April 3, 2017 – Carson McCarl and the Jeremy Scadden Construction #6 team posted their first win of 2017 Saturday night with the Sprint Invaders at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The Altoona, Iowa driver battled a tough track and a 33-car field to prevail for the second time in series’ history. He also became the third generation to win at 34, following his father, Terry, and grandfather, Lenard. The team will hit I-80 Speedway this Friday and Saturday night with the Nebraska 360 Series.
The 34 Raceway staff did a tremendous job getting the track and pit area in condition to race after four inches of rain. “When they get that much rain, it’s tough to not have a heavy and rough racetrack,” says Carson. “I’m just happy they got it in.”
Carson drew a starting spot outside row three for his heat race. With the top two heading to the Dash and the top four to the main event, he had his work cut out for him. “I was just hoping to get to a transfer spot, to be honest,” he says. “Getting up to a Dash spot would be pretty difficult. But I got a good start and got to third relatively quickly.”
He would maintain before shooting around veteran John Schulz, who had some mechanical issues for second, and a spot in the Dash. “I just wasn’t driving as hard as I needed to the first eight laps,” says Carson. “We were able to get by Schulz in the last corner, and that ended up being the winning move. We went from starting mid-pack in the feature, to being in the Dash.”
Carson started the Shake-Up Dash in the fourth spot. “The way they do it is different,” he says of the Dash. “You never know what it’s going to mean, because the winner draws where he is starting. Fortunately, we were able to get to second, and Rager (Phillips) drew a two, which put us inside row two.”
While two of the three Phillips brothers on hand started in row one, he would bide his time. “We got into third there behind Tasker and Rager,” says Carson. “I got into turn three and about dumped it. (Jon) Agan slid by me, but he about dumped it worse than I did. I was able to get back by and we were able to catch back up to the Phillips boys. There was really nowhere to go at that point.”
By then, the leaders were in heavy lapped traffic. “The lapped cars had the same thought process that we did when they got to them, and it ended up biting (the Phillips),” says Carson. “It was really tight with the lapped cars, and I don’t think any of us were sure what to do with them. In the end, I was able to capitalize on their mistakes.”
Carson had to keep the hammer down in traffic. “I didn’t want to be stupid, but I had to be aggressive too,” he says. “I didn’t want to make a mistake and let someone get by us. I was taking my time and trying to hit the openings where we could.”
The win was worth $1,500. “It’s the fourth race of our year, and we got a win,” says Carson. “It’s good to get that monkey off our back. Last year, we won two in 26 races. We have a lot more races this year, and hopefully, we’ll be able to reel off some more. We’re ready for two nights at I-80 this weekend.”