From Bill W
August 13, 2013 – The busiest two weeks of the sprint car season are over for driver/promoter Terry McCarl at the TMAC Motorsports #24 team. Another successful promotion in Oskaloosa was affected by the injury to Tony Stewart, but otherwise, things went well. TMAC is weighing his racing options for the weekend while he reflects on and regroups from the last two weeks.
Things started with the 360 Nationals on August 1. TMAC partnered with Janet Holbrook and Aaron Call’s #83 machine. “We went out with a good number and set quick time,” he says. “That’s obviously what you want, especially with the point system. Unfortunately, we got tangled up in the heat race and tore the car up a bit. That put us behind the 8-ball, and had we made it through the heat, we were looking at the front of Saturday’s feature.”
The team rebounded in the B, and put the car in Saturday night’s main event. “The car felt really good in the B,” says TMAC. “We were coming up through there in the feature really well and we ended up with a motor problem. Otherwise, we were really good. We still had some issues with it on Saturday night. We did the best we could. It was fun running with Janet; she’s a really good friend of mine. I got to know Aaron and his family a little better too. When you have your own car, it’s certainly nice to drive for someone else once in a while!”
The “Capitani Classic” at Knoxville attracted eighty-one cars and TMAC would checker sixth amongst the stout field. “We were running right there in second or third place,” he says. “On a restart, the leader jumped on the brakes, and I got into someone and knocked out the front wing mounts. We lost a few spots after that and ended sixth. I think we definitely had a top three car. For that to happen, I thought we did a nice job finishing sixth.”
The show was also good for the Altoona, Iowa driver who saw his team car driven by his son Austin make the show. “All in all, it was a good night,” says TMAC. “Austin made the show too. He had a problem, and went out dead last to qualify. Just to make the show with 81 cars there was difficult.”
The majority of efforts went into the Front Row Challenge and Ultimate Challenge at Oskaloosa last Monday and Tuesday. “Tony Stewart’s injury put a real damper on it for Lori and me,” says TMAC. “We were so happy to have him there racing with us. He was going to win the thing, and I was so excited…then the accident happens and he gets hurt. He’s a true competitor and I’m sure he’ll be back stronger than ever when he heals up.”
TMAC got ready for Thursday’s prelim at the Nationals. After coming out 42nd, he timed in 19th quick. He would drive from fifth to win his heat. “I think we did about the best we could,” he says. “I think Kerry (Madsen) went out a little bit after us and was a little better. But we won the heat, and that was the key.”
TMAC started tenth and ended ninth in the preliminary feature. “We missed the invert by just two spots,” he says. “We were just too tight in the feature. The moisture came back up, and that made the car a little tight. We battled pretty hard, and the car started come to me. I got stuck in the fence with seven to go, and lost a couple of spots. We were able to recover to ninth. I think we’re close. We have a good car and good motors. We’re just a tick off of ‘Outlaw fast’.”
Friday’s World Challenge would result in a tenth place finish. “We went out to hot lap for both the World Challenge Friday and the B main on Saturday and we were first or second in our group in hot laps,” says TMAC. “We made some changes and made the car worse.”
TMAC would also register tenth in Saturday’s B at the Nationals. “We were just a little tight again for the B main,” he says. “We passed a couple good cars and got passed by a couple good cars. It was certainly a stout field. I got into the fence and knocked the right rear shock off the thing. We ended up tenth, and I think we were lucky to do that.”
To check out opportunities to partner with TMAC Motorsports on a nightly basis, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com or call 515 957-0020!
Websites for the McCarl Gang!
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 Month in TMAC History!
TMAC was 6th in the 1991 Jayhawk Nationals at Topeka Raceway Park on August 12. He drove the Offill #88 that day. Jack Hewitt won the race in the Durst #1x and was chased to the line by Gary Wright, Danny Lasoski, Tommy Estes Jr. and Shane Carson. TMAC had towed from the Watsonville Speedway in Watsonville, California, where he had won two days prior over Jason Statler, Danny Olmstead and Howard Kaeding.