By Bill W
July 19, 2011 โ It had been almost a month since Carson McCarlโs last race. It was his second career sprint car win and it came at the Knoxville Raceway. The 16-year-old driver was more than ready to hit the big half-mile, and did so last Saturday night. The result was a fourth place finish, which kept him second in the 305 point standings at Knoxville. Ironically, the three times that Carson has not found Victory Lane, he has finished fourth.
Group qualifying went well. โI think we were third quick,โ says Carson. โThe track was pretty greasy when we got out there, and actually, it was pretty greasy all night long for us.โ
The heats had an invert of five, putting Carson inside row three in the third heat. He ran a strong race to finish second. โI think I have run six heat races in my career, and I believe Iโve finished second in five of them,โ he says. โThatโs pretty crazy. It doesnโt seem to matter where they start them either.โ
Carson would start outside of row three in the feature. โI didnโt think we were good at all in the race,โ he says. โWe were way too tight. It didnโt slick off as much as we thought it would. It was heavier than we expected.โ
The Altoona, Iowa driver started running a familiar groove. โWe started around the top,โ he says. โWe were just trying to catch up. We just werenโt the best.โ
Running fourth, Carson made a move under Matt Stephenson on the front stretch, but was denied the spot going into turn one. It cost him a couple of spots. โWe slowed down there when Stephenson came down the track,โ he says. โI was actually pretty good on the bottom, but not good enough.โ
He would bounce back to finish fourth. โFourth isnโt too bad,โ says Carson. โWe canโt complain about a finish like that. Iโd really like to thank Van Gorp Construction for being on board for the rest of the year.โ
The T-MAC Motorsports #97 machine may have a 360 in the frame rails for some local action Friday night before heading back to Knoxville Saturday. โHopefully, we can do a little 360 racing this weekend,โ says Carson. โAaron Berryhill of AmericashAdvance.com is going to lend us one. Iโm looking forward to that, and getting back to Knoxville.โ
Van Gorp Construction
Call Van Gorp Construction of Pella, Iowa today at 641-594-3343!
Visit Carson on the Web!
Keep up to date on Carsonโs racing at www.CarsonMcCarl.com!
Carsonโs Releases!
Stay up close and personal with Carson McCarlโs racing. To receive Carsonโs Releases, send an e-mail to sprntcar@iowatelecom.net with โCarsonโ in the subject line.
Carson would like to thank Deanfield Farms, AmeriCashAdvance.com, Vortex, Hoosier, DeBerg Concrete, HRP, Engler Machine, Mark Burch, Phil and Vivian, Automotive Machine Racing Engines, Eagle Motorsports, Hinchman Racewear, Schoenfeld Headers, BMRS, Crow Safety, Butlerbuilt, KSE, Aurora Rod Ends, Chris Spaulding โ Attorney at Law, K&N Filters, Sander, Bell, Jocko’s and Danny’s Auto Salvage for all their help!