LOUDON, N.H. — Eddie MacDonald is on a hot streak.

  It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s the biggest short-track event in the region or a Late Model race on new
England’s only superspeedway. Right now, it seems as if ‘The Outlaw’ is king of his domain.

After winning Friday night’s NASCAR’s Camping World East series race, MacDonald drove around the outside of Brandon Watson in turns 1 and 2 on lap 45 and hung on to win the inaugural ACT (American-Canadian Tour) Invitational Saturday evening at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

MacDonald, who also swept both East races here in 2008, started 19th on the 36-car grid, worked his way into the top five by halfway, and put his car in contention when it counted. Nick Sweet, the 2008 ACT rookie-of-the-year was second, while Brandon Watson, 16, of Stayner, Ontario, finished third by a nose ahead of Quebec veteran Patrick Laperle. John Donahue, of Graniteville, Vt., completed the top five.

MacDonald earned $3,500 for his efforts.

“My crew did an awesome job,” MacDonald said. “This car pretty much drove itself. It handled perfectly the whole way and was strong in the closing laps. I have to thank Tom Curley and the ACT staff for staging this race, it was huge for short track racers in the Northeast. I’ve had a great weekend with the help of Rollie Lachance and this whole team.”

Earlier this summer, MacDonald won the prestigious TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

MacDonald will now focus on his goal of securing the Camping World East series title next weekend in Dover, Del. He trails Ryan Truex by 30 markers with one race remaining.

Sweet was happy with his performance, given the fact he’s only a sophomore on the ACT circuit and, like all but a handful of the ACT regulars, had no experience on a 1-mile oval.

“Our car wasn’t really that good when we first got here,” Sweet said. “We made a couple of adjustments before the start, and the car got better as the race progressed. It’s been a lot of fun racing here, I’m thrilled to have been a part of it and come away with a solid runner-up finish.”

Only two cautions slowed the pace, neither for serious incident. Vermont’s Eric Chase spun going through turn 1 on lap 31, then multi-time TD Banknorth 250 winner Ben Rowe cut a tire going through turns 3 and 4 and slapped the outside retaining wall. 

The race took just under 40 minutes to complete, a clean and mostly-green show for ACT’s debut at NHMS. Finishing sixth through 10th was Joey Laquerre, Brad Leighton, Brian Hoar, Bruce Thomas and Joey Polewarczyk Jr. Twenty-five of the 36 starters finished on the lead lap, while five cars were one lap down.

There were five lead changes among four drivers. MacDonald’s margin of victory was three car lengths over Sweet.
Berwick, Maine, driver Joey Doiron led the first 20 laps before Connecticut-based Bruce Thomas took command. Watson took his turn up front at lap 33 and held the position briefly before MacDonald took over the point for the first time at lap 36.

Oxford Plains Speedway veterans Travis Adams and Shawn Martin had a tough day at NHMS. Adams started 30th (all
positions were established by a random draw) and finished 32nd after completing 47 of the 50-lap distance. Martin started fourth, stayed in the top 10 for several laps and brought the No. 94 machine home in 14th.

Former Oxford point champion (2003) Ricky Rolfe of Albany Township finished 28th, while Doiron faded to 31st in the closing laps. Rowe wound up 33rd after his encounter with the wall, while T.J. Watson (34th) and Glen Luce (35th) were the last cars from Maine in the final rundown. 

After the inaugural show was in the books, ACT officials were pleased with how things unfolded. Most of the crowd on hand for the Truck series 200 stayed for the ACT show, and the race was clean and competitive.

“This was as much as I had ever hoped for,” ACT president Tom Curley said. “I think one of the strange things about it was the No. 88 (Sweet) and the No. 15 (Laquerre) were two of the fastest cars, and they were two of the last drivers I picked to invite. We had a clean race with side-by-side battles up front and out back, as well. I’m thrilled with how it all unfolded, and I’m really proud of the way these guys raced here.”