Tuesdays with TMAC – Work of A.R.T.!
(Bill W) May 14, 2013 – Terry McCarl put in a solid weekend of three races, two with the World of Outlaws. He’s getting accustomed to a new chassis in the TMAC Motorsports #24. Despite solid fields all weekend long, he had one of the faster rides on the racetrack. The Huset’s Speedway opener saw him finish fourth Sunday night.
Friday night brought the World of Outlaws first visit ever to the Elko Speedway in Minnesota, and TMAC welcomed some special guests. “It was great to hang out with Minnesota Viking Hall of Famer Paul Krause,” he says. “It was very cool. He still holds the all-time interception record, which is pretty impressive for a guy who played when they didn’t throw near as much as they do now. I had met him at the Bass Pro Shops opening in Altoona, and he lives near Elko. He had a blast. He’s a good guy. Paul Gillund from Justice Brothers was there too. Their headquarters aren’t far from Elko. The folks from SnowPlow.com were there too. It was cool to have them there.”
The promoter in TMAC appreciated the environment Elko provided. “The atmosphere was great there,” he says. “What a neat deal. The place was packed. It takes a lot of work to put dirt on that track and they do a great job. The feature was great, and entertaining for the fans. That makes it more fun.”
His first night in a new chassis was tested early. “Thanks to Colin Bulmer from Bayaire Industries in Australia, we put a new A.R.T. chassis together, and we were the fastest car in our session of hot laps,” says TMAC. “We were eighth overall. I over-tightened the car a little for qualifying. We didn’t qualify well (24th), but I came back and felt good in the heat (5th).”
The Altoona, Iowa driver would line up 23rd in the main event. “We were passing some cars, and then I had a bolt fall out of the wing cylinder on top,” he says. “It was o.k. when it was back, but when we had a yellow it came forward and stuck there, so I had to pull in and work on that. Then we had to do it on a caution a couple of laps later.”
Once back on track with his wing problem rectified, TMAC started moving forward. “That cost us four or five spots.,” he says. “We were really coming through there. We ended up 16th. Our finishing position really didn’t show how good the car was. I was passing some cars and I felt good about it, especially since we went to the back twice.”
The WoO traveled down to Knoxville Raceway Saturday, and 51 cars were ready for battle. “We qualified well,” says TMAC. “We were just a tenth of a second off of second quick. We were seventh quick, and that was a good effort. Really, that’s what we’ve been lacking all year is qualifying.”
The qualifying spot put him inside row two in his heat race. “Seventh quick is kind of ‘No Man’s Land’ in the heat,” says TMAC. “I had to run top two to get in that Dash and we weren’t able to do it (he finished third). It was a solid run, and we had a good battle with Paul McMahan, who’s second in the Outlaw points.”
TMAC lined up inside row eight for the feature. “The track stayed really nice,” he says. “I should have known better. It usually stays that way if we’ve had rain like we had the previous week. We were able to get up to tenth though.”
A late red flag changed things. “On the last restart, I did a practice run on the top and it felt good,” says TMAC. “Joey (Saldana) was in front of me running the bottom. I tried to run the top around him and got into a rut and about drove straight into the fence in turn one. We ended up backing up to 14th. I just got tight after that red. That stunk, because we wanted to get a top ten out of that run.”
It was on to Brandon, South Dakota on Sunday for the opener at Huset’s. “When I crossed the track walking in, I knew what was going to happen,” says TMAC. “It was really dry, and they hadn’t watered the top at all. That was unfortunate. Kyle Larson was in town, and there were some good cars there. There was a really good crowd there too, and we wanted to put on a show.”
TMAC timed in second and ran from sixth to second in the heat. However, the race would be single-file and he would checker fourth. “It would have been a great battle,” he says. “Lucas Wolfe was on the pole with Mark Dobmeier beside him. Kyle and I were in the second row. Unfortunately, it had laid rubber already in the 360 feature, and it was single-file for us. Austin (McCarl) may have passed more cars than anyone, going from 9th to 6th.”
The TMAC Motorsports team will be busy again this weekend, and will be looking for their second win of the season. “They have a new tire rule at Huset’s that I think will help out in the future,” adds TMAC. “It’s a harder right rear that I think will help everyone. We had a good weekend. We have some figuring out to do with the A.R.T. We’ve been running Eagle for years.”
To check out opportunities to partner with TMAC Motorsports on a nightly basis, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com or call 515 957-0020!
Websites for the McCarl Gang!
Driverwebsites.com develops the websites for the McCarl boys. Check out www.TerryMcCarl.com, as well as www.AustinMcCarl.com and www.CarsonMcCarl.com!
This Month in TMAC History!
On May 13, 2001, TMAC registered quick time of the night (11.16 seconds) and won the feature event at Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota. On that night, he topped Wade Nygaard, Jake Peters, Kenny Hansen and Tim Monson. TMAC won his fifth track championship in six years in 2001 by 20 points over Gary DeWall. He won ten features in 18 tries at Huset’s that season.
"Tuesdays with TMAC"!
"Tuesdays with TMAC" is an up close and personal look at colorful sprint car veteran Terry McCarl. To receive "Tuesdays with TMAC", send an e-mail to sprntcar@iowatelecom.net with "TMAC" in the subject line.
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Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
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