8/12/2014
Terry McCarl
Tuesdays with TMAC – Another Impressive Nationals!
Tuesdays with TMAC – Another Impressive Nationals Run in the Books!
(Bill W) August 12, 2014 – The 54th running of the Knoxville Nationals was a good one for driver Terry McCarl and the TMAC Motorsports #24 team. A fourth place finish put the Altoona, Iowa driver in the championship event on Saturday, where he finished seventh in the final rundown. He has three events planned this weekend, including two aboard the Jimmy Davies #99 with the Sprint Invaders in Iowa at Bloomfield and West Burlington. Sunday will find him in Jeremy Scadden’s #6 at the Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota.
A rainout on Wednesday and more rain on Thursday meant a heavy track for qualifying at the Nationals. “We were worried going in,” says TMAC. “(Brian) Brown, Kerry (Madsen)…we all talked about how tough it would be going in. Usually with heavy conditions, the guys in the fourth row have very little chance of getting out of the heat. You still have to do your best to get those points, and maybe start at the front of the B and make it out of that. Then move up some spots in the A.”
TMAC would qualify third quick. “As it was, the top four qualifiers made it out,” he says. “You have to give the (track preparers) Dunkins’ a lot of credit for that. They can’t control the weather. It didn’t ledge up. It was heavy, but it was really smooth. If a guy was fast enough, he could get it done.”
Paul McMahan, Madsen and Brown were the other four quick qualifiers. “I think I had the worst start of the four of us,” says TMAC. “I was going to try the ‘bonsai buckaroo’ move around the top. I had a guy bounce in front of me in turn one and I had to turn underneath him. I had to go high, had to go low around people.”
TMAC was able to make it through and lock into the feature. “Austin (McCarl) told me that Kerry had been going high and making up ground on people,” he says. “I was behind (Jason) Meyers and Matt Moro and I knew I had to do something. Right as I passed Jason, I packed the right front full of mud. It was vibrating so bad that it was hard to see. I just told myself not to lift. Maybe we could have gotten third, but it didn’t matter. You’re sitting pretty well with fourth.”
He would start sixth in the preliminary feature. “We had a good start and things were going good,” says TMAC. “I made a couple bad decisions though. I came up on a lapped car, and out of nowhere, a guy shot from the bottom to the top in turn three. It shocked me, because it was a really good racecar driver. That allowed Kerry to get by us. That was big. I don’t think he would have gotten by us without that. I lost some track position, but later in the race, we were able to get some spots back and finish fourth.”
The finish would be good enough for a starting spot outside row three on Saturday night. Saturday afternoon, the team put together the Scadden #6 for the World Challenge. TMAC qualified for the event by running the Sprintcar Classic in Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia last January. “We did try some things with that car,” he says. “The Dunkins’ did a great job with the afternoon track too. Unfortunately, the sun came out right as we were going out. We tightened the car up a lot. We wanted to get to the front as quick as we could before the track took rubber. Then we could block from that point.”
TMAC would drive from tenth to sixth. “We were coming up through them and we got up to fifth,” he says. “Once it laid rubber, I was way too tight. We had a yellow late in the deal, and Donny (Schatz) was able to get by us. I had to block the bottom, and if he was able to roll the top, then he got us. That’s what he did. We were right there with a fast group of cars, and that gave us confidence heading into Saturday night.”
The thoughts were positive going into Saturday night. “I was really calm this year,” says TMAC. “Not that I wasn’t nervous at times, but I was confident in the car and the team. We weren’t going to throw any crazy setups at the car, and we were going to make good decisions. Our Rider engines and our A.R.T. chassis have built our confidence the whole year. My mentality was to drive my race. In the past, we’ve thrown some crazy things at the car, and I’ve sealed my tires up and done some silly things. This year, we were there to do our best. If the cards fell right, we’d pass some cars.”
The first half of the race went well. “We got to fourth right away,” says TMAC. “I was running up on Kerry and he went to the top. That kind of took the air off of me and got me over the cushion. Craig (Dollansky) got by me. The rest of the first 25, we really had a good battle with Craig and Justin.”
TMAC did cause a scare for his fans with some early oil overflow. “I don’t have one of those expensive engine heaters like a lot of the guys,” he says. “The engine needs to be about 200 degrees when you push off, and I have a little torpedo heater. We just didn’t have enough heat in the engine. The breather is in the tank, so the oil comes right out of the bottom now and right on the headers. It looks bad to the fans. My crew chief, Doug Rankin, said he lost about six months off his life, but I was never really worried. We were on fire for a while, but that went out. Nothing to worry about.”
The 50-lapper was stopped at the halfway point. “On the red flag, we really didn’t change much,” says TMAC. “We just changed a couple of tires. That hurt us late in the race. We got a little loose, because I didn’t want to get tight. That cost us a spot. If the first start would have went, I think we had a shot at the podium.”
TMAC ran sixth much of the way before checkering seventh. “Paul got us late in the race,” he says. “I was able to come back later, but we weren’t as tight as we wanted to be. That was better than being too tight and losing a bunch of spots. We aren’t as confident with the heavy tracks like that…I like the dry tracks better. We’re slowly getting better.”
To finish the way the team did is something to be proud of. “To roll out this week and do what we did is a big accomplishment for us,” says TMAC. “We’re one of the lowest funded teams in that A main for sure. I think we opened up some eyes for next year, and hopefully, we can build on this and get this team where it was a few years back.”
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!
This Month in TMAC History!
On August 19, 2006, TMAC topped a World of Outlaws field at the Nodak Speedway in Minot, North Dakota. In front of a packed house, he dueled with Donny Schatz and Craig Dollansky for the win. Dollansky finished second, but was underweight at the scales. Following TMAC across the line were Brooke Tatnell, Joey Saldana, Daryn Pittman and Chad Kemenah.
"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@hotmail.com with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Country Builders Construction, Rossie Feed and Grain, Bosma Poultry, SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, DeBerg Concrete, Colin Bulmer – Bayaire Industries, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Berryhill Racing, Phil and Vivian, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, Ryan Yager Trucking, Vortex Racing, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, Schoenfeld Headers, K&N Filters, Rens Trucking, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Bob and Beulah Elder, Engler Injection, T&P Brothers, Winters, DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, Jocko's Sprint Parts, Sander, Brown and Miller, Pro Shocks, Ben Cook, Bell Helmets, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Van Der Brink Trucking, Van Der Brink Designs, Morgan Strawberry Farms, Buttman BBQ, Aurora Rod Ends, Crow Safety, Justice Brothers, KSE Steering, Snyder Lawn & Landscaping, Strange Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Waterman Fuel Pumps, Weiland Racing, Butlerbuilt, PBS Bushings and Mote Fasteners.
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
