From Bill W, photo courtesy of Max Dolder
A solid effort from Terry McCarl turned upside down on Friday night at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Altoona, Iowa driver rebounded with the back-up car for another strong run with the World of Outlaws Saturday to put a capper on the season for the Big Game Treestands #24.
Qualifying for both Friday and Saturday events at the World Finals were held on Thursday. With 57 cars timing in, TMAC registered an eleventh quick performance for Friday, and a ninth quick effort for Saturday. “We always want to set quick time,” he says. “If you aren’t first or second quick, ninth through sixteenth is where you need to be, because that puts you on the front of the heats.”
Preliminary events went well. “Qualifying night, the track was slick, because it was rough the night before,” says TMAC. “On Friday, it was back to being rough. We’ve raced on a lot worse though. The car was good in the heat (which he won). We drew a good number there (three) in the dash and ran fourth. We felt pretty solid.”
Starting outside of row two in the feature, TMAC found himself battling in the top five. “We were cruising around there and built some momentum once we got going,” he says. “It was tough, because we’d go a couple laps and have a yellow, and then go a couple more and have a red.”
Jason Meyers and Donny Schatz were out front with Dale Blaney and TMAC chasing them. “I was going above the cushion and was trying to get around Blaney for third,” says TMAC. “I thought we had a good shot at him, but obviously, Meyers and Schatz were checked out.”
Then disaster struck. “Under one of the reds, I decided I was going above the cushion and getting a good run coming out of turn two,” says TMAC. “(Craig) Dollansky ended up running into the side of me and we destroyed everything. I felt bad for my car owner, because that was only the second event out for that car. The only other race we had on it was the Nationals.”
The car wasn’t the only thing hurt. “I cracked a little bone in my hand was all,” says TMAC. “It’s the same injury I had driving for Bob Weikert and there’s not a lot you can do for it. That’s probably the second hardest hit I’ve ever taken, so to get away with a hand injury was lucky.”
Still, the team persevered and had a solid run on Saturday. “Greg and Sheldon were up all night getting our second car ready to go,” says TMAC. “We call that car ‘Old Faithful’. It’s seen a lot of action. We were good in the heat race again.”
A heat race win and a seventh place run in the dash set TMAC up inside of row four for the televised main event. After battling in the top five, he ended up eighth. “We were able to drive right up to fourth,” he says. “I was battling with (Steve) Kinser for third. Rubber started being laid, and Meyers got by me. Then our right rear started going down, and we backed it up to eighth.”
TMAC was pleased with the car’s performance. “I feel we had a top five car both nights, and it was good from that perspective,” he says.
Free Hat and Sticker with Purchase of 1/18 Scale Model Big Game Treestands #24!
The 1/18 scale model Big Game Treestands #24 has just arrived. The cost is $79.95 plus shipping and handling. 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! With your order, you will also receive your choice of a Big Game Treestands #24 hat and sticker!
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
Brett Golik asks: Goodyear has negotiated with most tracks and sanctions to be the exclusive supplier for 2010. Your Dad and son have been running the Goodyears for the past few years (Austin) and Lenard (a lot longer). I would think come springtime that you might have an advantage over the guys that have been running Hoosiers and the young guys that have never in their life run a Goodyear. Any thoughts on that?
Also, will these changes affect your races at Osky, or is it something you need to research over the winter.
TMAC Answers: Goodyear has had a pretty decent tire. Austin has run it, and so have Kerry Madsen and Lynton Jeffrey. My understanding though, is that the tire coming out is going to be totally different. They’ve been doing some testing with a few different tires to see what the drivers like best. I understand the business end of it. I’m a Hoosier guy, so it kind of hurts me, but if it ends up being good for the sport in terms of point funds, and it is a good tire, I’m for it. As far as Oskaloosa, we’ll sit back and see what happens. One way or another, we’ll be running.
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 Day in TMAC History!
TMAC teamed with Al Vanderwoude in his #2V to compete at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas. The year was 1989, and the United Sprint Association (USA) series was the sanctioning body. Things didn’t go the best over the weekend for the team in races that saw Sammy Swindell and Jack Hewitt take weekend feature events. The Vanderwoude car was put into the 1987 Knoxville Nationals finale by Danny Thoman.
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.