Des Moines, IA (July 18, 2018) – Carson McCarl and the Mike Sandvig-owned #7 are coming off of a busy weekend pulling double duty at the Knoxville Raceway, picking up a 10th-place finish in the 360 and a season-best 5th in the 410! The team will be back in action this weekend, racing for $5,000 to win at Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota, before returning to Knoxville for another busy night competing in both of the top divisions on 3M Night.
Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway got off to a good start for Carson in the DeBerg Concrete #7, as he recorded solid qualifying times in both classes. “In the 360, we went out really late in the qualifying order, but were able to lay down a good time,” said Carson. His time of 16.851 was good enough for 9th quick; however, he would improve on that performance in the 410.
“We were able to qualify 5th, which is so important to put yourself in position for the invert later in the night,” said Carson. With a bit of help from father Terry’s crew guy Steve Fitzpatrick and a strong car provided by the Sandvig team, Carson was able to move forward in his heat and lock himself into the invert for the night’s A-main: “Steve gave me some notes about where to run coming off turn four in the heat and we were able to move up a spot. We had a really strong car all night long; Mike [Sandvig] and Glen Freeland had the car setup well and we got better every time we hit the track.”
In his 360 heat race, Carson would deal with some adversity, though luck was on his side and kept the night from ending prematurely. “We broke a wheel while running fifth in our heat and smacked the wall,” said McCarl. “I thought we had definitely knocked the rear end out of it, but luckily the car wasn’t in too bad of shape, and we had accumulated enough points to get us into the feature without running the B-main, though starting deep in the field.”
When the green flag flew on the night’s 360 A-main, Carson had his work cut out for him, rolling off 18th on the grid. “The 360 feature was tough,” said Carson. “I was dealing with some steering issues and it felt like we were bottled up near the back forever, but I was able to get some cars cleared and ended up in the top ten.”
After earning the hard charger award in the 360 feature, there was no time to rest, as McCarl jumped into his 410 for the final race of the night. After the eight was drawn for the invert, Carson was set to lineup on the outside of the second row. “The car felt great in the A,” said Carson. “I was able to pull the wing back and it felt really comfortable and it was great to grab our first top five of the season!”
A busy weekend is on the horizon for Carson McCarl and the Mike Sandvig-owned #7! “We’re planning on heading up to Jackson Motorplex for the $5,000 to win 360 show on Friday night,” said Carson. “If all goes well up in Minnesota, then we’re looking to pull double duty again on Saturday at Knoxville; both Mike and I love running both classes since it gives us more track time and hopefully we can improve on last week’s performance.”
Be sure to keep up with Carson and the rest of the McCarl family on Twitter!
@CarsonMcCarl & @McCarl_Racing
McCarl Family Websites!
Driverwebsites.com develops the websites for the McCarl boys. Keep up to date on Carson’s exploits at www.CarsonMcCarl.com, as well as www.TerryMcCarl.com and www.AustinMcCarl.com!
Carson’s Releases
To receive future press releases from Carson McCarl and the Sandvig #7, send an e-mail to broegracewriting@gmail.com with "Carson" in the subject line.
Carson and car-owner Mike Sandvig would like to thank their fantastic sponsors: DeBerg Concrete, Jetco Inc., Eszlinger Electric, Rens Trucking, DeBerg Flooring, Mastell Brothers, Morton Buildings, Schoenfeld Headers, Bell Helmets, and K1 RaceGear.
Morgan Broeg
Broeg Race Writing
West Des Moines, IA USA
broegracewriting@gmail.com
Twitter: @BroegW