By Bill W
May 10, 2010 โ In the season opener at Knoxville Raceway, Austin McCarl raised some eyebrows with a ninth place finish. Last Saturday, he proved that was no fluke. After registering the second quick time of the night amongst the 39 cars entered, he drove from row six to a seventh place finish. The seventeen year old is planning on a two-race weekend, as heโll couple his Saturday Knoxville run with a Friday trip to Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa.
After registering the second quick time of 14.718 around the Marion County ยฝ mile, the Southeast Polk High School junior had obviously just traveled faster than at any time of his life. It was all the more impressive in that Austin came out very late in the order. โThat was pretty neat to go out that late (36th out of 39), and still come home with second quick,โ he says. โThat was a very big confidence booster for me. The car was comfortable all night.โ
The time would result in a starting spot outside of row three in his heat. Only the top five finishers transfer directly to the main event, but the young Altoona, Iowa driver was up to the task. โThe track was narrow, and you really had to get after it,โ he says of the heat. โStarting sixth, I was in a tough spot on the outside. The inside was the place to be, and you had some tough guys up front.โ
The track was still lightning fast, but Austin was able to move up to fourth at the checkers. โI had to be patient, thread the needle and take what the others were giving me,โ he says. โI thought about going above the cushion, but once I got to fourth, I chilled out a little bit.โ
Quick timer, Bronson Maeschen, pulled the 12 invert pill for the feature. That did Austin no favors, and he would start eleventh. After falling back a bit early, he would pick off cars and work his way forward. โThe car was great,โ he says. โWe had a tough start. Somehow, I fell back to fourteenth. We started passing some cars, and got up to sixth.โ
There, he set his sights on Brooke Tatnell, who ran fifth. โWe took a few shots at Brooke, but I couldnโt quite get it done,โ he says. โOn the last restart, with two to go, I tried to get him going into three and hit the berm. That let (Dusty) Zomer get by me for sixth.โ
Seventh place marks Austinโs career best in a 410, as he continues to improve. โWeโll take it,โ he says of his finish. โWe were trying hard to make something happen there at the end. Iโd like to thank everyone that was helping us. Like I said, the car was perfect all night.โ
Fridayโs race will be a 410 special in Rock Rapids. โIโm looking forward to getting up there,โ he says. โItโs another track that Iโve never been on. Right now, I just need some lap time, and going to other tracks helps that more than anything.โ
Visit Austin on the Web!
Keep up to date on Austinโs exploits at www.AustinMcCarl.com!
Austin would like to thank Big Game Treestands, AmericashAdvance.com, RFG (Rossie Feed and Grain), Anderson Farms, DeBerg Concrete, Deanfield Farms, Engler, Phil & Vivian, Vortex Wings, Maxim Chassis, K&N Filters, Mark Burch, Hoosier Tire, BMRS, HRP, Schoenfeld, Jockoโs, Butlerbuilt, Bell Helmets, Crow Safety and Chase Graphics for all their help!
Austin and Carson take the car through tech at Knoxville