Tuesdays with TMAC – Full Moon Weekend!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
by Bill W – The calendars signify today as a full moon, but for World of Outlaws sprint car driver, Terry McCarl, that started last Friday night. Despite some up and down performances in the “Evergreen State”, TMAC has pulled to within 1 point of 11th place in the WoO point standings.
The two-day show at Skagit Speedway in the northern part of Washington is always a fan favorite and this year was no different. Fans were treated to two very different tracks. Friday saw dry conditions, while Saturday ran after a lengthy rain delay that created a heavy, fast track.
On Friday, TMAC’s troubles started immediately. “We had motor problems from the beginning,” he says. “We timed in 38th out of 43 cars, and with the Outlaws, you’re pretty much done at that point. Skagit always has a nice field of cars, and it was a tough racetrack on Friday. We should have changed the motor at the beginning, but we kept trying to make it work. I pulled out of the C main, because we were horrible, and we changed the engine.”
TMAC took a provisional to start the main event 26th. With at least eight yellows and one red flag, the race became one of attrition and TMAC was right in the middle of it. “Right away, on the second restart (before a lap was complete), I slammed the fence and ripped the whole right side of the car off…the shocks, the Jacob’s ladder, all the stuff on the right rear, and we bent the top wing. We came in, and they couldn’t get the radius rod on, so I told them just to push me back off, and if we got another red, we could get it fixed. We went for four laps or so, and I actually passed a couple cars. I knew I couldn’t go much farther, because it was digging into the rear axle and stuff. Fortunately, we got a red flag and got everything fixed but the Jacob’s ladder. So basically we just cruised around there, and finished 16th, trying to gain a few points.”
As bad as the car ran Friday, it was that much better on Saturday after the rain delay. “The motor we put in on Friday was running really well,” says TMAC. “We qualified well (9th) and won the heat race. We had a good car all night long. The guys did a great job, and the track did a great job of getting the race in after we had rain all afternoon.”
After his very convincing heat race win, a sixth place dash finish put him outside of row three for the 40-lap feature. “It ended up being a really good racetrack in the feature,” he says. “We started on the bottom in the dash and lost a couple spots. We were really good on the long runs.” With about ten laps to go, TMAC entered a four-car battle for the win that included Steve Kinser, Joey Saldana and Craig Dollansky.
On the 32nd go-around, Kinser slowed to a stop, bringing out the caution flag. “I hated to see that last yellow go out,” says TMAC. “Before that, we had run Dollansky and Joey back down. The longer it went, the better it got for me.”
After the restart, Tim Shaffer had a nice run and passed TMAC for third, leaving the Altoona, Iowa driver with fourth. “We were good, not great, but after Friday’s performance, we were really happy to get a top five finish,” said the driver of the Big Game Treestands #24.
Last night, TMAC qualified well (6th quick) at Grays Harbor Raceway near Elma. After finishing third in his heat race, he finished 12th in the main event.
Looking Ahead
After tackling the Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon on Wednesday night, the WoO heads to the Calistoga Speedway in California’s Napa Valley for the Harvest Classic on Saturday and Sunday.
In"Terry"gation
Ryan from Newton asks: T-MAC, I believe it was promotional but there is a lot of controversy about the Mike’s Hard Lemonade during your interview on national TV. For the record what was your meaning on it? Great job and keep it up with Tyler and the crew and good luck.
TMAC Answers: There seems to be a lot of controversy with me. I don’t see what the big deal was with me holding the bottle. It’s not like I drank it. The cap was still on! Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve never used drugs, and drink very little. I think internet message boards are great for sharing information, and results, but other than that, they have turned ridiculous with all the stuff that goes on there. I don’t know why there was controversy. I was just trying to help out a sponsor. Thanks for the good luck wishes.
Got a question for TMAC? Send it to us at sprntcar@iowatelecom.net, and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for TMAC" in your subject line.
Did you know?
In ten career feature starts at Calistoga, TMAC has finished in the top ten six times. He finished fifth on September 5, 1992 in World of Outlaws action driving the Offill #88. He trailed Stevie Smith, Jac Haudenschild, Kenny Jacobs and Lindsey Casto to the line.
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