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Tuesdays with TMAC – Hitting His Stride!
(Bill W) September 16, 2008 – Since being outside of the top ten in World of Outlaws points, sprint car driver Terry McCarl has been surging and is currently ninth in the season standings. The Altoona, Iowa ace has nine top ten WoO finishes since the Nationals, and two more strong finishes last week have him poised to climb even higher. Races this weekend at the Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio and the Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, New York should play right into the hands of the driver of the Big Game Treestands #24.
After a West Coast trip, the WoO towed back to TMAC's home state at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer last Wednesday. After registering the fifth quick time of the night, TMAC got through his heat and finished eighth in dash, lining himself outside of row four for the feature event. "We started eighth and were up sixth," he says. "We were all over Paul (McMahan). We kind of set up loose. Last year, we tightened up too much in the feature, and it was damp this time around. We put a small left rear on, and set up for the bottom. When we pushed up for introductions, it was misting, so I thought for sure we outsmarted them!"
The damp conditions stayed through the first half of the non-stop affair, but changed mid-race. "We got up to sixth there, and I couldn't quite squeeze by Paul," remembers TMAC. "The rain stopped, and the track slicked off a bit. We were fast the first half of the race, but the last half we were just hanging on (finishing 8th). We kind of rolled the dice for a top five and came close, but we'll take another solid top ten."
Anytime TMAC gets close to home, it means he can spend some times with his sponsors and car owner. "It was good to spend time with (Big Game Treestands owner) Tod Quiring," he says. "He's building a new shop there in Windom, Minnesota beside the Big Game Treestands warehouse, and we're excited for next year. Greg McCormick will be coming back with us the first of November and he'll join Gary Isom and Brandon. We've got a solid team."
With a prelude to Hurricane Ike reeking havoc on Missouri and Kansas, Friday and Saturday tilts at Cameron and Topeka were a wash. TMAC showed up at the Huset's Speedway in South Dakota on Saturday night, a track where he is the all-time feature winner. After blistering the competition in time trials by almost two-tenths of a second, he finished fifth in his heat and lined up tenth for the feature. "On the first start I passed (2008 Huset's champ Mark) Dobmeier on the outside, but he and Jake Peters got together and there was a restart. It was as heavy as I've ever seen Huset's, and I hooked a rut going into turns one and two. I about got upside down and slid as far back as 14th. It went non-stop after that."
TMAC could only manage to get back to fifth on the heavy track, but honing the skills would prove valuable the next night with the WoO at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. "Racing at Huset's really makes you sharp and gets me pumped up and it helped us at Wheatland," he says. "We were running second in the heat with a lap and a half to go, and I hooked a rut, did a wheelie, and (Jason) Meyers got underneath me."
The third place heat finish took him out of the redraw for the dash, so he lined up ninth. With one of the faster cars on the track he moved up to sixth. "We were good in the dash," he says. "We got up to sixth, and we were battling (Donny) Schatz for fifth. I think we were a little better than him, so that was good."
TMAC was watching the track closely in anticipation of his start outside row three in the main event. "The modifieds made the track rough through the middle and that was actually good," he says. "You had to go above it or below it, and eventually you had to go through it. A lot of fans thought it was the best race they'd seen all year."
The action was indeed fast and furious, and TMAC quickly found himself in the top five battling with the leaders. "We ran fifth most of the feature," he says. "It was a tricky track, because it changed and that was great. Traffic got interesting, and there were rough sections, so it was great for the fans. It was just a fun racetrack and awesome facility. On a long caution period towards the end, we had a bleeder stick and the right rear went down to five pounds. We didn't lose any spots (finished 6th) after that though. I think that's what happened to (early leader) Craig (Dollansky) too. I could see his right rear was going down, and he lost several spots."
The WoO will hit Eldora (one of TMAC's favorite tracks) on Friday night before traveling on to New York and Lebanon Valley on Sunday.
Crazee Combos Continue!
TMAC and Daryn Pittman are continuing their "Crazee Combo" deals at the merchandise trailer! For $25, you can purchase a t-shirt, hat, sticker and coozie from TMAC! Take advantage of the "Crazee Combo" this weekend!
In"Terry"gation
Shaun Hulbert from Everett, WA asks:Do you use a lot of past data for setups at a track?
TMAC Answers: I have books that go back three or four years since we've been running the Outlaws, and more than anything it just gives you a base to start from. What gear we ran, etc., but things change so much anymore. Tires have changed so much, and the gear we've run has changed a lot in the last year or so. I set the track record at Knoxville with a 4.97 gear (2005) and now people are running 5.30 gears. I won the 360 Nationals in 2001 with a 5.18 gear, and now the 360 guys are running 5.80's and 5.90's. It's basically a guideline more than anything.
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.
Today in TMAC History!
TMAC won the 17th Annual Tom Knowles Memorial on this date in 2000 at the high-banked 3/8 mile Spoon River Speedway near Canton, Illinois. He was followed to the line by Ryan Jamison, the late great Kevin Doty, Terry Babb and Chris Urish. In 1994, he topped a field at Nebraska Raceway Park near Greenwood, Nebraska that included Vance Peterson, Todd Splain, Patrick Bourke and Chad Mellenberndt.
Website Updates
West Coast photos contributed from John's Racing Photos are now in the "Photos" section!
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, AmeriCashAdvance.com, DeBerg Concrete and Remington Treestands.
TMAC races at the Clay County Fairgrounds (Doug Johnson Photo)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IAUSA
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