Tuesdays with TMAC – A Knight to Remember!
(Bill W) July 21, 2009 – It was a “Knight” to remember as Terry McCarl won the “Knight Before the King’s Royal” last Friday night at the Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio. Few were left “unkissed” in Victory Lane either. The Altoona, Iowa driver also added a mad charge from 22nd to 5th in the King’s Royal, and made it clear he had a bad racecar all weekend long. He’ll try to grab another win with the World of Outlaws tonight in the Silver Cup Twin Feature event at the Lernerville Speedway near Sarver, Pennsylvania.
The Big Game Treestands #24 team was dealt a little surprise before heading to Eldora. “The crew didn’t have a great look on their face when we decided we needed to build a new car for Eldora,” says TMAC. “It was more of a blank stare.”
It was the right decision however. On Friday night, TMAC qualified third quick, and was able to run second in the heat race, qualifying him for the dash. “Everything has to go perfect, especially at Eldora,” he says of the high-banked, high-speed oval. “If you make even a little mistake here or there, it is amplified. We were able to get into second, but the cautions came. It’s tough, because you need to run up high where it is fast. But that leaves you susceptible to a slide job too. If you block you lose some momentum, and with a guy like Joey (Saldana) behind you, he’ll be all over that. Eldora is a huge chess game, especially on restarts. In the end, it worked out.”
Lately, the draws have been going handsomely for TMAC, and Friday was no different when he pulled the pole and went on to win. “I only remember about one time starting on the front row of a dash all of last year,” he says. “Gary (Isom) drew the other night, and whenever he draws, it seems to go well. The kids in the stands have been drawing well for us too.”
TMAC left little doubt he was in a class by himself in the main event, building almost a half lap lead before late cautions slowed the race. “Obviously, our car was hitting on all cylinders, and it was really fun blasting through traffic,” he says. “I was told we had a huge lead. We didn’t need those cautions towards the end. As a leader, you want those lapped cars put in there, but I agree with the rule not to put them in. It’s there for the fans.”
Donny Schatz was now on his tail in second, but TMAC held on for the win. “The car was strong,” he says. “I didn’t think anyone could get by us. The only concern you have running on top, is that the bottom and middle might come in. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and no one had anything for us.”
The King’s Royal on Saturday brought a fresh start. TMAC registered the seventh quick time of the night, to his chagrin. “I would have liked to have been sixth quick instead of seventh,” he says. “Seventh put us in the first heat on the inside. They had just reworked the top of the track, but didn’t do anything down low. The guys on the top were stuck solid, and the guys on the bottom struggled. Rob Chaney even got by us from the third row. That’s where we were, there’s not a whole lot we could have done differently.”
A fourth place finish put him in the B, where he grabbed the last transfer spot to the $50,000 to win finale. “We were pretty loose in the B right off the bat,” he says. “We had a yellow with two laps to go. I passed Daryn (Pittman) for second, and he passed me back. He cut the air from me on the last lap there, Sammy (Swindell) got by me for third. I knew Kerry (Madsen) would be coming too, and I ended up beating him by four thousandths of a second or so. In a way, I wish he would have passed us, because we both would have made it in (TMAC by being one of the quick qualifiers tagged at the tail of the field), but it was about starting position too.”
The format saw him start 22nd on the field, and he began slicing through the pack in quick order. “Running the B helped us with the setup for the feature,” he admits. “I like to put on a show for the fans, but the format is a bit ridiculous as far as the time spot stuff. I don’t mind the top two going to the dash in the heats, but I think your quick timer should start 13th. It’s the same for everybody, and that’s the way it is.”
Many present said TMAC had the fastest car on the track. “I know if we started anywhere in the first six or seven rows, we would have had something for them,” he says.
“To be honest, without any cautions, and if it wouldn’t have laid rubber the last 15 laps, I think we would have had a real shot at it from where we started.”
The first half of the 40-lap race saw him threatening the top five. “When the yellow came out on lap 21, I had just passed Danny Lasoski for sixth, and fifth and fourth were right in front of me,” says TMAC. “They put Danny back in front of me on the restart, and we ran the last 15 laps not being able to pass.”
The end result was a fifth place run, and plenty of respect from those in attendance. With two features on the agenda tonight, TMAC hopes to bring another win home to Iowa! This weekend, they’re putting dirt on the ELKO Speedway in New Market, Minnesota and TMAC will be there with the IRA on Friday. Saturday, he’ll be back at Knoxville.
Websites for the McCarl Gang!
Driverwebsites.com has developed websites for the McCarl boys. Check out the new look of www.TerryMcCarl.com, and check out the newly developed www.AustinMcCarl.com and www.CarsonMcCarl.com!
Front Row Challenge/Ultimate Challenge Tickets On Sale!
Order your tickets now for the $10,000 to win Front Row Challenge, and $15,000 to win Ultimate Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Call McTwo Promotions Tuesday-Thursday beginning from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 515 957-0020 to renew your seats!
Infield Party Passes for the August 10 and 11 events will be $25!
For more information on the Challenges, visit www.OskyChallenges.com!
In"Terry"gation
Beth Jones asks: What are some things you have to do for the Osky Challenge races that the average fans wouldn’t know about?
TMAC Answers: I could go on forever. Promoting is a lot easier to do from afar. We work on these races almost the whole year. The little things to make drivers and fans happy take the most time. From lining up all of our giveaways, to crowns and sashes, banners to taking care of VIP’s and photographers. I have a lot of great helpers. The Sunday before, we’re usually painting seats in the grandstands. Ten or twelve of us walk the track a couple of times looking for debris that might be left from the stock cars. I think we do a lot of things that most promoters don’t do.
Got a question for TMAC? Send it to us at sprntcar@iowatelecom.net, and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for TMAC" in your subject line.
This Day in TMAC History!
On this day in 2001, TMAC started fifth, and drove by pole-sitter, Manny Rockhold, on lap three to take his fifth win of the season at the Knoxville Raceway. Kerry Madsen was second, followed by Don Droud Jr., Ricky Logan and Rockhold.
Website Updates
Check out Eldora photos from Paul Arch and Doug Vandeventer.
Keep up to date with McCarl Motorsports at www.TerryMcCarl.com. We keep it fresh for TMAC fans!
"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.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Big Game Treestands, AmeriCashAdvance.com, DeBerg Concrete and Remington Treestands.
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@iowatelecom.net