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Tuesdays with TMAC – Better Than a Pile of
Rubble! Though he came out mid-pack in time trials on Saturday, the six-time Knoxville track champion still notched the fifth quick time of the night. “We were testing a few things, believe it or not,” he says. “We changed our fuel system in our engines trying to get faster. We never did get a good lap in practice, and the motor wasn’t going 100% into the corners with a bit of a vibration in qualifying, so I was pretty pleased with the time.” TMAC wrestled the car after starting third in his heat race, and at one point, was on the outside looking in for a transfer before getting back by Kerry Madsen. “We went out in the heat race, and I still haven’t pinpointed what the problem was,” he remembers. “It was like the steering was locking up. It was a brand new car. I went into turn one and I thought I wasn’t going to get it turned, and it was going into the fence. I was all over the place out there. I kept waiting for Austin to go by!” When Jac Haudenschild passed Skip Jackson in the last heat race for second, TMAC was locked into the dash, and fortune smiled on him with a third place finish. “We changed the steering and the pump after the heat,” he says of his preparation. “It seemed to get a little better, but the track was slicker in the dash, so I don’t know that that was the problem. It came down to Jason Sides and I for the dash draw and there was a 3 and a 10 left. His little girl who was drawing for him did a nice job and picked him a ten.” TMAC got off to a great start in the 25-lap main event, and quickly moved into second behind pole-sitter Brian Brown. “The car was working pretty well early,” he says. “The early restart (lap six), Donny (Schatz) was behind us and it looked like we had him cleared alright. I didn’t feel much pressure from him, and then we got by Brian.” TMAC pulled away from Schatz and began to gain on Brown, taking the lead on lap 15. “The track laid a bit of rubber there late in the race,” he says. “I could tell that I was sticking a bit below the cushion, and they say I was the first to find it. It helped me to get by Brian, but it really hurt me in that the car tightened up big time and the steering stuff returned. Brian was good on the cushion, and when you’re leading, you aren’t checking the rest of the track out.” TMAC’s pace slowed behind Dusty Zomer, and he struggled to put him a lap down. Schatz pounced on the opportunity on lap 21. “I couldn’t get it turned from the middle of the corner out,” says TMAC. “The car got really evil on me. Another problem, and the place I got passed was, I couldn’t get around Dusty Zomer. I was in his bad air, and the car wouldn’t roll out of the corners too easy. I just caught him at the wrong time.” Schatz went on to win, with TMAC second. Despite the obvious disappointment, there are positives to draw from. “I’m feeling positive, though you never want to lose one like that. On the other side of that, I think we were on equal footing with Donny, at least before the rubber came in. Generally, at the Nationals it doesn’t come close to laying any rubber and that’s what we’re working towards.” Overall, TMAC’s assessment of his run at Knoxville looked like this: “When you leave your car in a pile of rubble after leading like we did last week, you learn that finishing second isn’t all that bad!” New Websites for the McCarl Gang! Driverwebsites.com has developed websites for the McCarl boys. Check out the new look of www.TerryMcCarl.com, and check out the newly developed www.AustinMcCarl.com and www.CarsonMcCarl.com! Front Row Challenge/Ultimate Challenge Tickets On Sale! Order your tickets now for the $10,000 to win Front Row Challenge, and $15,000 to win Ultimate Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Call McTwo Promotions Tuesday-Thursday beginning from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 515 957-0020 to renew your seats! Infield Party Passes for the August 10 and 11 events will be $25! For more information on the Challenges or on TMAC Motorsports, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com. In"Terry"gation Kole from Brandon, SD asks: What do you have up your sleeve this year for Osky as far as special events go? You've added the foot race in the past to go with the King of the Hill contest which everyone loves. Any chance that there could be a debut of a flower pot throwing contest for 2009, which you made so popular at Jackson a couple years back?
TMAC Answers: I’m undefeated in the flower pot throwing contest, and I wouldn’t want to ruin my record by bringing it to the FRC. The biggest change is that it will be $10,000 to win. It’s a big show, so it should pay that to win. We’ve held off on raising that because of the Challenge aspect up to this point. It’s also an All Star Circuit of Champions race once again. We will run under the same format we have the last few years. We’ve worked well with the All Stars in the past, and I think it ensures a quality field of cars. Hopefully, it will help the Knoxville Nationals too, by getting a few more of those guys in town for the week. Got a question for TMAC? Send it to us at
sprntcar@iowatelecom.net, and we may answer it in this
section! Put "? for TMAC" in your subject line. TMAC has two wins on “Cinco de Mayo”. In 1996, he topped a Huset’s Speedway field driving Brad Gray’s #51. The win came ahead of Travis Cram, Chad Radel, Steve Ballenger and Matt Wasmund. In 2004, he drove Mark Burch’s #1m to a Sprint Invaders victory at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. Ryan Jamison was second, followed by John Schulz, Bobby Hawks and Bobby Mincer. Website Updates Keep up to date with McCarl Motorsports at
www.TerryMcCarl.com. We keep it fresh for TMAC fans! "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@iowatelecom.net with "TMAC" in the subject line.
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