Tuesdays with TMAC – Roads to and from Knoxville!
(Bill W) July 28, 2015 – It’s been a busy fortnight for the TMAC Motorsports #24 team and driver Terry McCarl. A total of four top fives and eight top tens were the result in eight events. This week, the Altoona, Iowa driver will compete with the FVP National Sprint League and the “Road to Knoxville” Thursday and Friday at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska. Saturday it will be back to weekly action.
On July 18, it was Twin Features Night for the 410’s at Knoxville. “In the first one, we were pretty good,” says TMAC. “The track was a little heavy at the time. I thought we had a good car and we moved up to fourth (from sixth). When the best of the best are up front, they don’t make too many mistakes.”
Starting 12th in the second feature, TMAC would checker ninth. “There are some things we wanted to work on,” he says. “I don’t have time to go to the track and test, and if you practice with only three or four cars out there, you don’t get the conditions you need, so you don’t learn what you need to. We tried some things in the second one. I was uncomfortable, but we got up to ninth. We paid the price a little bit for testing.”
NSL “Fair Speedweek” kicked off last Tuesday at the Hancock County Speedway near Britt, Iowa. “For me, it was really awesome,” says TMAC. “All the Snowplow guys were there. Clarion is only thirty minutes south. Daryl Arend also brought the first car I ever drove or won in. We were able to hang with them and sign some autographs.”
TMAC timed in 10th quick on the 4/10-mile oval. “It’s a fun track,” he says. “It’s an unusual track. You kind of have to pitch it into the turns like a non-wing car. I was kidding Bryan Clauson that he had an advantage. We won a tough heat race there, and we went out in the Dash and passed a couple cars.”
He would register a fifth place finish in the feature. “I was able to really rotate the bottom well, especially coming off of turn two,” says TMAC. “The bottom just went away after a while. It took me a few laps to get to the top. We were able to run Brian (Brown) down and he did a 360 avoiding a lapped car. I got off the track avoiding him, and Clauson got by me. That screwed me up, but we ended up fifth.”
It was on to the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines Wednesday. TMAC would qualify 11th. “I felt bad for (Mark) Dobmeier,” he says. “They packed the cushion after hot laps. Normally, you don’t touch the track between qualifying and the heats and that’s why. It affected the track by taking away the cushion. Dobmeier went out first and got into the fence. I did kind of the same thing coming out third.”
TMAC would win his heat and finish eighth in the feature. “The car felt amazing in the heat,” he says. “We were able to win it, but we just missed the Dash. We had to start back a ways (11th) in the feature. I was happy with the car and with my driving. Eighth was as good as we were going to get, and some nights are like that.”
Jackson Speedway in Minnesota was up next on Thursday. “I was so mad at myself at Jackson,” says TMAC. “In qualifying, I was horrible. I totally did the wrong thing to the car after hot laps. It was 100% my call and my fault. I think we qualified 19th.”
He would come from seventh to grab a top five in his heat before starting 19th in the main event. “We started far back, but we had a great car,” says TMAC. “We were able to get up to tenth. The bottom was good in one and two, and it was the same on the top in three and four. I think we did the best with the cards we were dealt. I couldn’t be mad at anyone but myself.”
TMAC would do double duty at Knoxville last Saturday. “I think we learned some things at Des Moines and Jackson that we were able to use at Knoxville,” he says. “I can’t thank Don Long of Searsboro Telephone Company enough for allowing me to use his engine for the 360 Nationals. Jaymie Moyle and I have been friends for 25 years, but it’s the first time I’ve been able to use one of his 360 engines. They run awesome. To go out and get quick time with the competition they had there was really neat.”
He would make it through his heat, with the redraw starting him inside row two for the 360 feature. “I was tight in the heat race, but that allowed me to learn what not to do,” says TMAC. “We were leading the feature to complete the first lap. We were cooking it on the top, and when the yellow came out, we had a big lead. I knew there was a decent bottom in turn two, but we had been so tight earlier in the night…I was scared to go down there. Dusty (Zomer) got us on the bottom. It was one of those deals where it was better to be second than leading. I was disappointed that we didn’t get Don a trophy, but I think everyone was happy. We’re looking forward to the 360 Nationals.”
A sixth quick qualifying effort in the 410’s put TMAC inside row three for his heat. “We were just a tenth of a second off of quick time, which was good,” he says. “We had kind of a crazy heat. Bronson (Maeschen) had something break, and guys were banging wheels. We had a good car, and that set us up well for the feature.”
He would start inside row three for the feature. “Certain guys draw up front every week, and I’m to the point where I’m happy to draw a five!” jokes TMAC. “We had a really good car and we got cooking. We were able to get by Brown right away, and then we ran down Lynton (Jeffrey) and got him. We were able to get to (Justin) Henderson as well. We ended up third, and we had a great racecar. The competition is tough. It’s like an Outlaw show. I think these local guys are going to be a handful at the Knoxville Nationals.”
At Huset’s on Sunday, TMAC timed in tenth quick, but won his heat. “We had a three-way tie (for the redraw), Brown, Tasker (Phillips) and myself and I was the odd one out,” he says. “That’s huge, and put us back starting tenth. The track was really heavy, and they had a lot of rain that morning. That’s really not my forte. We were good though. We were tight early, and the car really started coming in there at the end. We ended up eighth.”
Newly Designed Websites!
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 Week in TMAC History!
On this week in 1996, TMAC pulled a double feature win at Knoxville Raceway taking home both the 360 Nationals and the 410 feature that night. Driving for Brad Gray in the #51 he won the $3500 360 Nationals over Danny Lasoski, Doug Wolfgang, Don Droud Jr., Larry Pinegar II and Rickey Hood. He won the 410 feature ahead of Steve Beitler, Lasoski, Dennis Moore Jr. and Gary Wright.
"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, Bosma Poultry, SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, DeBerg Concrete, Destiny Motorsports, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Berryhill Racing, Phil and Vivian, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, Vortex Racing, Mastell Brothers Trailer Sales, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, SuperFlow, Schoenfeld Headers, K&N Filters, Rens Trucking, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Bob and Beulah Elder, Engler Injection, Snap On Tools, Sposato Paint, Winters, Kilani Fender, Inc., DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, Taco Bravo, Brown and Miller, Pro Shocks, Ben Cook, Bell Helmets, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Octane Ink, Morgan Strawberry Farms, Dynasty Stucco, Aurora Rod Ends, Crow Safety, KSE Steering, Snyder Lawn & Landscaping, Strange Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Waterman Fuel Pumps, Butlerbuilt and Mote Fasteners.
Photo: TMAC and Daryl Arend who gave him his first sprint car ride, the #1A pictured here
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
- administrator on Jul 28, 2015
- Article Date: 7/28/2015