Tuesdays with TMAC – In Badger Land!
(Bill W) September 30, 2014 – Terry McCarl and the TMAC Motorsports #24 team spent the weekend in Wisconsin racing with the IRA series. Despite having a fast car at Luxemburg Speedway, the Altoona, Iowa driver suffered a DNF on Friday. A charge from ninth to third at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam followed on Saturday. TMAC will take this weekend off in preparation of the upcoming Trophy Cup in California.
Luxemburg was a new venue for the IRA. TMAC was fifth quick. “It was a really nice facility east of Green Bay,” he says. “It was one of the wettest, stickiest tracks I’ve been on in years. It was like a California track. We went out and qualified fifth. We were off a bit on the gear. When I went out to hot lap, it was slick and I didn’t get a good feel for it.”
He would struggle in his heat race, finishing sixth. “I think three or four cars flipped in the first heat, and we didn’t compensate enough for that,” he says. “It was really sticky. I tried to go around a guy on the first lap, and the left rear got up and I bicycled on two wheels and got clear off the racetrack. We got fortunate. A yellow came out and we got our spot back, but the car was so tight, I couldn’t even race it.”
Things would get better with a B main win. “Sometimes when you run the B, it can help you,” says TMAC. “We had been chasing the car all night, and we got it feeling really good.”
TMAC would start 11th in the feature. “I was really tight to start,” he says. “I got up in the seat a little bit and started focusing on the corners. We got better, and the car really came in. We had the fastest car at that point. We got by a lot of cars. We got to fourth and we were passing for third at the halfway point. Ian (Madsen) was there in second and we were getting ready to pass him when a lapped car spun out in front of us. I had him missed, but he let the car keep rolling down the racetrack and we hit him. We blew a tire and broke a radius rod and lost the top wing.”
The team was happy with the way they had the car setup for the main event. “It’s tough when you think you have the fastest car,” says TMAC. “I thought Doug (Rankin) and I did a good job of putting our heads together on a tough track and getting faster and faster. Really, I felt I drove well, and to end the race that way was disappointing. I was happy for Kyle Marten. It’s nice to see a young guy get his first IRA win. That was big for their team, and if we couldn’t win, it was nice to see him do it.”
TMAC was second quick on the half-mile in Beaver Dam Saturday. “Bill (Balog) went out first,” he says. “The track really slicked off in one and two. The cushion didn’t move up a whole lot, so the times dropped off quick.”
After running fourth in his heat, TMAC would start ninth in the feature. “The worst invert number possible was drawn, the ten,” he says. “I’ve always enjoyed going to Dodge County. It’s always fun to race with those guys. The cushion was the place to be in one and two and you could go either high or low in three and four.”
TMAC had things clicking again in the feature. “I was able to get by Balog on the start and I pulled up to (Mike) Reinke,” he says. “The car below him slid up in front of us and got us over the cushion. Reinke was gone. By the time I cleared those guys, the thing was going green to checker, which is fun. I wish they all could go that way, but by the time I got to third or fourth, the leaders had a straightaway on me on that big track.”
He would checker third. “We ran them down,” says TMAC of Ian Madsen and the leader, Reinke. “The car was awesome. I just didn’t get through traffic well enough. I got on Ian’s bumper there, and fell back, and then caught him again. At that point, a certain lapped car kind of parked it in front of us in turn two. I had to wait on him, and the leaders got away from me at that point. Unfortunately for Mike, he started having some engine problems. He slowed down drastically after having the race won. We were pretty happy with third.”
To check out opportunities to partner with TMAC Motorsports on a nightly basis, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com or call 515 957-0020!
Websites for the McCarl Gang!
Driverwebsites.com develops the websites for the McCarl boys. Check out www.TerryMcCarl.com, as well as www.AustinMcCarl.com and www.CarsonMcCarl.com!
This Month in TMAC History!
This month in TMAC history, he captured the 1990 Gary “Preacher” Patterson Classic at the San Jose Fairgrounds in San Jose, California. TMAC’s hard earned win came aboard the Weldon Offill #88 ahead of Tim Green, Jason McMillen, Paul McMahan and Ronnie Day. TMAC was tough at the now defunct Fairgrounds over the years. In 29 features there, he won eight times (28%), 19 top fives (66%) and 22 top tens (76%).
"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 sprntcar@hotmail.com with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Country Builders Construction, Rossie Feed and Grain, Bosma Poultry, SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, DeBerg Concrete, Colin Bulmer, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Berryhill Racing, Phil and Vivian, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, Ryan Yager Trucking, Vortex Racing, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, Schoenfeld Headers, K&N Filters, Rens Trucking, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Bob and Beulah Elder, Engler Injection, Snap On Tools, Sposato Paint, Winters, Kilani Fender, Inc., DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, Taco Bravo, Brown and Miller, Pro Shocks, Ben Cook, Bell Helmets, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Van Der Brink Trucking, Van Der Brink Designs, Morgan Strawberry Farms, Buttman BBQ, Aurora Rod Ends, Crow Safety, KSE Steering, Snyder Lawn & Landscaping, Strange Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Waterman Fuel Pumps, Butlerbuilt, PBS Bushings and Mote Fasteners.
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
- administrator on Sep 30, 2014
- Article Date: 9/30/2014