ON SITE: Eddie MacDonald, Rollie Lachance team up for win at New Hampshire

Call it the "2-Post Rig" success story.

Competing against teams with backing from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series superteams, Rollie Lachance and Eddie MacDonald teamed up to win one for both the little guy and a little Yankee ingenuity at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Lachance crafted a handmade version of the latest and greatest suspension machine in stock-car racing, and MacDonald took car of repeated challenges from rookie Trevor Bayne to win the Heluva Good! Summer 125 for the NASCAR Camping World East Series on Friday.

In an age where it's nearly impossible to compete with the money Cup teams have, the crew chief Lachance and the driver MacDonald clicked off half of their summer "to-do" list.

"It's really awesome, because you look up and down (pit road) and I see some guys that are going to be on the boxes on Saturday and are going to be on the boxes Sunday," said Lachance of the victory. "You're beating the very best.

"To win at this place, your planets need to align. This series, it was always tough -- but this series now, I mean, it's extremely tough."

Matt Kobyluck finished 3rd, and rookie points leader Austin Dillon and Ricky Carmichael rounded out the top-5. Bayne is a Dale Eanrhardt Inc. development driver, while Dillon runs out of the Richard Childress Stable. Ricky Carmichael races for Ken Schrader Racing.

All year, Lachance has heard the stories of teams having their cars on the 7-Post rig -- a suspension device simulating the loads on a car during racing, one with roots in the highly-technological world of open-wheel racing -- for days at a time. At the tiny shop for the No. 71 team, Lachance and the crew have built by hand a crude, elementary version with poles built into the garage's second floor just to keep the car's wheels pinned to the ground.

It's not exactly Hendrick Motorsports.

"The technology of these cars is unbelievable," said Lachance, who like MacDonald had never won at New Hampshire before. "I wish I had a picture of our rig in Eddie's shop... We're down on creepers under the car measuring (stuff). We call it our 2-Post rig."

MacDonald took the lead for the final time on lap 122 -- emerging from a series of crossover moves performed deftly by he and Bayne to grab the lead at the start-finish line by less than a fender. The caution came out to set up a green-white-checker finish, and MacDonald pulled away.

"We've had a lot of fast cars here, but we just haven't been able to finish," said MacDonald, who had to rally back from deep in the field after pitting for 2 tires, giving up 3rd place on lap 83 to do so.

"On the restart, I was just hoping it was going to be alright. I just needed to get a jump."

Now, the team will turn its attention to the Oxford 250 on July 20, an open Late Model competition.

"This is one of my 2 races I want to win," Lachance said of Friday's race, which started more than 90 minutes late after midday rain showers. "The other one is coming up in about 3 weeks. This is just awesome. It hasn't really sunk in yet."

Comments

[OPSMedia]

Couldn't be happier to hear that result. Chalk one up for the little guys. Congratulations to Eddie, Rollie and crew, and best of luck on 7/20.

[Chris Blonda]

Way to go Eddie, Rollie and the whole Grimm Racing team!!! Janis and I are absolutely thrilled for you guys... NHMS is definitely the "Big One" and the whole lot of you derserve to be in Victory Lane. Congrats!

Eddie can drive the wheels off of anything and against the big financed teams, Rollie just proved his brilliance.

[Mark]

Somebody who can drive anything and be a threat for the win makes will start to create a following. He'll have a long way to go still to match the accomplishments of our regional legends, but am I the only one who feels that he's approaching the status that somebody like Dave Dion had in his early years?

I would use that comparison with trepidation if I didn't feel that it had merit. MacDonald is now somebody you start to look for in the pits at a big race...because the event somehow feels bigger if he's there and you know he'll be in the hunt. Like when I used to see if Dion or Hanley or McCabe were at the track yet.

What a way to make a name for yourself...by winning!