Carson McCarl – Podium at Knoxville!
(Bill W) August 28, 2014 – Carson McCarl and the Mastell Brothers Racing #27 notched their best Knoxville Raceway finish of the year last Saturday night with a third place finish. The Altoona, Iowa driver was strong all night long in an A.R.T. chassis he assembled with his brother Austin. Carson next plans to race on September 5 at the St. Croix Valley Raceway in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin in UMSS action.
Carson would time in seventh in Saturday’s time trials. “I was happy about qualifying seventh with the invert of eight in the feature,” he says. “It turned out that a couple of faster guys didn’t make it through the heat, so we started fourth.”
He would also start fourth in his heat and finish third. “I got a decent jump in the heat,” says Carson. “We were able to cruise into third there. I was able to move around the track and figure out what line might work in the feature.”
Starting outside of row two for the main event, Carson got a bit of a slow start. “The start that ended up going…I got a terrible start,” he says. “The car in front of me got a little sideways and I had to get off the gas. I lost a few spots, and then the red (on lap four) really saved me. I had lost another spot to Billy Alley.”
A great move on the restart propelled Carson forward to third. “We restarted fifth with four laps down,” he says. “I was able to get around (Nate) Van Haaften, and Dylan Peterson got a little sideways and I was able to turn underneath him. I was able to come down the hill in two and come out of that third.”
He would hold the podium spot to the checkers. “The track was really heavy,” says Carson. “I was running the bottom where it was heavy in three and four and cruising around the top of one and two. We ended up with a podium finish.”
Carson wishes the season at Knoxville was at the midway point. “Austin built me a great A.R.T. chassis this week,” he says. “We finally got a good car under us. I just wish it wasn’t the last race at Knoxville for the year. It’s o.k. It gives us some momentum heading into these final races.”
Carson would like to thank Mastell Brothers Trailer Service, Inc., Deanfield Farms (Gary and Sally Dean), Berryhill Racing, Vortex, Rossie Feed & Grain, Hoosier, DeBerg Concrete, HRP, Engler Machine, Phil and Vivian, Rider Racing Engines, Justice Brothers-Gillund Enterprises, Country Builders Construction, CM Rock, Bayaire Industries, Hinchman Racewear, Schoenfeld Headers, BMRS, Crow Safety, Butlerbuilt, KSE, Aurora Rod Ends, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, Bell and Jocko’s for all their help!
Category: Carson McCarl, Driver Updates
