Tuesdays with TMAC – Strong Finishes Mounting Up!
(Bill W) July 24, 2012 – Terry McCarl registered a pair of runner-up finishes last weekend, keeping his point lead at the Huset’s Speedway, and staying in contention at the Knoxville Raceway. At Huset’s, he didn’t mind finishing second to son, Austin, who won at the 3/8-mile oval for the second week in a row. Tonight, TMAC heads to Hibbing, Minnesota for action with the All Star Circuit of Champions.
TMAC is chasing Davey Heskin in points at Knoxville and registered the ninth quick time of the night. “There is so much influence on points with time trials,” he says. “Then you just get one lap to do it. I kind of missed it going into turn one and qualified kind of bad. The car was really awesome all night, other than the one time in qualifying when I messed up a bit. Davey is doing a great job in qualifying every week. We jus thaven’t been doing our job.”
After a good second place run in the heat, TMAC lined up outside of row one for the feature, and jumped out to an early lead. “It was a lot of fun because the track really did change,” he says. “We had a great car early on, especially, but really the whole race. It was laying a little rubber here and there.”
A mechanical issue complicated things, but TMAC stayed out front. “We had the restart with like thirteen to go,” he says. “After that, the throttle link broke, so we were basically wide open out there. It hurt me a bit coming out of the corners. I could be aggressive on the cushion, and I could roll out of it a little bit, especially in turn four.”
Still, he held the point. On the last lap, he was bottled up in traffic, allowing Brian Brown to get by for the win. “I was able to overcome it,” says TMAC of the throttle issue. “I was still happy with the way I drove. We went into the last corner on the last lap, and a lapped car made a mistake. That cost us the feature, but that happens. It’s happened to Brian before, and it’s not the last time it will happen to either of us. He was in the right place at the right time.”
Most expected TMAC to be boiling. “My wife and crew were more upset than I was,” he says. “I was happy with the car and the way I drove after the throttle issue. In my mind, we should have wadded it up a couple times!”
After setting second quick time of the night and running fourth in his heat, TMAC would start inside row four for Sunday’s feature at Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota. “It was a great racetrack at Huset’s,” he says. “There was a good bottom and a good top. It was a heck of a battle the first four or five laps. I had a great race with (Mark) Dobmeier and (Robby) Wolfgang. There were four or five of us coming off turn two. It was kind of crazy.”
The leader was checking out. “In the meantime, Austin was taking off up front,” says TMAC. “I think he was coming around to lap us after about 12 laps when we had a caution. We were able to get to third on the restart, and we got by Kaley (Gharst) into second. I really didn’t have a whole lot for Austin. He made a couple mistakes, but I wasn’t able to get by him.”
TMAC is proud of Austin. “That’s two in a row for him on a tough racetrack,” he says.
“You really have to drive it there. I have to thank the crew. I was so doggone hot all weekend. They all do a great job. The hard work pays off.”
The All Stars are running in the Upper Midwest this week, but TMAC will only make the Hibbing stop with them. “We wish we could do the whole swing, but we need to pick up a motor from Don Ott for the Nationals,” he says. “We would do the whole thing if we had motors.”
To check out opportunities to partner with TMAC Motorsports on a nightly basis, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com or call 515 957-0020!
Category: Driver Updates, News, Terry McCarl
