Terry McCarl swept the night in both the 410 sprint car class and with the Lucas Oil ASCS 360 Series Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway on Weiler Night. It was the fourth time that the National Sprint Car Hall of Famer from Altoona, Iowa has pulled off that feat at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World”. Both features paid $4,000 to McCarl, as he claimed his 58th in the 410 class, and his seventh in the 360 division.
A three-wide battle for the lead on the first lap of the 410 feature was won early by Jamie Veal. Terry McCarl, Dustin Selvage, Matt Juhl and Brian Brown followed. Dakota Hendrickson made a strong move from sixth to third on the second lap, while Brown got over the cushion in turn three.
Rico Abreu spun in turn three, bringing out the first caution of the race with three laps down. Veal led McCarl, Hendrickson, Juhl and Kerry Madsen back to green. Madsen threw a slider on Juhl to gain fourth on the restart, while his brother Ian moved into the top five. Hendrickson would spin from his third place spot eight laps in, bringing another caution.
On the restart a fifth running Juhl spun after contacting Ian Madsen, setting up the last green flag run. Great racing ensued at that point, as McCarl tried running down Veal for the lead, while the brothers Madsen duked it out for third. Brown also entered that fray.
Veal would jump the cushion in turn three with four laps to go, as McCarl drove by. Kerry Madsen would claim second a lap later, while Brooke Tatnell would claim third with two laps to go after transferring out of the B and starting 22nd. At the line, McCarl would win over Kerry Madsen, Tatnell, Ian Madsen and Veal. Brown, Austin McCarl, Justin Henderson, Tim Kaeding and Dustin Selvage would complete the top ten. Kerry Madsen would set quick time, while Ian Madsen, Brown, Henderson and RJ Johnson won the heats. Kaeding claimed the B main.
“I’ve got to thank my guys,” said McCarl in Victory Lane. “You guys don’t know how hard it is to get one car going, let alone two. (crew chief) Doug Rankin led the way. It takes a lot to do this. I have to thank my partners. A lot of times it’s better to run second. That was the case for me. Jamie is an incredible driver. I have the chance to race with him in Australia a lot. He’s definitely the best or one of the best over there. He was kind of in the wrong spot and I was able to search.”
The Lucas Oil ASCS 360 class saw 62 cars assembled. The 25-lap feature got off to a slow start. Tyler Groenendyk was battling up front when he spun, collecting Rager Phillips. Both were done. Nate Van Haaften tagged Groenendyk, and did a 360, but kept it going. Brian Brown and Terry McCarl narrowly avoided disaster.
McCarl would lead when the green fell again, ahead of Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sawyer Phillips, Ian Madsen and Brown. Brown would move by Madsen on lap three and then Phillips for third on lap five. McCarl entered lapped traffic on the eighth circuit. Brown continued his charge, passing Hafertepe for second on lap 11.
A lap later, Carson McCarl spun, bringing caution again. McCarl led Brown, Hafertepe, Phillips and Madsen back to green. Phillips would go up in smoke next, bringing a caution when he stalled with eleven laps to go. Tim Kaeding jumped into the top five at that point. Two laps after that green flag fell, it was the second-running Brown who faltered, bringing out another yellow flag.
McCarl led Hafertepe, Madsen, Kaeding and a surging Seth Bergman back to green for the last nine laps. Madsen and Bergman shot into second and third, when Kaeding threw a slider on Hafertepe that saw both get above the cushion. When the caution was thrown with three laps to go for debris, McCarl led Madsen, Bergman, Kaeding and Hafertepe.
McCarl would hold off the challenges of Madsen, ahead of Bergman, Hafertepe and Kaeding. Jamie Ball, hard-charger Wayne Johnson, Clint Garner, Ryan Giles and Jason Martin completed the top ten. Brown and McKenna Haase posted quick time in their respective groups, while Hafertepe, Kaeding, Jason Martin, Rager Phillips, Matt Egel and Calvin Landis won the heats. Dusty Zomer and Carson McCarl were B main winners.
“When you’re leading, it’s tough,” said McCarl. “You have guys like Brian Brown and Ian behind you. It’s hard to change it up on those restarts. We had the nose wing smashed up a bit and I was worried about that. The car was handling awesome though. Ever since Don Long gave me a call and asked me to run one of these Jaymie Moyle engines, I’ve just been having a blast!”
Join us Thursday, August 3 as the 27th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank gets underway! The 360 Nationals run Thursday through Saturday, with the Cappy Classic scheduled for Sunday, August 6. For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!