Tuesdays with TMAC – Mr. Sprint Car!
(Bill W) August 18, 2009 – After a busy week of promoting and racing, Terry McCarl won the 2009 Cox Design and Metal Fabrication “Mr. Sprint Car” title. The week was a success as well, with the shows he was promoting at the Southern Iowa Speedway. The Nationals ended in a bit of a disappointment, but he will return to action tomorrow night with the World of Outlaws at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota.
Thursday qualifying at the Knoxville Nationals threw a loop on a number of drivers, especially the Knoxville regulars. TMAC ended up coming out late and timing in 22nd quick. “It was greasy on the bottom, and I figured it would come in by the time we got out there (way late),” he says. “Lynton Jeffrey is a good qualifier and had a 16.2, so I knew something was up. 99% of the time these days, the qualifying line is around the bottom, but Thursday it was against the cushion.”
In the points game at the Nationals, you have to be on in every corner. Starting fourth in the heat, TMAC was just short of edging Ricky Logan at the finish line, and settled for second. “Everyone looks back at opportunities they had, and the heat race was one of ours,” he says. “If we’re able to get by Ricky, we are starting 11th in Sunday’s feature instead of 15th. It really didn’t matter in the end; we would have had plenty of time if things were right.”
TMAC started in row six for Thursday’s feature, and the Big Game Treestands #24 came on strong at the end, finishing sixth. “We were really coming on strong at the end of that race,” says the Altoona, Iowa driver. “The yellows didn’t help us. Usually there are more. We could have used them Thursday. Things just didn’t go our way. The week before (360 Nationals) they did.”
The confidence was still there, heading into Sunday’s finale. “I felt good about it,” says TMAC. “Lately, we’ve been used to starting in the back. We just needed a track we could drive on, and I needed to get the car right. We ran the same setup we run all the time, and it just didn’t work for us. A lot of drivers change something for Nationals and regret it. We stayed the same place that we have been fast, and it just didn’t work on Sunday.”
The 40-lap feature started slowly for TMAC. “I got a really bad start, which had nothing to do with the car,” he says. “Someone was into (Craig) Dollansky and he was sideways in front of me on the back straight. I lost five spots right there. I was able to gain some ground back and get by Dollansky and then the yellow comes out. Every time I had my momentum going, there would be a yellow. It was just that kind of race.”
TMAC was still around the 15th spot when the fuel stop came with 18 laps to go. “On our worst nights with the car lately, it has been good instead of great,” he says. “On Sunday, it was not good. We tried to make some air pressure adjustments at the stop because the car was tight, but that didn’t work either. It’s frustrating when you know you have a top notch car.”
A 17th place finish wasn’t what TMAC envisioned. “The track was just different, which is the case sometimes when you’ve been running on it for so many days, and you’ve had rain delays,” he says. “It can get into something you’re not used to, like on our qualifying night.”
The strength of TMAC’s three wins to start the Speedweeks carried over to the “Mr. Sprint Car” title. “I really appreciate what Bruce and Debi Cox do with this…so much, that I contribute to it too!” he adds.
Wednesday night, the team will be at Deer Creek, with weekend plans yet undecided.
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!
In"Terry"gation
Camden Johnson from Toledo, OH asks: Why are there no live broadcasts of the Challenges? I sure would have liked to have listened.
TMAC Answers: If the weather is iffy, and people are on the fence whether to come or not, they will stay home if there is a broadcast. The first thing I would do at Nationals is get rid of live TV right now. I know people who sit in the campgrounds and watch it on TV instead of buying a ticket. If you want to see our great races, you have to come see it. If there was some way to black it out within a 100 mile radius, that would be one thing, but there’s not.
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 Week in TMAC History!
On August 19, 2006, TMAC topped a World of Outlaws field at the Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota. In front of a packed house, he dueled with Donny Schatz and Craig Dollansky for the win. Dollansky finished second, but was underweight at the scales. Following TMAC across the line were Brooke Tatnell, Joey Saldana, Daryn Pittman and Chad Kemenah.
Website Updates
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