)
PHOTOS:
1. Eddie MacDonald plants a tender kiss on Daisy Dalton following his 52nd Annual People's United Bank Milk Bowl win. (T.J. Ingerson/VMM photo)
2. Eddie MacDonald (center) celebrates his win with his car owner Freddie Peterson (right), crew chief Rollie LaChance (left), and their wives. (T.J. Ingerson/VMM photo)