8/8/2018
Terry McCarl
Tuesdays with TMAC (Wednesday Edition) – Five-Time 360 Nationals Champion!
Des Moines, IA (August 8, 2018) – Terry McCarl’s victory on Saturday night tied him for the most 360 Nationals wins with Shane Stewart; now the team sets their sights on the Knoxville Nationals and their Thursday night qualifier!
TMAC got his victorious 360 Nationals campaign started on Friday, where he set himself up well for the remainder of the weekend from the very first time he hit the track. “With the points structure of both weeks of the Nationals, you have to be on every time you hit the track,” said Terry. “We were able to time in 4th on Friday and, when you qualify that well, you have to thank your engine builder: Jaymie Moyle built a great motor and I have to thank Don Long at Searsboro Telephone for providing us our 360 motors.”
McCarl would advance from the outside of the third row to a 3rd-place finish in his heat race, leaving the team sitting pretty in the points. “We were able to pass some cars and transfer out of our heat,” said TMAC. “We knew that with the qualifying time that we had, if I could get through the heat we’d be in a great position and it set us up for a great A-main.”
The 20-lap feature event would see Terry rolling off 5th on the grid and, after working his way to the front of the field, become locked in a fierce battle with Carson Macedo and Joey Saldana. “What a great race,” said TMAC. “I think I passed Carson and Joey twice, then they were able to get me back. It was fun racing for the lead with the two of them and finishing our night on the podium set us up well for Saturday.”
After the points were tallied, McCarl had amassed the third highest point total, leaving him starting on the inside of the second row in the main event. Although he was already locked in the A-main with a great starting spot, the night didn’t start well for the SnowPlow Snow Pushers #24. “When we took the car out for the A-main hot laps, it really didn’t feel too great,” said Terry.
“I thought about something Karl Kinser had said in the past, ‘Don’t worry about the competition, just the car and the track,’ and that’s what we did. Doug [Rankin] and Steve [Fitzpatrick] made some changes and had the car feeling much better at the start of the race.”
When the race was halted for an open red flag on the eighth circuit of the 25-lap A-main with TMAC in the lead, there was cause for concern as the team surveyed the car in the work area. “The left rear looked pretty bad for only being 8 laps into the race,” said Terry. “When we went back to green, the car started getting really loose and I wasn’t feeling too great about our chances of holding on.”
With an ill-handling racecar, TMAC would see Macedo get by him for the lead on lap 17. Brian Brown would slide by on the following lap, leaving McCarl in 3rd, though getting passed allowed Terry the freedom to find the winning line. “Brown got around me with a slider, but got to the cushion late and I thought I’d be able to get back by him,” said TMAC. “When I couldn’t catch him coming off the turn, I thought something had changed with the track and that allowed me to search.”
As it turned out, a broken piece of equipment ended up aiding in McCarl’s late race charge to the top of the podium. “The snubber had broken off our left rear shock, which had caused the looseness that I’d been feeling earlier in the race,” said Terry. “Once the track took rubber, that actually helped me, as it kept me from being too tight on the bottom and allowed me to drive past Brown and Macedo for the win.”
Though it’s always great to pick up a win at one of the marquis events in the sport, scoring his fifth 360 Nationals title was extra special to the veteran from Altoona, Iowa. “Tying Shane for the most 360 Nationals wins is special,” said Terry. “Not only am I a racer, but I’m also a huge fan of the sport and its history, so being tied for that record means a lot!”
Almost as big of a story as TMAC picking up the win on Saturday night, was the car that he did it in. “To win in FrankenART is pretty wild,” said McCarl. “The front came from car that I had crashed and broke my back in, and the back of the car was from a wreck Carson had at Jackson where he destroyed the front. My good friend Scott Bonar at Midland Performance was able to stitch them together and it has been a great car for me!”
The celebrations of Terry’s 360 Nationals title were abbreviated however, as the team still had work to do for Sunday night’s Capitani Classic. “Doug and Steve, as well as Steve’s dad Glen Fitzpatrick put in a ton of overtime to have a new car ready for Sunday night, after we destroyed ours at the All Star show,” said TMAC. “I wasn’t able to ever feel too comfortable in the car Sunday night, so being able to finish in the top ten against a big field of cars was a solid night.”
TMAC would take 8th in the Sunday’s finale, and while this week’s Knoxville Nationals are at the front of Terry’s mind, he did have his eyes on the Knoxville regular season point standings on Sunday. “We’re locked in a tight battle with Brooke Tatnell for 2nd in the points,” said Terry. “Sunday’s finish gained us some points and should put us in a good spot for the final weekly show on August 25th.”
The Knoxville Nationals are here and the TMAC Motorsports team is ready! Terry will be looking to lock himself into the Saturday night A-main when he takes to the track for his qualifying night on Thursday, before returning on Friday to compete in the Speed Sport Challenge, where he’ll be joined by his son Austin!
McCarl Family Websites!
Driverwebsites.com develops the websites for the McCarl boys. Check out www.TerryMcCarl.com, as well as www.AustinMcCarl.com and www.CarsonMcCarl.com!
"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 broegracewriting@gmail.com with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank their great list of partners for the 2018 season: SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, KC Breweries, Bosma Poultry, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, TW Vance Trucking, Terra Realty, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, Simplot Grower Solutions, Rens Trucking, Hoosier Tire, Don Long’s Searsboro Telephone, Octane Ink, Destiny Motorsports, Country Builders Construction, 212 The Boiling Point, DeBerg Concrete, AL Drive Line, All Pro Cylinder Heads, All Star Performance, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Aurora Rod Ends, Bell Helmets, Berryhill Racing, Bob and Beulah Elder, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Butlerbuilt, CM Rock, Crow Safety, DriverWebsites.com, Dynasty Stucco, Engler Injection, HRP, JLT Ent., Kilani Fender, Inc., KSE Steering, Mote Fasteners, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, Phil and Vivian, Pro Shocks, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Scribner Plastics, Silva Chassis, Snap On Tools, Snyder Lawn & Landscaping, Sposato Paint, Strange Performance, and Winters.
Photo Credit: KNIA/KRLS
Morgan Broeg
West Des Moines, IA USA
broegracewriting@gmail.com
Twitter: @BroegW
