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Tuesdays with TMAC – Roller Coaster Weekend!
(Bill W) April 8, 2008 – It was a weekend of ups and downs for sprint car driver Terry McCarl. The World of Outlaws regular had a disappointing night Saturday at Pevely, Missouri, but turned around his weekend at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska by winning the Icebreaker Challenge on Sunday. Despite a 16th place finish at Pevely on Saturday, he remains fifth in points with the WoO as they head to Eldora Speedway this weekend. Throw son Austin's sprint car debut on top of it all, and it was an interesting weekend!
TMAC's victory at Eagle Raceway was his first since winning the Lawrence Ideus Memorial there in 2004. Both wins came aboard the Mark Burch Motorsports #1m. Earlier in the day, the Altoona, Iowa native was not sure if he would even compete Sunday after an overnight drive from Pevely, in suburban St. Louis. "To be honest, I told Mark I wasn't going to race Sunday when he called me at 10:30 in the morning," says TMAC. "I'd driven until 2:30 in the morning and was still asleep when the phone rang. But, after I talked for a while, I finally woke up enough to say yes. Eagle Raceway is a great track, and I love racing here; especially for Mark."
TMAC's night started well in the heat when he ran third after starting seventh. With the top three in each heat redrawing, a little luck paid off. "I got lucky, drawing the #1 pill," he said from Victory Lane. "But, that's happened before; drawing #1 and doing something to mess up and falling back. Tonight I managed to do the right thing and take home the victory. Mark Burch gave me such great equipment, just like he always does. Marvin Brees is an awesome mechanic too. Their stuff is the top of the line, every time. So, I took his advice. I stayed on the bottom and held on!" The advice paid off to the tune of $2,000.
Pevely
The I-55 Raceway in Pevely saw the World of Outlaws in action for the first time in over a month. Dumb luck helped the Big Game Treestands #24 to a slow time trial, setting things back for the night. A broken wing cylinder picked a bad time to surface. "I don't think I've ever had that happen," says TMAC. "We went out late and the track was slicking up, so I went ahead and pulled the wing back before I got going. It felt really loose during qualifying, so when I pulled onto the scale, I looked at the wing and it was all the way forward. Normally, if something like that goes bad, the wing will go backwards, which would have been fine."
Once he had registered the 23rd quick time of the night and the wing problem was rectified, TMAC posted a sluggish seventh place in the heat race. After transferring through the B, he started outside of row eleven for the 40-lap main event. "We were kind of fighting the car all night long," he says. "Then at the start of the feature we felt great. I was able to get up to 13th (from 22nd) by lap six, but during the red, I lost some air in the right rear and it sealed up. It took about five laps to get going again, but the bleeders really gave away too much on the right rear. I had my hands full and we lost some spots there."
TMAC rode around to a 16th place finish. He still sits fifth in the point standings heading into Friday and Saturday night's races at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. "We feel really good going to Eldora," he says. "Our track record stands up with anyone's there the last several races." He has three top five finishes in his last three races at Eldora, including a second place finish in the 2007 Knight Before the King's Royal, and a third place run in the King's Royal last July.
Fan initiatives by TMAC and Daryn Pittman included $25 deals for a t-shirt, hat, sticker and coozies. They were a great hit with the fans. "The Crazy Combos were for the fans," says TMAC. "We plan on doing more of that. They are what make this all possible, so anything we can do for them, we do!"
One thing that TMAC and Big Game Treestands did, was give away a "Big Buddy: Treestand! The lucky fan to have his name drawn was Steve Steele of Fredericktown, Missouri.
Austin's Initiation
Fifteen year old Austin McCarl was able to get his feet wet in his first sprint car action at Eagle Raceway. Some tough track conditions awaited him, and after moving up in the B on Saturday, he ended up on his lid after getting up in the marbles on Sunday in Janet Holbrook's #17.
TMAC blames track conditions and experience. "That's (track conditions) what made it so tough for Austin," he says. "The track was just powder above the preferred line, and he just made a rookie mistake. They did the best they could. Obviously, he's my son, but I thought he did well for the first time out. That really is the toughest kind of track to deal with."
Selfishly, TMAC thinks about the time he spent with his graphic skills in the garage. "What made me upset was all the time I spent lettering his wing," he says. "It was beautiful! The stickers were perfect! First I wanted to see if he was o.k., then I wanted to chew him out for ruining those stickers!"
Austin hopes to be back in action at Nebraska Raceway Park this weekend.
Austin on two wheels at Eagle Raceway (Jason Orth Photo)
2008 FRC/UC Tickets!
Order your Front Row Challenge and Ultimate Challenge tickets right now! Call McTwo Promotions Tuesday-Thursday beginning from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 515 957-0020 to secure your seats for these popular events!
Infield Party Passes for the August 4 and 5 events will be $20 in advance or $25 the day of the race!
For more information on the Challenges or on TMAC Motorsports, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com.
In"Terry"gation
Caleb from Indianola, IA asks: What are your biggest challenges when you have a long layoff like the "off-season" or when you are off a few weeks like you were in March?
TMAC Answers: Trying to not get fat. Mom makes really good cake. It really felt like we had two winters this year. We started racing there in January and then we took a break again and had another winter. You really need to get a rhythm going with your team. Jason Meyers and some of the other guys really have that right now, because they've been racing.
Got a question for TMAC? Send it to us at [email protected], and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for TMAC" in your subject line.
This Week in TMAC History!
On April 11, 2003, TMAC was victorious in the Sprint Invaders Association feature at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. He bested Mike Trent, Kurt Davis, Tyson Hart and Matt Rogerson. Despite competing in limited action with the series, TMAC set what was then a record with five wins that year. He is still tied for fourth on the all-time series win list with six.
Website Updates
Check out the "Photos" pages. They are constantly being updated!
Keep up to date with McCarl Motorsports at www.TerryMcCarl.com. We keep it fresh for TMAC fans!
"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 [email protected] with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Big Game Treestands, Bosma Poultry, Inc., AmeriCashAdvance.com and Remington Treestands.
TMAC in Victory Lane at Eagle Raceway (Brad Brown – IBRACN Photo)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
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