The LMI crew headed to the Waterford Speedbowl for the Xtra/Mart 150 determined to wash away the bitter memories of the previous race at Stafford. They were on the way to doing just that when an accident up ahead proved to be their undoing. The end result was another wrecked racecar and another disappointing finish.
In qualifying Donny struggled to find speed, posting only the 20th fastest time. But the team was confident they had a car that would be good in the race, and they were quickly proved right. Once Donny settled into a comfortable rhythm, he began a slow, methodical move toward the front. By the halfway mark he was up into the top-ten and still moving forward. All signs were positive.
But that all evaporated in an instant. On a lap 80 restart race leader Chuck Hossfeld was challenged by Ted Christopher on the outside. As Christopher pulled ahead off turn four there was contact between the pair, sending the Mystique #13 spinning on the frontstretch. The hard-charging pack was sent scattering across the track and into the infield. When the smoke and dust had cleared the LMI #18 was sitting motionless on the track with heavy damage. The car was towed back to the pits and the crew went to work making repairs. But it was slow work and at best the car was barely operational. Once back on the track Donny logged as many laps as he could trying to gain a few positions for the points, but it was too little and too late and he could do no better than 25th in the final rundown.
“We didn’t qualify as well as we had hoped,” admitted Donny. “But we felt the car would be good in the race and it was. This is a tough track to pass on so it is difficult to come from the back, but we were moving steadily forward. We were gaining on the leaders and I felt we could be a contender late in the race. Then I came off turn four and cars were scattering everywhere. I had no place to go. The car was basically junk but the crew worked their butts off to get me back out there. They keep working hard but we can’t seem to catch a break. We had a really strong racecar tonight. It’s too bad we didn’t last long enough for the fans to see it. The effort is there, we just need to change our luck.”
