Tuesdays with TMAC – Charge at the Chili Bowl!
(Bill W) January 18, 2010 – When the dust and the fumes settled on the 2010 Chili Bowl last weekend, the fans knew that Terry McCarl was in the house. After a tough break on his qualifying night, he lined up in the D main and advanced past 30 cars on his way to a ninth place finish in the B. Sunday he jumped on a plane for Australia, where he will compete in the Grand Annual Classic this weekend.
This started out quickly on Thursday night, winning the heat from the pole and the Qualifier from the second row. Hopes were dashed in the preliminary feature, however, when the fuel pump went bad in the Wayne Simmons’ #F5. “We were really fast on the qualifying night in winning the heat and the qualifier,” says TMAC. “We just had some bad luck in the feature. I was feeling really good about finishing up front, but we lost a fuel pump. With any kind of decent finish, I think we would have been fine for Saturday.”
The team made the most of it and was set up for Saturday’s charge. “As it was, we started 11th in the D,” TMAC explains. “Actually, the D main was the most exciting one for me. We were fast right away, and we were up to sixth (final transfer). The yellow came out and they put us back to seventh on the restart. On the restart, we lost our brakes. I drove the rest of that one with no brakes and we sneaked in.”
With the C main, also taking the top six finishers to the B main, TMAC found himself on the outside looking in later on. “We were eleventh with three laps to go,” he says. “A couple of guys got tangled up in front of us, and that gave us an opportunity to get into the B (finishing in the sixth and final transfer). Without that, I don’t know that we would have. Things were going our way a little bit.”
With another start outside of row ten against a strong field, TMAC managed to surge to a ninth place finish in the B. “We did our best to move up, but there towards the end of the race, the top went away and it was difficult to pass,” he says. “We missed by a few spots, but we gave it our best.”
Overall, TMAC and Wayne Simmons were happy with the week, despite their problem on Thursday night. “I think we were able to show everyone our speed on qualifying night wasn’t a fluke,” he says. “We did our best, but we didn’t quite make it. Wayne and I are holding our head high. We had a fast car, one that was fast enough to make the A main.”
TMAC again had a blast in Tulsa, and enjoyed the racing, even when he wasn’t on the track. “I’m really happy for Kevin Swindell,” he says. “He is a great young racer with a lot of ability. It was good to see him win it. The racing was good every single night.”
Now the attention turns to Australia where TMAC will compete in Saturday and Sunday’s “Grand Annual Classic” at the Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Victoria. He will pilot Rod Matthew’s ex-Big Game Treestands #USA24 in the event.
Front Row Challenge/Ultimate Challenge
The 15th Annual Front Row Challenge and the 9th Annual Ultimate Challenge will be held Monday and Tuesday, August 9 and 10, 2010 at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Advance ticket holders from 2009 can purchase the same seats starting Tuesday, February 16 at 10:00 a.m. by calling McTwo Promotions, Inc. at 515 957-0020.
Tickets will be open to the public on March 23. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are welcomed. Visit www.OskyChallenges.com for further details.
Websites for the McCarl Gang!
Driverwebsites.com has developed websites for the McCarl boys. Check out www.TerryMcCarl.com, and check out www.AustinMcCarl.com and www.CarsonMcCarl.com!
In"Terry"gation
Tammy Rathert asks: I read where you are driving one of the Big Game Treestands cars in Australia (owned by Rod Matthews). Which car is it?
TMAC Answers: I believe we won a race or two last summer with this car. It doesn’t have a whole lot of nights on it. We ran fifth in the Classic last year with Rod’s car, and I’m hoping we can do even better. I know this is a car I’m comfortable in, and that’s the key.
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.
Australia in TMAC History!
TMAC has some limited action in four different trips “Down Under”. His one win came on January 7, 1998 at the Newcastle Speedway near Newcastle, New South Wales. The event was sanctioned by the World Series Sprintcars (WSS). Brooke Tatnell, Max Dumesny, Kerry Madsen and Skip Jackson followed him to the finish.
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.
Attached: TMAC in action at the Chili Bowl (John Lee-High Fly’N Photo)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@iowatelecom.net