Tuesdays with TMAC – A “James Bond” from the Podium!
(Bill W) June 21, 2016 – Terry McCarl was within seven-thousandths (.007) of a second from a podium finish last Sunday night at the Mason City Motor Speedway with the NSL. With both Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota Friday and Badlands Motor Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota weathered out Saturday, the team also found itself at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Saturday. This week, the Altoona, Iowa driver will battle the World of Outlaws at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska Wednesday, and Jackson on Friday. Saturday will be a special event at Badlands featuring free admission.
At Knoxville, TMAC would time in 13th quick. “We’ve been struggling time trialing and we’ve gotten better in the features,” he says. “I screwed up a little bit for the heat. I had some junk tires on, and I thought we could get out front and hang on and get in the redraw. We just couldn’t hold off Kerry Madsen there and we ended up second.”
That put him one spot out of the eight-car invert draw, so he would start the feature ninth. He went with an old, but not so trusty setup. “I tried some things with the car that just haven’t worked over the years,” says TMAC. “I knew better. We had the first lap and the lights went out. After that, we just had too much time to think about it (20 minutes). I thought we were a little tight, so we made some changes to the car. Once in a while, you have to slap yourself back to reality and say, ‘Don’t try this again’.”
The setup resulted in a loose condition. “I was really loose after that,” says TMAC. “We got going and the top started coming. We got to Danny Lasoski. I had a hard time getting by him. He was running a line where he slides from the bottom to the top every lap in the corners. That made it tough to get by him. We ended up finishing ninth, and we learned not to use that setup one more time.”
TMAC was one of the few drivers who had memories of sprint cars at Mason City on Sunday. “I hadn’t been to Mason City since my Dad (Lenard) raced there, and the last time was when my brother Kenny raced there,” he says. “The Woods were sponsoring him. Someone had lent my Dad a plastic wing to use. He crashed in the heat race, and there was plastic everywhere. The wing just disintegrated. That was my last memory of Mason City, but we loved it on Sunday.”
The NSL played in front of a packed crowd. “It really felt like a sprint car race,” says TMAC. “We get spoiled at Knoxville with the awesome lighting and the giant pit area. It’s the same at Jackson and Badlands. It’s fun to go to these different tracks that aren’t used to hosting sprint cars. We always like to win some new fans, and hopefully, we did that Sunday. You have to man up, drive it, and figure it out. It was a great crowd, and Jeff and Stacy from Snowplow.com had about thirty people up in the suite. Daryl Arend and his wife were there, and we like to see them whenever we can.”
TMAC would time in sixth quick and finish third in his heat. That earned him a starting spot outside of row four for the main event. “We went back to our standard setup,” he says. “We went with a little harder tire on the left rear. When they moved the infield tires in, that hurt me a little bit. We were able to drive right up to fourth. Kerry (Madsen) turned sideways in front of me in two and I had to avoid him. That got us out in the marbles, and Sammy (Swindell) got by us.”
He would battle back to a fourth place finish, narrowly missing third. “We were able to get by Sammy on a restart, and then he got me back,” says TMAC. “It was a great race, really. We were going back and forth with people, and there was a top and a bottom. On the last lap, I thought we had Ian (Madsen) for third. We stuck the bottom of turn four, and fell ‘James Bond’, .007 short. I don’t know, but that must be about six inches. All in all, it was a lot fun. The NSL shows are always great racing.”
TMAC is looking forward to a busy week. “We’re really looking forward to getting back and running with the World of Outlaws at I-80 and Jackson,” he says. “We really had things hooked up at I-80 in the Spring for the Dirt Classic qualifier, and we beat the Outlaws at Knoxville, so we’re excited. Of course, we’ll be back at Badlands on Saturday. There is free admission for everyone, so that should be a huge show as well.”
McCarl Family 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!
June 21, 2004 was a tough trip to Kankakee for TMAC. After dominating the first 13 laps of the IRA show that night, he dropped out with mechanical problems. After new track record holder, Wayne Johnson, inherited the lead and tangled with a lapped car, Jason Johnson made an exciting last corner pass of Danny Smith for the win.
"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 SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, Country Builders Construction, Rossie Feed and Grain, Bosma Poultry, Destiny Motorsports, Searsboro Telephone Company, Elk Grove Ford, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Berryhill Racing, Phil and Vivian, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, Vortex Racing, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, SuperFlow, Schoenfeld Headers, Rens Trucking, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Maxim Chassis, Bob and Beulah Elder, Engler Injection, Snap On Tools, Sposato Paint, Winters, Kilani Fender, Inc., DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, 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: Austin, Terry and Carson (Jeff Bylsma Photo)
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