Tuesdays with TMAC – Thriller at Deer Creek!
(Bill W) September 22, 2015 – Sprint car fans at Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley, Minnesota certainly got their money’s worth last Saturday night. There was plenty of jockeying for position, and Terry McCarl was amongst them. After falling back as far as seventeenth, a late charge saw him drive into eighth by the checkers. The TMAC Motorsports #24 team is taking a well-deserved week off while preparing for the “Fearless 410 Finale” for the FVP National Sprint League at I-80 Speedway October 2 and 3.
The World of Outlaws format saw TMAC time in 13th quick, one spot out of the heat invert. “From ninth to thirteenth was like a five hundredths of a second difference,” he says. “It was crazy. I thought at the time that it really affected our night negatively. Everyone is so fast, if you miss it by a tick, it makes a difference.”
Starting fifth in his heat, he would checker third. “We needed a yellow to maybe get a win and get in the Dash, but that didn’t happen,” says TMAC. “We started twelfth in the feature. I talked to Doug (Rankin) before the feature. We’d been wanting to do some testing, but we don’t have the time and money to do it. It’s also hard to find a track that’s worthy of testing on. It’s usually not prepped like it would be for a race and you only have one to six cars usually. The way our schedule has been with the NSL and Knoxville, we just haven’t had the time. We have a package on the car that we wanted to try, and this gave us the chance.”
The returns were not what TMAC was hoping for. “It was good early,” he says. “We were up to ninth or tenth. After that, I felt like we made the wrong choice. The car just got too loose. In the middle stages, I was back to sixteenth or seventeenth. Brad Sweet had actually lapped me right before the yellow came out.”
A red flag allowed the team to alter the setup. “We made some changes under the red and took off,” says TMAC. “We got rid of some of the things we’d been trying. I felt comfortable again and here we came. I felt we had a top five car again. We were able to get back up to eighth. That’s about the happiest I’ve ever been running eighth as far as we were back. It was just a fun track to drive. It was a high speed chess game.”
Not only was TMAC’s run impressive, but the action in the feature was top notch. “My wife and the crew guys were saying from second on back, it was just crazy,” he says. “It was three and four-abreast with slide jobs everywhere. Jacob Allen was a good example. I passed him early, so I know he was back as far as twelfth. They told me at one point he had passed (Donny) Schatz for second. It was a packed house and they got their money’s worth.”
The track prep at Deer Creek Speedway showed how important that aspect of an event is. “I can’t say enough about the racetrack,” says TMAC. “I quote Jason Meyers back in the day when we had a lot of owner/driver meetings with the World of Outlaws. It was one of the smartest things ever. He said, ‘Stop taking our tires from us, stop taking our wings, stop changing our cars all the time. I know it’s difficult. I know it’s not easy. There are so many variables, but if you get a little moisture on the bottom, a little moisture up by the fence, and slick in the middle, we will give you an amazing race.’ That is so true. Deer Creek Speedway gave us an excellent track. That’s the most fun I’ve ever had racing there.”
Newly Designed Websites!
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!
TMAC won the Jerry Richert Memorial on September 11, 2004 at the Cedar Lake Speedway near New Richmond, Wisconsin. In addition to the win coming over Brooke Tatnell, Jason Solwold, Travis Whitney and Mike Reinke, TMAC set a new track record in time trials with a lap of 10.775 seconds on the 3/8-mile banked oval.
"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, Destiny Motorsports, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Berryhill Racing, Phil and Vivian, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, Vortex Racing, Mastell Brothers Trailer Sales, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, SuperFlow, Schoenfeld Headers, K&N Filters, Rens Trucking, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Bob and Beulah Elder, Engler Injection, Snap On Tools, Sposato Paint, Winters, Kilani Fender, Inc., DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, Taco Bravo, Brown and Miller, Pro Shocks, Ben Cook, Bell Helmets, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Octane Ink, Morgan Strawberry Farms, Dynasty Stucco, Aurora Rod Ends, Crow Safety, KSE Steering, Snyder Lawn & Landscaping, Strange Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Waterman Fuel Pumps, Butlerbuilt and Mote Fasteners.
Photo: (Rob Kocak Photo)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia