By Bill W
October 4, 2011 – Terry McCarl and the VerMeer Motorsports #55 team hit the road last weekend to compete in a pair of events in Illinois and Ohio. It was a trip that the team used to build towards 2012, and the Altoona, Iowa driver showed plenty of speed at both the Jacksonville Speedway and Eldora Speedway.
For the second Friday in a row, TMAC hit the Jacksonville Speedway for the MOWA Season Championship, and he again drew badly. “I don’t know what the odds of me drawing last again were, but we did it,” he says. “Actually, I had Ken Dobson’s boy draw for me. I gave him a little heat, but he’s a good kid.”
Despite the draw outside row four for his heat, TMAC advanced to fourth. “Being in the third heat instead of the first one helped us this week,” he says. “The track was widening out. We actually got to fourth and I think we had a shot at second or third for sure. The caution came out, and I thought I was in fourth, but they put me in sixth. We were able to get back up to fourth and were lucky enough to make the dash.”
He ran second in the dash. “I didn’t draw the last number, so that was good,” says TMAC. “We started fourth, and Jimmy Hurley was up front and jumped out to a good lead. I was happy we were able to work to second. He’s the track champion there, and he gets around well.”
The second place finish set TMAC up outside row one for the main event. He shot out to a big lead early on. “We were great in the heat and dash, and we were great in the feature,” he says. “We were able to hit the cushion and we were gone. I was up there banging the fence and I knew we were pulling away.”
Unfortunately, rubber was developing on the bottom of the raceway. “I’m mad at myself a bit,” says TMAC. “I couldn’t pass the lapped traffic on the top, and it started laying rubber on the bottom. I hadn’t been there for years before this, but you never used to see it lay rubber. I was up there banging the fence and when it was slick, no one could touch us. By the time we got back to the bottom we were third and it was too late.”
Hurley and Jerrod Hull got by in the rubber, and TMAC helplessly chased them in third. “I was faster than them, there just wasn’t a way to get by them after the rubber was down,” he says. “I hate that kind of racing, and it makes me mad for the fans and the drivers. When you get beat by a better mechanic or outraced, you can live with it, but I’m just tired of the rubber-down tracks. Everyone wants to blame the tires, but the tires have nothing to do with it. The tracks need dug up. Once you lay rubber in them you have to dig them up or it doesn’t matter how much you water them. It’s all about track prep.”
The All Star Circuit of Champions took to the Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio on Saturday. “We headed for Eldora and it was cold,” says TMAC. “I was surprised they got the show in. It says something about the place that they ran the show like they were supposed to.”
The trip was as much about 2012 as it was this year. “I wanted to go there to test,” says TMAC. “We haven’t been there in two years and I think we had the fastest car there in 2009. We won the Speedweek show there from the sixth row, we won the Knight Before the King’s Royal, and we started 22nd in the King’s Royal and ran fifth. It laid rubber about halfway through that one. We came back with the Outlaws and got the lead and blew a left rear there too.”
TMAC has his eyes on next year’s King’s Royal, a big race he wants to win. “I really want to go back and run there next year, so it was a good time to test,” he says. “We learned a lot. You have to have everything right. We were horrible qualifying (20th). That’s not me at Eldora and that’s not good.”
TMAC made it through his heat, and stormed from 20th into the top ten in the main event. “We felt good in the heat and the feature,” he says. “We were up to seventh, and Dean Jacobs blew a tire. The yellow didn’t come out right away, and a couple guys got by me.”
The end result was ninth. “We learned a lot,” says TMAC. “I’m very happy about things going forward, and our setup on these Goodyear tires. All in all, the weekend went pretty well. We’re building towards next year.”
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!
In”Terry”gation
Josh Bethel asks: What do you think of Knoxville’s hire of Toby Kruse as General Manager?
TMAC Answers: I’ve known Toby a long time. I have mixed emotions. I really like Ralph and my sons have never known anyone other than Ralph running Knoxville. It’s the end of an era. Toby is a great guy. People want to critique you, but I’ve never heard a bad word about Toby. That is pretty amazing for a promoter. I’m excited about him coming in, and we’ll do what we can to help him promote sprint car racing and the Knoxville Raceway.
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 Month in TMAC History!
On October 30, 2004, TMAC stormed to the World of Outlaws feature win at the Tulare Thunderbowl in Tulare, California. He started deep in the field and passed Daryn Pittman, who lost a tire in the final corner. Craig Dollansky was third, ahead of Danny Lasoski and Jason Solwold.
“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.
VerMeer Motorsports would like to thank TK Concrete, Maxim Trucking & Concrete Pumping, Tulip City Agency, Logan Contractors Supply, Van Maanen Electric, Tony’s Auto Parts, Monarch’s Restaurant & Lounge, Skyline Ready Mix, QTC (Quality Traffic Control), DPLM (Dennis Parking Lot Maintenance), Van Gorp Construction, Don Ott Racing Engines and Ulrich Motor.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Deanfield Farms, Eagle Chassis, DeBerg Concrete, AmeriCashAdvance.com, RFG, Phil and Vivian, Mark Burch Motorsports, Ryan Yager Trucking, 212 The Boiling Point Bar & Grill, Vortex Racing, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, Schoenfeld Headers, K&N Filters, Don Ott Engines, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Bob and Beulah Elder, Country Builders Construction, Engler Injection, Superflow Technologies, Phillips’ Floors, T&P Brothers, Winters, DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, Jocko’s Sprint Parts, Sander, Brown and Miller, Morris Automotive, Chase Graphics, Pro Shocks, Mac Tools, Ben Cook, Bell Helmets, Burnettt’s Rock and Landscaping, Morgan Strawberry Farms, Bulldog Pest Control, Aurora Rod Ends, Crow Safety, Justice Brothers, KSE Steering, CIP Racing Hoods, Strange Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Waterman Fuel Pumps, Weiland Racing, Butlerbuilt, PBS Bushings.
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