TMAC at East Bay (Max Dolder Photo)
(Bill W) February 28, 2017 – Terry McCarl and the TMAC Motorsports #24 team are regrouping this week before heading West with the World of Outlaws. The Altoona, Iowa has had his share of success at East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa, Florida, and this year was no different during last weekend’s Ronald Laney Memorial “King of the 360’s”. TMAC picked up a win on Friday night before running fourth in the finale.
On Thursday, he started third in his heat. “We were able to win that heat, which was a good start,” says TMAC. “That was enough to make the redraw, but of course, we drew the eight. (son) Carson was in there too, and he drew a seven. With 63 cars, there are some ‘bad hombres’, so we did all right to start with.”
Starting from outside row four didn’t deter TMAC. “It took a while to get going, but once we found our line, we were good,” he says. “We were able to get up to second, and we were running Mark (Smith) down at the checkered. In that type of event, everything is a point per spot in both the heat and feature. We were able to sit well after Thursday.”
He was second in points after Thursday, and he drew a starting spot in row five of a tough heat Friday. “Seven heats, and Carson and I were in the same heat,” says TMAC. “What are the odds? We had three of the seven heat winners from Thursday in our heat. Robbie Stillwaggon, Aaron Reutzel and Danny Smith were all in there. We started well. We were able to get up to Aaron and battle clean side by side with him. It was a lot of fun. Fourth was enough to get us in the redraw.”
This time the draw went TMAC’s way, and he would start outside row one of the feature. “East Bay is one of my favorite tracks,” he says. “It’s tricky. It can be any condition, dry, slick, wet, heavy, all in one night. You have to really pay attention to it. You have to set it up right. We set up for the rubber and it hurt us early on.”
He was able to turn those struggles around. “I was kind of hanging on there in third,” says TMAC. “We were able to get to traffic. There were some wrong moves made in front of us, and once the rubber was down, we were really nice. We were able to get a feature win. With the points, it was important, and that put us at the top going into Saturday.”
The top six redrew, and TMAC would pull the five for the finale. “Last year we also drew five and we won it,” he says. “This year, I had Travis Rilat draw, and it was a five again. In a 40-lapper, it really doesn’t matter. There were guys who came from row six and eight in the top five. It’s not so much where you start as if you have the car right. The track was in great condition.”
With a car capable of winning, an early mishap caused him to play catchup. “I was able to get to fourth right away, and I was running with Mark,” says TMAC. “He was running the middle. I blew around him on the top and he slid up in two. That got me over the cushion. We were on two wheels and bouncing. I don’t know how the car didn’t hit the fence. I remembered thinking whatever happened after that is a bonus, because we should have been in a pile of junk. We dropped back to ninth at one point. We had a yellow and worked our way back up. We got up to fourth and we were pushing third across the line at the checkers. We had a great car capable of winning, but as it was, we were happy with fourth.”
TMAC is thankful for his partners, who annually make the trip to Florida possible. “We couldn’t even make that trip without the help of Dynasty Stucco, Burnett’s Rock and Landscaping, Myers International Midways and Chubby from CnB Mushroom Farms,” he says. “Those guys are our friends. Randy and Joey Horn do a big cookout for us on Saturday night win or lose. It’s always a blast and a lot of fun.”
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!
TMAC won the $10,000 2006 East Bay Winternationals aboard his #24. With seven laps to go in the 40-lapper, he passed leader Chad Kemenah to recored the win ahead of Kemenah, Danny Lasoski, Greg Hodnett and Jason Sides. He also cashed in a $5,000 bonus for winning 2 of the 3 features contested at East Bay.
"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, Bosma Poultry, Destiny Motorsports, Price Chopper, Hiland Dairy, Searsboro Telephone Company, 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, 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.
Photo: TMAC saves it at East Bay (Mike Horne Photo)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
Website: www.OpenWheel101.com