Tuesdays with TMAC – Bringing Back Memories!
(Bill W) October 6, 2009 – Last weekend’s events at the Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois and at the St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington, Missouri brought back some memories for sprint car driver Terry McCarl. Though a win escaped him, two solid finishes have set the Altoona, Iowa driver and the Big Game Treestands #24 team up for the 2nd Annual Cowtown Nationals, held this weekend near Kennedale, Texas.
Original plans were to race in Pennsylvania at the Williams Grove Open, but the forecast for rain cancelled the long drive. “On Wednesday, it looked like Williams Grove had a good chance of raining out, so we stayed here in the Midwest,” says TMAC. “We wanted to support the 410 shows, particularly at Jacksonville. There’s talk of the 410 winged shows returning there and running a lot more often, and we want to support that decision any way we can. It would be good to see them return in that area on a regular basis. There’s a real fan base there for it.”
The “Shaheen’s Back from the Past” event showcased a nice purse, including $7,200 for the winner on Friday in Jacksonville. “It’s nice going to this type of event that’s not so structured sometimes,” says TMAC. “You really have to pay attention to formats, because they can change pretty quickly on you. You never know how the lineups are going to work. We were able to get to a fast start with second quick right behind Danny Smith. We were second in the dash, so that put us up front for the feature.”
The 40-lapper started with TMAC out front. He led the first 34 laps, before Shane Stewart worked around him on a restart and relegated him to a $3,000 second place finish at the checkers. “We were able to get out front and lead most of the way,” he says. “We had six yellow flags, and one red. We pulled away every time on the restarts. With six laps to go, we had another one, and Shane (Stewart) did a nice job. I wanted to mix my start up a little bit and bring it in slow, but he was able to slide in front of me. I came back in three and four and slid him back, but he was able to hold the lead. I think it was a great show for the fans. The promoter in me was happy about that, but the competitor hated the final result.”
The Queen’s Royale at SFCR was next up on Saturday. TMAC has a long standing appreciation for the local drivers in eastern Missouri and central Illinois. “Racing down at those tracks is a lot like Huset’s,” he shares. “I’ve been accused of some cherry pickin’, but I always say, ‘Come get a piece of that if you think it’s easy.’ More often than not, you’ll get your butt handed to you. It reminds me of when I was younger heading to Jacksonville and Farmington. Those guys like the Montgomery’s, Standridge’s and Moughan’s are tough on those tracks. I’ve known that for years. I used to get excited about seeing them come in on open trailer, and then I’d watch them kick my butt. Tim Montgomery, five or six years ago, was right up there on my list for best sprint car drivers in the country who no one knows.”
With 44 cars in the field, TMAC was able to register quick time of the night. “We were happy to get quick time…we always are,” he says. “People might not realize there’s no engine rule down there. There aren’t a whole lot of rules, and that’s kind of cool for a change. That’s part of the fun. Not that we could do anything different, except maybe some wickerbill work with the dish wing.”
TMAC started sixth in the first heat and had to make the top four to transfer on. “I was a little nervous,” he admits. “You had to run top four in that heat, and that’s a demanding racetrack. I drove my butt off just to get to third. We had the car really good.”
The dash went smoother than the draw. “We had to draw twice for the dash, and ended up with a two,” says TMAC. “The starts tended to take off in turn three, which I’m not used to. That’s another example of staying on your toes. We ended up running second, which was good.”
TMAC ran second much of the way, but settled for third at the stripe. “I messed up in the feature,” he says. “I was worried about being too tight, and we ended up not tight enough. We had a bit of a tire problem, where the left rear shrank an inch, and the right rear grew a half-inch. That really hasn’t happened this year. We ran second there and Joey Montgomery was able to get by. We were o.k., and it was just good to hang on.”
“I hope that race can get back to what it used to pay,” he continues. “I think it’s a good race for the fans. We don’t get a chance to get down that way very often. That’s big hunting territory, so we were able to get a bunch of Big Game catalogs out too.”
Friday and Saturday, the team will make a rare 360 start at the 2nd Annual Cowtown Nationals at the Cowtown Speedway bullring just south of Kennedale, Texas.
1/18 Scale Model Big Game Treestands #24 Now In Stock!
The 1/18 scale model Big Game Treestands #24 has just arrived. The cost is $79.95 plus shipping. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted. To order, call the McTwo Promotions office at 515 957-0020, or they will be available at the Big Game Treestands #24 trailer at the races!
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
Kevin Sanderson asks: What do you do for setup when you go to a track for the first time, like Cowtown?
TMAC Answers: This year, we’ve really gone back to basics. We kind of went back to 2001, when we were able to win a lot of features. We basically have a short track setup, and a big track setup. We’ll hit hot laps in Cowtown with the short track setup and adjust accordingly from there. It will be different, because we haven’t run the 360 on a short track this year. It’s been all on the ½ miles. It will be a big challenge as a mechanic.
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!
This Week in 2000, TMAC took home $4,000 by winning the Cheater’s Day Festivities at the Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota. The victory came ahead of Gary DeWall, Gregg Bakker, Don Droud Jr. and Terry Reilly.
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