TMAC takes the #7x around Tri-City Speedway (STLRacingPhotos.com Photo)
(Bill W) October 11, 2016 – The TMAC Motorsports team used last weekend’s Gold Cup at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois to test and tune a bit with the MOWA series. The results was a fifth place run for both Terry McCarl on Friday, and his son Austin on Saturday. TMAC heads to Placerville Speedway in California this weekend for the inaugural “Nor-Cal Posse Shootout” aboard Nick McColloch’s #17v.
TMAC competed on Friday, while Austin signed in on Saturday. “We went down for a few reasons,” says TMAC. “One was to see Bob and Beulah Elder, some great supporters of ours. We also had Dan Musselman, the owner of Maxim there. He met us and helped us all night. We made a lot of progress over the course of the night. Also, Granite City is one of my favorite racetracks.”
The Altoona, Iowa driver has always enjoyed racing in Granite City. “I love what they’ve done to the track,” he says. “Kevin and Tammy (Gundaker) have done a great job. Anyone switching from a half-mile to a smaller track should GPS that thing and make it exactly to the same size. You can run the top, the bottom and the middle. It’s good whether it’s sprints, midgets or stock cars. As a driver, it’s a fun racetrack when it doesn’t touch the tires like last weekend.”
TMAC timed in third quick, before running second in his heat and fifth in the feature. “We were off a little bit,” he says. “We ended up running fifth. We weren’t great, but we weren’t bad. I felt we made progress all night long. We had a tire shrink in qualifying, which was my fault. But we were competitive all night long. You always wish you could start over, but if we had our feature setup earlier in the night, we could have fine-tuned it as the night went on. I appreciate Dan being there for us.”
He had the popular Lenard McCarl tribute #7x on the track. “It was fun to break out the #7x,” says TMAC. “Octane Ink did such a good job with it. We’re thinking about running that color scheme with the #24 next year.”
Austin got off to a good start on Saturday. “He qualified well, and we were using what we had learned the night before from Dan,” says TMAC. “Then, I was fired after the heat. I’m not a crew guy often, and I screwed up. Unfortunately, they had an open red while Austin was running second in the heat. They told us air only, and I heard them, but I’m not used to being a crew guy. He sat there for so long, and we had a junky old right rear on. I thought I should grind the thing. It conked out in less than a minute, but they sent us to the back. I thought that was the last of it, so I worked on it some more and they totally DQed us.”
Austin would battle back, winning the B, and charging from 17th to fifth in the main event. “The worst part was, it would have put him on the pole of the feature,” says TMAC. “Overall, it was a great test session for us. It was a good track and it didn’t touch the tires. It’s hard to test for a number of reasons. It’s costly, and you seldom get the right racetrack. He was awesome starting in the back, and he was gaining on Jerrod Hull who was in fourth place at the end.”
After this weekend’s event at Placerville, the team will ready the Country Builders Construction/Elk Grove Ford #88 for the Trophy Cup at the Tulare Thunderbowl October 20-22.
Price Chopper/Hiland Dairy Join the Team!
Price Chopper and Hiland Dairy on the newest partners of the TMAC Motorsports #24 team. They were also the title sponsor for the 21st Annual Front Row Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa.
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!
This Month in TMAC History!
In 2000, TMAC took home $4,000 by winning the Cheater’s Day Festivities at the Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota. The victory came ahead of Gary DeWall, Gregg Bakker, Don Droud Jr. and Terry Reilly.
"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 sprntcar@hotmail.com with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors SnowPlow Snow Pushers – www.TheSnowPlow.com, Country Builders Construction, Rossie Feed and Grain, Bosma Poultry, Destiny Motorsports, Price Chopper, Hiland Dairy, Searsboro Telephone Company, Elk Grove Ford, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, Berryhill Racing, Phil and Vivian, Justice Brothers/Gillund Enterprises, Vortex Racing, Hoosier Tire, Chris Spaulding – Attorney at Law, SuperFlow, Schoenfeld Headers, Rens Trucking, NutriShop – Maple Grove, MN, HRP, All Pro Cylinder Heads, Maxim Chassis, Bob and Beulah Elder, Engler Injection, Snap On Tools, Sposato Paint, Winters, Kilani Fender, Inc., DriverWebsites.com, CM Rock, Brown and Miller, Pro Shocks, Ben Cook, Bell Helmets, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Octane Ink, Morgan Strawberry Farms, Dynasty Stucco, Aurora Rod Ends, Crow Safety, KSE Steering, Snyder Lawn & Landscaping, Strange Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Scribner Plastics, Waterman Fuel Pumps, Butlerbuilt and Mote Fasteners.
Photos: TMAC takes the #7x around Tri-City Speedway (STLRacingPhotos.com Photo)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
Website: www.OpenWheel101.com