Track Schedules

Tuesdays with TMAC – Down in the Valley!

(Bill W) October 11, 2011 – Terry McCarl and the rest of the family put in a weekend of 360 racing.  They raced with the ASCS-Warriors region in Grain Valley, Missouri and the JSTS in Kasson, Minnesota.  The Altoona, Iowa driver and his sons, Carson and Austin all got some action in.  TMAC is disappointed that he will be forced to miss this weekend’s Lonestar Sprint Nationals in Texas, but he will have good friend, Daryn Pittman, filling in for him.

The ASCS-Warriors visited Valley Speedway near Grain Valley on Friday.  “I was impressed with the place,” says TMAC.  “I’d barely heard of the track.  What a great location it has.  I thought it would be a tiny track, but it was great.  It was an awesome place.  It was a fun racetrack.  For us, it was an easy trip down there.”

The trip was made both for TMAC, and for Carson, the Knoxville 305 track champion who needed some 360 experience.  “I had a brand new Eagle that I had been wanting to run,” says TMAC.  “We hadn’t run a 360 race since the 360 Nationals, so I wanted to take it out and run it.  More than that, I wanted to take Carson down.  He’s been working hard at school and in the shop.  I thought it would be good for him to get some laps.”

Starting on the pole of his heat, TMAC was able to grab first at the checkers.  “It was a fun hot lap session,” he says.  “I had a blast out there.  You have someone like Tim Crawley next to you in the heat, and if you are starting on the pole, you better win.  If not, you are in deep trouble losing points and that’s the way it should be.  Fortunately, we have a Rider engine and boy is it running!”

The win put TMAC in the redraw.  “We were the last to draw, and the eight was all that was left,” he says.  “It was a heck of a field of cars.  There were a bunch of ASCS guys and you had Tony Stewart.”

Starting outside of row four, TMAC began to work his way forward.  “To be honest, I’m not totally on my game,” he admits.  “I didn’t tighten the car up as much as I should have.  The car was good, and capable of winning, but it wasn’t what I needed.”

He went back and forth with a Missouri legend.  “Randy Martin and I were playing kind of a chess game there for awhile,” says TMAC.  “The track was slick, which I like.  You wish you could do it over as far as setup.  I kept sliding by Randy in the wrong part of the track and he was getting back by me.”

When Martin was finally cleared the caution flew.  “We got by him for good I thought, and then another yellow came out,” says TMAC.  “We were there in fourth, and I think we could have mixed it up with Jason (Johnson), Danny (Lasoski) and Wayne (Johnson).”

An incident saw TMAC spun out.  He then headed to the back of the pack and surged back up to finish ninth.  “On the restart, Tony Stewart got tangled up with me and took us both out,” he says.  “We both restarted in the back, and I was able to get back to ninth.  It was a fun track, and I definitely want to take the boys back down there.”

Once back in central Iowa, the crew went to work to get ready for the JSTS show Saturday night at the Dodge County Speedway in Kasson.  “Brad (Goebel) and Cory (Miller) worked all night to get things ready,” says TMAC.  “I don’t think they slept.  The whole family went along to Kasson, Minnesota.”

It was the first time TMAC saw that track as well.  “It was another great racetrack,” he says.  “You expect less, but it ended being a great facility.  The people were great to us.  It was a great racetrack.  Perfect for sprint cars.  A little bigger and wider than Valley.”

After considering his options, TMAC decided to turn the wheel over to son Austin.  “In the driver’s meeting, I asked Carson if I should put Austin in the car, and he said, ‘Yep’,” he says.  “(Carson) told Austin, ‘I know I won’t beat Dad, but I know I can beat you’.  Carson is hilarious.”

Carson wanted to improve on his seventh place B showing at Valley.  Austin was fitted for the VerMeer Motorsports #55.  “We got him some stuff that sort of fit him,” says TMAC.  “We had a blast.  They went out there and did great.  Austin ran second, and was all over Gregg Bakker, who has things going well right now.  Carson ran sixth, and we had a blast.”

TMAC deeply regrets missing the big race at the Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, Texas this weekend, but a business proposition is taking him another direction.  “I have to leave the country on a business trip, and Daryn Pittman will drive for me,” he says.  “KJC Auto Title Loans (KJC123.com) is sponsoring our effort down there.  I’m really disappointed that I can’t make it.  It’s upsetting, because they are doing a great job of promoting the event, and we run well down there.”

He speaks very highly of the show.  “I think it’s going to be an awesome event,” says TMAC.  “They are going to grow this into one of the big shows that fans circle on their calendar every year.  KJC Auto Title Loans is helping us, and it’s too bad I can’t be there for them.  You can’t find a better guy and driver than Daryn to fill in for us though.  We’ll be driving for Aaron Berryhill the following weekend at Devil’s Bowl.”

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