Tuesdays with TMAC – Mixed Feelings for Twin Features!
(Bill W) July 9, 2013 – Twin Features means double the work for everyone. For the McCarl family it means quadruple the work. With Austin McCarl getting upside down at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, it put a damper on the success that his father Terry had with a fourth and sixth place finish. The Altoona, Iowa driver reflected on that night as well as an event he competed in with the World of Outlaws at Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota last Wednesday.
TMAC timed in 15th with the WoO at Huset’s. “I was a little disappointed because we were the fastest overall in hot laps after the first set,” he says. “Austin was second quick. Maybe we should have known we’d have problems, because it was a little greasy. You always want to be fast time, but if you’re not, you want to be ninth through sixteenth and start in the front of the heat.”
He would go on to win his heat and qualify for the Dash. “We had a good racecar in the heat,” says TMAC. “The car felt great. We knew we had a strong car, but with our qualifying at fifteenth quick, we knew we’d have to start at the back of the Dash.”
TMAC would start tenth in the Dash. “We knew if we just could pick up a couple spots in the Dash, we could go for a top five or top three,” he says. “We were able to get to eighth. We had a good car and got up to the guys in front of us.”
Early on, things went well in moving forward, but a mechanical gremlin would hit early. “We got right up to sixth, and I knew we were faster than a couple of guys in front of us,” says TMAC. “We got a red flag, and talking to the crew, I said, ‘Man, I got really tight there.’ They said, ‘That’s because your wing cylinder is broken.’”
Not being able to control where his wing was sliding, TMAC had his hands full piloting the #24. “On the yellows my wing would go all the way forward, which is bad because it makes it really really loose,” he says. “After a lap or two, it would go all the way back. That’s really, really bad, because it makes you way too tight. You never want to see a red, of course, but if we had one it was our only chance to fix it.”
After running around tenth or eleventh much of the way, a late restart saw TMAC shuffled to 14th at the checkers. “I battled in there for the whole race,” he says. “When the car is bad is when you have to drive your tail off. It was really evil to drive. I came out of it with a 14th, but it was disappointing with the home crowd and the sponsors all there. I hate to make excuses, but we did have a better car than the results showed. That’s part of racing.”
Less than two hundred points separate first from sixth at Knoxville. TMAC sits third, but he wouldn’t know unless he reads this. “After we broke the stop about a month ago, I don’t really look at the points,” he says. “I think that took us out. We just go and do the best we can. When you have a son racing, and you have a good night, and he has a really bad one…it really takes the edge off. I’d rather he win than I win.”
Austin destroyed his car as the green fell in the first feature. “Someone crashed him, and it’s really unfortunate, because it took out not only Austin but Tasker (Phillips) and some other cars behind him…Glen Saville too,” says TMAC. “When someone drives recklessly at the start of the race, it’s unfortunate, but it’s part of racing.”
Austin may be out of action for a while. “He destroyed the car, so he won’t be racing for a while,” says TMAC. “I don’t know when he’ll return. That’s pretty much all he had car-wise. From that perspective, it had me upset. But like I said, that’s racing and that’s part of life too. We’re just thankful he got out o.k. He got hit in the back of the roll cage and that’s one of the scariest things that can happen.”
TMAC would finish fourth in the first main event, before driving from 14th to sixth in the second. “I had a really good car late in the race in the first feature, and I had a really good car in the second one,” he says. “Everybody is so fast and there was a lot of added talent too.”
He was able to get a good start in the second one, only to be slowed. “We were ahead of (the leaders from the first feature) in the second one pretty much, and a car spun out in front of me in turn two,” says TMAC. “I was heavy into the cushion, and they saved it and kept going. It should have been a bad crash. Brian (Brown) missed my front end by about an inch. We were both definitely headed for a flip out of the ballpark. I locked it up and we all about crashed. There was no yellow, so I lost four or five spots right there. Again, we didn’t crash. That kind of stuff can happen every week.”
He would recover nicely, however. “We did a good job,” he says. “We kept picking them off one at a time, and we got some yellows late in the race. We were right on Davey’s (Heskin) bumper at the finish. To come out with a fourth and a sixth on Twin Features Night was not what we’re hoping for, but you can end up in a pile of rubble like Austin, so for us, it wasn’t too bad.”
Unfortunately, Huset’s regular program on Sunday night was rained out after time trials. TMAC had registered the quickest lap of the night. “It was a long way to go for pizza at the 212 Bar & Grill,” he muses. “They have good wings too. We turned around and drove home. It’s part of the game.”
To check out opportunities to partner with TMAC Motorsports on a nightly basis, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com or call 515 957-0020!
Hinchman/TK Concrete Among Sponsors for Ultimate Challenge!
Again, Hinchman will be providing a custom-made driver uniform to the 305 winner during the Ultimate Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Tuesday, August 6.
There will also be a “King of the Hill” race during the Ultimate Challenge. TK Concrete is putting up $1,000 towards the race.
As a reminder, Tony Stewart will be racing in the Front Row Challenge on Monday, August 5 as well!
Order your tickets for the Front Row and Ultimate Challenge by calling 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!
TMAC picked up two wins in one night on July 16, 2004, at Jackson Speedway in Minnesota. He won the NMRA 410 feature that evening, besting Jake Peters, Mark Dobmeier, Gregg Bakker and Mike Moore. He drove the Mark Burch #1m Banana Wagon to a 360 NMRA win over Peters for a second time, Dusty Zomer, Gordy Vogelaar and Travis Whitney.
"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@hotmail.com with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Country Builders Construction, Rossie Feed and Grain, “Lord I Apologize BBQ Sauce”, Deanfield Farms, Bosma Poultry, SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, DeBerg Concrete, Colin Bulmer – Bayaire Industries, Berryhill Racing, Phil and Vivian, SCE Gaskets, Justice Brothers, 212 The Boiling Point Bar & Grill, Vortex Racing, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, Schoenfeld Headers, K&N Filters, Rens Trucking, Pick Farms, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Bob and Beulah Elder, Engler Injection, Superflow Technologies, T&P Brothers, Mediacom, Larry Fleck Trucking, Winters, DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, Jocko's Sprint Parts, Sander, Brown and Miller, Pro Shocks, Ben Cook, Bell Helmets, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Van Der Brink Designs, Morgan Strawberry Farms, Aurora Rod Ends, Crow Safety, Justice Brothers, KSE Steering, Strange Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Waterman Fuel Pumps, Weiland Racing, Butlerbuilt, PBS Bushings and Mote Fasteners.
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
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