2008 Heluva Good! Summer 125
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The 2008 Heluva Good! Summer 125 was a Camping World East Series event held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 27, 2008. Eddie MacDonald hit the highlight of his thus far so-so season, holding off a strong effort by Trevor Bayne for the victory. Points leader Austin Dillon finished fourth in his first race with a family team and maintained a 48-point championship lead on Matt Kobyluck (3rd).
[edit] NASCAR Race Recap
LOUDON, N.H. - Eddie MacDonald outdueled Dale Earnhardt Inc. development driver Trevor Bayne over a wild eight-lap shootout, and then pulled away in his No. 71 Grimm Construction Chevrolet on the final green-white-checkered finish to pull the victory in the Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
It was MacDonald's fourth career NASCAR Camping World Series East victory and first at the 'Magic Mile.' In 15 previous starts at the track, the Rowley, Mass. native had just two top 10s and a best finish of seventh.
"We've had a lot of fast cars here," MacDonald said, "but just haven't been able to finish."
Bayne, a rookie, was second in the No. 1 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Chevrolet. His best finish of 2008 had been third, twice. And Matt Kobyluck (No. 40 Mohegan Sun Resort Chevrolet) matched his best career finish at New Hampshire with a third-place in his 25th start at the track. Point leader Austin Dillon was fourth and Ricky Carmichael fifth.
Dillon maintained his points lead, which is now at 48 over Kobyluck. Brian Ickler led 34 laps but was penalized for rough driving after an incident with Brad Leighton while the two battled for the lead on lap 104. Ickler worked his way back up to finish 10th and dropped to third in points at 731.
There were nine lead changes, but the most exciting came in the waning laps when MacDonald made a charge to the front following a restart with nine laps remaining. First Bayne moved ahead of Kobyluck, and then MacDonald passed both of them. Bayne edged back in front, but MacDonald pulled a cross-over move coming out of Turn 4 to take the lead back. Bayne pulled a similar move on the next lap, but his pass was negated when the caution flag came out on lap 122 for a car stalled in Turn 4.
[edit] Notes
Fastest Qualifier: Field set as per rulebook, rain Failed to Qualify: none Time of Race:1 hrs., 39 mins, 31 secs Average Speed: 81.011 mph Margin of Victory:.515 secs AERO EXHAUST LAP LEADER AWARD : Matt Kobyluck, 40 Mohegan Sun Resort Chevrolet CAMPING WORLD HAPPY CAMPER: Eddie MacDonald, 71 Grimm Construction, Inc./NEMO Chevrolet FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER: Eddie MacDonald, 71 Grimm Construction, Inc./NEMO Chevrolet POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Mike Johnson, 96 Johnson Lumber Company Ford SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Trevor Bayne *, 1 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Chevrolet Caution Flags: Laps 23-27 (Car No. 59, accident, Turn 2); 35-41 (Car No. 8, accident, back straightaway); 66-70 (Car No. 26, spin, Turn 4); 82-87 (Car No. 50, accident, Turn 1); 99-107 (Car No. 55, 15, 61, 11, 3, 30, accident, back straightaway); 109-116 (Car No. 7, 14, 24, accident, back straightaway); 122-125 (Car No. 12, accident, back straightaway). 7 for 44 laps. Lap Leaders: Matt Kobyluck 1-35, Rogelio Lopez 36-41, Eddie MacDonald 42-70, Brian Ickler 71-104, Jesus Hernandez 105-106, Matt Kobyluck 107-118, Trevor Bayne * 119-120, Eddie MacDonald 121-124, Trevor Bayne * 125, Eddie MacDonald 126-127. Total Laps Led: Matt Kobyluck 47, Eddie MacDonald 35, Brian Ickler 34, Rogelio Lopez 6, Trevor Bayne * 3, Jesus Hernandez 2. 9 changes involving 6 drivers. Top 10 Driver Points: Austin Dillon * 807, Matt Kobyluck 759, Brian Ickler 731, Trevor Bayne * 731, Marc Davis 702, Eddie MacDonald 690, Jesus Hernandez 677, Steve Park 669, Ricky Carmichael * 654, Jeffrey Earnhardt 631 Next Race: Thompson, Conn. - July 12
- Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
