Austin at Knoxville last Saturday (Chuck Stowe Images)
(Bill W) August 2, 2017 – The TKS Motorsports #2KS team and Austin McCarl are ready for the big events coming up at Knoxville Raceway. A seventh-place finish last Saturday night sees the team third in the 410 point standings heading into this Sunday night’s “Capitani Classic”. That will be the last event before the 57th Annual Knoxville Nationals next week.
Austin timed in tenth quick. “We were just off a little,” he says. “Tenth quick isn’t a place that we’re accustomed to qualifying. We were trying a few things to see if we could get any more out of the car. We had a little bit of an issue with the tires, but we were able to bounce back.”
Austin started fourth in his heat race. “We’ve been trying to get better at the heat races,” says team owner and crew chief Troy Renfro. “The racetrack has been pretty narrow during heat race time. Austin did a really good job in the heat race and finished third. The heats are really important, not only in the weekly format, but at the Nationals.”
With the Knoxville Nationals looming, Troy says getting through the heats may be the biggest issue of the week. “It may be really tough this year to come from row three or four in the heats. There has been a lot of jumping in the heats, and you have to do it to compete. If it’s not being called back, and it hasn’t been this year, you have to do it. The one guy who seems to have really mastered those heats is Brian (Brown). He’s been good all year at passing cars in the heat.”
Starting eighth in the feature, Austin would checker a seventh-place finish. “The track was really tricky,” he says. “It was a little bit rough, yet really slick. Later on, it changed again and there was rubber developing. We had some good battles out there, but we would have liked to have finished a couple spots higher than we did.”
Troy feels that the track has been a challenge to set up for this year. “The racetrack has just been different,” he says. “It’s been such a guessing game. We’ve seen a lot of drivers struggle with it. I didn’t feel we were as good as we could have been. But we made it out of there and lived to fight another day. It’s just been tough. The one guy who had the track figured out and maybe found some of the rubber first was Brooke (Tatnell). To come from the back like that was impressive. I think he picked off ten cars on the first lap.”
Sunday’s Capitani Classic will definitely be a challenge. Usually, between 60 and 80 cars compete. “It’s a tough situation that points are on the line in this race,” says Troy. “You have so many cars, and so many good ones. I know that there is a minimum put on the points (200), but I’m not thrilled with it. Everyone is dealt the same hand though.”
The team is still building back up after a crash on July 15. “That set us back a bit,” says Troy. “We’re slowly getting back and trying to get that momentum we had before the crash. We’ll try some things this week and see how it goes heading into the Nationals. We have confidence that everything will go well.”
Sponsor the Front Wing with TKS Motorsports!
TKS Motorsports is always open to new perspective partners! Looking for an affordable way to be a part of a sprint car team? Whether you’d like to partner with the team for the full season, or put your company’s name on the nose wing for a night of your choice, contact Troy at tsrenfro8725@gmail.com!
TKS Motorsports would like to thank Casey's General Stores, Des Moines Industrial Products (DMIP), 1 Way Technologies, AL Driveline, AO Designs, “All Star Performance, ATL Racing Fuel Cells, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Fibreworks Composites, Hoosier, Indy Race Parts, KSE Racing Products, Mag Tech Ignition, Maxim Racing Chassis, Schoenfeld Headers, Tony Moro Collision Center, Tony Moro Powdercoating & Sandblasting, Butlerbuilt, Aurora Rod Ends, HRP, Volcano Joe’s Coffee, Walker Filtration Systems, Snyder Landscaping & Lawn Care, Justice Brothers, Webb Family Farms, Wilwood, Winters Performance Products and Gail Dielman.
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Photo: Austin at Knoxville last Saturday (Chuck Stowe Images)
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