Track Schedules

Tuesdays with TMAC – Fourth at Knoxville!

(Bill W) June 21, 2011 – Things are going well for a team when a fourth place run at Knoxville Raceway doesn’t feel good.  That was the case for Terry McCarl and the VerMeer Motorsports team.  A tangle at Huset’s on Sunday night didn’t help things, but the team is ready to run this weekend in Kankakee, Illinois and at Knoxville. 

TMAC posted the second quick time of the night at Knoxville.  “Out in clean air, we have been really good,” he says.  “Our Don Ott engine is running really well.  We’ve been struggling a little bit with tires or something.  I haven’t been really comfortable yet.” 

The Altoona, Iowa driver struggled a bit in his heat finishing fifth, and ran steadily in the top five after a “revenge draw” saw him handed the six pill.  “We’re trying some different things,” he says of the #55 Eagle chassis machine.  “We’ve been up and down a little bit to start the year.  I can’t say enough about how great our team is, and how awesome Tony VerMeer has been to drive for.  We believe in each other.  I’m excited about our future.” 

In the end, TMAC would settle for a fourth place finish.  “I don’t know if Goodyear changed their left rear tires, or what,” he says.  “I think they have, because I’ve only seen two of them blow this year.  I didn’t feel real well, and we got a fourth place finish.  That shows you where we’re at.” 

The all-time leading feature winner at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota set quick time over the field Sunday night.  “My old setups haven’t worked well for me this year up there,” he says.  “They’ve worked great for Austin, but not for me.  Gary (Isom), Matt (Barbara) and I tried something different up there on Sunday, and the car felt great in qualifying.  It was as good as it’s been all year up there.” 

A melee to start the first heat race ended the night for all practical purposes.  “I started the heat sixth and Austin was in front of me,” says TMAC.  “I just told him to do his best and don’t do anything crazy on the start.  Sure enough, we went into turn three and some guys got together.  That got me into Austin’s left rear tire.  That blew his tire, and I got upside down.  It was mostly bolt on stuff.  It was a racing deal.” 

While Austin surged from 16^th to 5^th in the main event, TMAC had suffered too much damage to be a factor.  “I didn’t have a good feeling about it,” he says of rolling out scratch for the feature.  “(The wreck) bent the draglink and bent the pitman arm on it.  The steering took a heck of a hit.  We started last and when I got to the corner it locked up and I spun out.  I went back out for a few laps, but we must have broken something in the steering.  I pulled off before we crashed someone.” 

Another busy weekend is in store.  The team heads to the Kankakee County Speedway in Kankakee, Illinois on Friday night to race with the IRA, they’ll be back at Knoxville on Saturday, and will take on the World of Outlaws at Huset’s Sunday.  “We’ll come back next week and hopefully finish up front up there with the Outlaws.” 

To check out opportunities to partner with TMAC Motorsports on a nightly basis, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com or call 515 957-0020!