MacDonald Wins TD Banknorth 250, OPS Story & Results

Eddie McDonald led the final 83 laps Sunday night, holding off Canada's
Patrick Laperle by nearly a full second to win the 36th annual TD
Banknorth 250 Presented By New England Dodge Dealers at Oxford Plains
Speedway.

MacDonald, 29, of Rowley, Mass., one of the top drivers in the NASCAR
Camping World East Series, conquered one of the nation's most storied
short track races in only his third try.

He surrendered the lead to Brian Hoar in order to pit under caution on lap
129. After falling out of the top 10, MacDonald charged back through the
field to reclaim the top spot from Hoar on the 168th circuit.

MacDonald won $35,300, walking away with more than $10,000 in lap-leader
bonus money for the second straight year.

Laperle lurked within two car lengths with roughly 25 laps remaining
before MacDonald pulled away. John Donahue was third, followed by Hoar and
Shawn Martin.

Brent Dragon, who led 81 of the first 90 laps, finished sixth, followed by
two-time champion Ben Rowe, Cris Michaud, Brad Leighton and Travis
Stearns.

Forty-three cars started the event, including NASCAR stars Kenny and Steve
Wallace. Both failed to qualify through three rounds of heat races and
took provisional starting spots.

Steve Wallace ran 21st, while his uncle retired from the event with motor
problems and finished 33rd.

Seventy-one drivers attempted to qualify.

MacDonald is only the third Massachusetts driver to win the 250, joining
Joey Kourafas (1974) and Tom Rosati (1979).

His team, co-owned by MacDonald and Rollie and Laura LaChance, is based in
nearby New Gloucester.


 Official finish:
Fin. (Start) No., driver, hometown, laps completed, money won
1. (3) #17x Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., 326, $35,300
2. (10) #91 Patrick Laperle, St. Denis, Quebec, 326, $12,600
3. (6) #26VT John Donahue, Graniteville, Vt.. 326, $10,200
4. (7) #37X Brian Hoar, Williston, Vt., 326, $9,800
5. (29) #94 Shawn Martin, Turner, 326, $5,000
6. (1) #55VT Brent Dragon, Milton. Vt., 326, $12,100
7. (32) #10NH Ben Rowe, Turner, 326, $3,500
8. (4) #6x Cris Michaud. East Montpelier, Vt., 326, $3,000
9. (8) #55NH Brad Leighton, Center Harbor, N.H., 326, $2,500
10. (2) #85 Travis Stearns, Auburn, 326, $2,400
11. (5) #03E Travis Adams, Canton, 326, $2,300
12. (11) #25 Shawn Knight, South Paris, 326, $2,200
13. (15) #15VT Joey Laquerre, East Montpelier, Vt., 326, $2,100
14. (21) #71 Scott Dragon, Milton, Vt., 326, $2,050
15. (12) #97 Joey Polewarczyk Jr., Hudson, N.H., 325, $2,000
16. (9) #88 Nick Sweet, Barre, Vt., 325, $1,850
17. (37) #48Q Karl Allard, St. Felicien, Quebec, 324, $1,750
18. (31) #7ME Glen Luce, Turner, 324, $1,700
19. (24) #51ME Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township, 324, $1,650
20. (39) #7VT Eric Williams, Hyde Park, Vt., 324, $1,600
21. (42) #66 Steve Wallace, Charlotte, N.C., 323, $1,550
22. (30) #02 Randy Potter, Groveton, N.H., 323, $1,525
23. (41) #72 Scott Robbins, Dixfield, 322, $1,500
24. (38) #57 Doug Coombs, Livermore, 318, $1,450
25. (40) #15 Ben Ashline, Pittston, 318, $1,425
26. (26) #26ME Corey Morgan, Lewiston, 318, $1,400
27. (34) #16 Joey Becker, Jeffersonville, Vt., 316, $1,375
28. (36) #63 Don Wentworth, Otisfield, 315, $1,350
29. (33) #10ME Jimmy Childs, Leeds, 312, $1,325
30. (23) #41 Pete Potvin III, Graniteville, Vt., 309, $1,300
31. (13) #50 Jeff White, Winthrop, 303, $1,275
32. (19) #48 Kenny Harrison, Pownal, 274, $1,250
33. (43) #51MO Kenny Wallace, St. Louis, Mo., 269, $1,225
34. (35) #18 Carey Martin, Denmark, 245, $1,200
35. (28) #36 Brad Hammond, Turner, 227, $1,150
36. (27) #17ON Pete Sheppard, Brampton, Ontario, 211, $1,125
37. (16) #80 Donald Theetge, Charlesbourg, Quebec, 209, $1,125
38. (22) #6 Tommy Ricker, Poland, 187, $1,125
39. (25) #37 Larry Gelinas, Scarborough, 175, $1,125
40. (17) #1C Billy Childs Jr., Leeds, 154, $1,125
41. (20) #1 Al Hammond, Paris, 149, $1,125
42. (18) #78 Quinten Welch, Lancaster, N.H., 101, $1,125
43. (14) #60 Tim Brackett, Buckfield, 97, $1,125
Green flag lap leaders: B. Dragon 1-4, MacDonald 5-13, B. Dragon 14-90,
Donahue 91-112, Laperle 113, Donahue 114-118, MacDonald 119-129, Hoar
130-167, MacDonald 168-250.
Cautions: 10 (laps 32, 32, 91, 129, 134, 135, 165, 167, 183, 212)
Time of race: 2 hours, 10 minutes, 48.591 seconds
Margin of victory: 0.969 seconds