Des Moines, IA (July 31, 2018) – Things didn’t quite go to plan for Terry McCarl and the TMAC Motorsports team in two nights of racing with the All Stars Circuit of Champions last weekend, but a busy 10 days lay ahead. TMAC will go for his fifth 360 Nationals win this week, before heading to Oskaloosa to promote two big nights of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway, with the Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting on Monday, August 6th and the Sage Fruit Ultimate ASCS Challenge presented by Searsboro Telephone Company on Tuesday, August 7th!
Terry traveled north on Friday night to the Jackson Motorplex to take on the All Stars and was aided early by the series’ qualifying format. “We drew dead last for qualifying, but luckily the All Star group qualifying format helped us out some,” said McCarl. “After qualifying 4th in our group, we got to start from the pole of the heat thanks to the invert and winning it put us in the dash.”
While TMAC was able to lock himself into one of the two dashes on Friday, he didn’t feel like the team had quite hit on the setup due to some tough conditions. “The track was pretty tricky and we weren’t very good,” said Terry. Rolling off 11th in the main event, McCarl would finish where he started.
Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway saw the TMAC Motorsports team pulling double duty for the first time this season and the team’s qualifying efforts were as different as night and day. “The 360 didn’t feel very good in qualifying,” said Terry, who qualified 24th out of a stout field of 44 cars. “However, in the 410, we were fastest in our qualifying group and third out of 56 cars overall. That’s pretty good on its own, but to go out two cars after Kerry Madsen and time in better means you have your car running very well.”
Not only did Saturday night’s qualifying effort in the 410 set them up well for the remainder of the event, but TMAC feels it bodes well for next week. “Doug [Rankin] and Steve [Fitzpatrick] have our cars rolling really well right,” said McCarl. “Between that and how strong our Rider engines have been, I’m feeling good about our chances next week at Nationals!”
Through some hard work between time trials and the 360 heat, the TMAC Motorsports had gotten the car to where it needed to be. “Steve and Doug made a lot of changes to the car and we were great in the heat,” said Terry. “Beating Thomas Kennedy is tough right now with how well he’s been running and we were able to do that.”
While making it to the 360 A-main, TMAC had his work cut out for him with a starting spot of 18th, but he’d come through with a run up to 5th, earning the hard charger award. “We started pretty deep in the field, but the car was awesome and to make it into the top five on a race that went caution free felt good,” said Terry. “Our motor from Jayme Moyle felt great and we’re feeling ready for our 360 Nationals preliminary night this Friday.”
The run through the field in the 360 A-main was made all the more impressive by the car that was used. “That is our car we call ‘FrankenART,’” said McCarl. “It’s actually two halves of wrecked ART chassis that were stuck together by Scott Bonar. Hopefully we can win the 360 Nationals with it and have a great story to tell!”
The ASCoC portion of Saturday night continued with TMAC winning the second dash to put himself on the outside of the front row. After conceding the start to polesitter Matt Juhl, Terry took his time and felt around the track. “Juhl had the preferred line on the start and, once I settled into 2nd, I started searching around the track to figure out where we’d be good when we hit traffic,” said Terry. “I was rolling the bottom really well in turns three & four and was able to get a great run on Matt to pass him right as he busted a driveline.”
Now all alone out front, TMAC would pull away before the cushion would jump up and bite him on just past the halfway point. “The cushion has been pretty treacherous the last few weeks,” said Terry. “I actually took Lori out and drove her around to show it to her a couple weeks ago and that’s how it was Saturday too. Honestly, I don’t think I missed it by much, I just got in a little too high and it sucked me in and off I went.”
A hard series of flips left the SnowPlow Snow Pushers #24 badly beaten. “It was a rough wreck, especially as I’m still dealing with some effects of our big crash earlier in the year,” said TMAC. “It bent the roll cage on our Silva Chassis pretty bad, but luckily the guys at Eagle Chassis are able to get one to us for the Nationals, as we’re a bit short on cars right now.”
Even with the rough ending to the night, TMAC and the team still feel like they’re setup well for the biggest two weeks of the year. “That definitely wasn’t how we wanted the night to end, but we were fast and leading over a great field of cars,” said Terry. “I’m excited to get out there on Friday and hopefully we can grab a win at the 360 Nationals before the busy week following!”
Front Row Challenge & Ultimate Challenge Tickets!
With three of the biggest stars of NASCAR competing on Monday night at the Front Row Challenge, be sure to get your tickets now! Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, and Kyle Larson will be gunning for $20,000 against the best sprint car drivers in the world and tickets are going fast.
The TMAC Motorsports souvenir hauler will be parked in the Knoxville Hy-Vee parking lot during the 360 Nationals, so be sure to stop down and grab your tickets for both nights of the Osky Challenges and check out the Knoxville Nationals gear for Terry, Austin, and Carson!
Tickets for the Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting on Monday, August 6th are $30 and $25 for the Sage Fruit Ultimate ASCS Challenge presented by Searsboro Telephone Company on Tuesday, August 7th at the Southern Iowa Speedway! Children’s tickets for both nights will be available for $15.
Check out the Osky Challenges website to learn more at: http://www.oskychallenges.com/
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!
"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 broegracewriting@gmail.com with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank their great list of partners for the 2018 season: SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, KC Breweries, Bosma Poultry, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, TW Vance Trucking, Terra Realty, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, Simplot Grower Solutions, Rens Trucking, Hoosier Tire, Don Long’s Searsboro Telephone, Octane Ink, Destiny Motorsports, Country Builders Construction, 212 The Boiling Point, DeBerg Concrete, AL Drive Line, All Pro Cylinder Heads, All Star Performance, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Aurora Rod Ends, Bell Helmets, Berryhill Racing, Bob and Beulah Elder, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Butlerbuilt, CM Rock, Crow Safety, DriverWebsites.com, Dynasty Stucco, Engler Injection, HRP, JLT Ent., Kilani Fender, Inc., KSE Steering, Mote Fasteners, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, Phil and Vivian, Pro Shocks, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Scribner Plastics, Silva Chassis, Snap On Tools, Snyder Lawn & Landscaping, Sposato Paint, Strange Performance, and Winters.
Photo Credit: Knoxville Raceway
Morgan Broeg
West Des Moines, IA USA
broegracewriting@gmail.com
Twitter: @BroegW