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Tuesdays with TMAC – Northern Exposure!
(Bill W) August 21, 2007 – After an outstanding showing at the Knoxville Nationals, the World of Outlaws made a quick turnaround, and headed north for a Tuesday night date at the Nodak Speedway in Minot. Terry McCarl had won there the year prior, and looked forward to the return visit.
After registering the fifth quick time of the night, winning his heat, and running third in the dash, TMAC seemed set for the main event. He dropped about five spots immediately, but maintained his spot. "We had won at Minot the previous year, and the car felt good all night," he says. "After the track was redone and the sun went down, we thought it would blow off a little more than it did. We ended up a little too tight in the feature. We ended up with the 7th, but we had a good car. We just had a little too big a tire. We were a little tight…I have a tendency to do that sometimes!"
The TMAC Motorsports team headed across the Canadian border for the second time this season to compete at a two-night show on Friday and Saturday at the Castrol Raceway near Edmonton, Alberta. The Big Game Treestands #24 was fast as soon as it was backed out of the trailer on Friday night.
"We had the fastest car, no doubt," says TMAC. "We went out late to qualify and turned a great lap (7th) when no one was doing well. We won the heat and ran third in the dash, but I still thought we could get faster. Tim Shaffer was turning laps almost a ½ second faster than us. We made some changes for the feature."
Those changes paid off big time in the main event. "We nailed the setup for the feature, and we had a car I don't think anyone could beat," he says. "It was really heavy and rough, and I was having a blast. I used more tear-offs than I've used all year long. We drove around Shaffer in traffic, and ran down (Steve) Kinser, no problem. I was really enjoying going through lapped traffic, and the better we got, it looked like Steve was getting tighter."
An early caution would seal TMAC's fate. "I was making a move to take the lead, and I'm not sure what happened," he says. "The yellow came out, and I don't know if Steve got into the back of (Jason) Sides, or Sides got into another car. Sides got turned around right in front of me, and I had nowhere to go. We did quite a bit of damage including smashing the headers, but we got back out and were able to get back up to 13th. It was really disappointing; because it was one of those nights I could drive the car anywhere on the track. You don't get those nights very often with the Outlaws."
The two-night affair turned into a "Three Dog Night" for TMAC. When Saturday's show was washed out, it was rescheduled for Sunday. The car didn't respond well to the change. "As good a car as we had had on Friday, it was that bad on Sunday. I can deal with not doing well, if I know why, but we were just horrible from the beginning to the end. I think there was something wrong from Friday's crash. Something is bound up, a bar or something. We've got a few days off now, and (Crew Chief) Tyler's (Swank) going to go through it. I'm sure he'll figure it out for this weekend. We had such a good car on Friday, and its ugly twin sister on Sunday!"
A 16th place finish ended TMAC's Canadian run, and despite the troubles required in getting to the racetrack, it was worth it. "Canada was a blast. There are hassles customs-wise and logistically, but when you get there, the fans are so awesome and nice, that you say to yourself, 'How can we not come here?' So many people traveled five, six, or eight hours just for that race! That makes it far more worthwhile."
TMAC is also appreciative of a gesture made from the promoters of the event, SLS. "I have to give a big thanks to Scott Boyd of SLS Promotions. He bought everyone's fuel. I don't think a lot of people in the pits understood that he had done that. That was really cool. That's a good promoter there. Larry Hillerud also worked his butt off to get the track ready."
Looking Ahead
The World of Outlaws head to Skagit Speedway in Washington for a two-day show this Friday and Saturday. Terry looks forward to the trip. "My best runs there were in 1990 in the Country Builders Construction (#88) car. We ran sixth the first night of the Dirt Cup and ninth in the finale. It's kind of like Huset's in a way…probably a bit smaller."
The Washington tour will conclude on Monday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma. "Skagit and Elma are always cool to go to, because the people out there only get to see us once a year," says TMAC. "The fans are very appreciative. It reminds me of the Knoxville Nationals of the 1970's in that the campers and everything are right there, they're cooking out, and everyone is having a great time."
In"Terry"gation
Terry Green asks: Terry, First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your 3rd place finish at the Nationals and I'm sorry we didn't get to see you afterwards. You have said before that you thought you needed to get a podium finish at the Nationals before you could actually believe you had a shot at winning it. Now that you have that podium finish, what did you learn or gain in experience this year, that might help you win it in the future?
TMAC Answers: Every time you hit the track you learn something. Actually, this year at the Nationals I made a lot fewer mistakes than I did in 2004, when I started on the pole. I really felt like we had the second best car, and there wasn't much more I could do. I had the one shot at Donny, and he did a great job of avoiding contact, to be honest. We've been really fast lately, and I look forward to closing out this season strong and heading into next year with some momentum!
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.
Did you know?
In his three appearances at Grays Harbor in 2005, TMAC failed to finish outside of the top five. He won with the Northern Sprint Tour over Roger Crockett, driving Paul Silva's #57 in 2005. In a two-night WoO show that same year, he finished third and fourth.
Website
New Photos from the Nationals are up and still on the way from "Skinner Photos"!
Keep up to date with McCarl Motorsports at www.TerryMcCarl.com. We keep it fresh for TMAC fans!
Ultimate Challenge Tickets (Refund/Exchange)
Unfortunately, severe weather cancelled Tuesday night's 6th Annual Ultimate Challenge.
A refund or ticket exchange (for your same seats) for 2008 can be requested at:
McTwo Promotions
Box 185
Altoona, IA 50009
(Please include your tickets with your request)
"Tuesdays with TMAC"
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., AmeriCash Advance, and Ground Max Hunting Blinds.
TMAC ponders whether he'll have the tenderloin or the beef brisket at Knoxville (Jason McConnell)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
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