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Austin McCarl – Momentum For Knoxville!

(Bill W) April 21, 2009 – Park Jefferson Speedway was the right fit for 16 year old Austin McCarl last Friday night. A finish outside the top five in his heat race didn't deter him, and the night ended with a solid charge through the field in the main event. He'll strap a 410 into Janet Holbrook's #17 machine for the first time this weekend, as he practices Friday and competes on Saturday at the Knoxville Raceway!

The 3/8 mile oval just across the Iowa border into South Dakota hosted the Jackson Sprint Touring Series on Friday. Austin liked what he saw. "It was a fun joint," he says. "It was the perfect size really, and had some bank in it. It was ideal, I guess."

The high school sophomore finished where he started in the heat (sixth), but it wasn't because the car wasn't operating. "I was running fifth the whole race, and then there was a red," says Austin. "On the restart, I drove a little too straight into the bottom and a guy got me there and we ended up sixth. The car was good all night; I just made that mistake in the heat race."

The heat result put him outside row one in the B, where he finished second and transferred to the main event. "The car was good in the B," he says. "(Ryan Anderson) was on the pole and I followed him the whole way. Looking at the positive, I need all the laps I can get, so it was good to run the B. It helped in the A for sure."

Austin tested out every inch of the track and began to move forward in the feature from outside row nine, despite there being one real groove. "We were moving pretty well," he says. "I made a few mistakes, but I also did some good things, and we started moving up. The groove was mostly around the bottom, but on the restarts I went to the top to try to make something happen."

He explained the track conditions in the feature. "It was really slick with no fence. There was a bit of a cushion in one and two, but in three and four, there was nothing. You'd just fall off the racetrack up there."

In the end, Austin had surged forward nine spots and finished ninth. He explained how he was getting by cars on such a narrow track. "I was coming off of turn four really well, and there was a hole in two that everyone kept hitting. I was kind of driving down next to the infield, and getting through there nice. A lot of the cars were hitting the hole, and I was getting by them there."

Overall, the night went really well, and Austin should carry some momentum into this weekend. He said, "I was really happy the way the night went, and I'm excited to get going with the 410 this weekend at Knoxville."

Austin would like to thank Janet Holbrook, Lenard, Kenny, Jimmy, DeBerg Concrete, AmericashAdvance.com, Burnett's Rock and Landscaping, Phil and Vivian, and Goodyear Tires for all their help!

Austin at Park Jefferson Speedway (Doug Johnson Photo)

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I would like to clarify one small thing that was left out of this article. My intention is not to take anything away from Austin as I wish him the best of luck, he is a nice kid and has obvious talent. Rather, my intent is to explain the whole story and to point out what I thought was bad officiating. What the article fails to mention is that on the start of the race, second row starter Chad Meyer spun out exiting turn two, which backed up basically the whole field. Austin was far enough back that he didn't have to break his momentum and got by the all of the cars that did have to slow down. That's how he got most if not all of his spots. Again, good for him, a good finish is a good finish no matter how you get it. But I feel that a yellow should have been thrown. Chad spun out in front of the whole field and though he managed to loop it all the way around and keep going while only collecting one other car (a little incite as to why it upsets me so much) it should have never been allowed. In many pit meetings they will tell you that if you spin out, just stop. Don't try to loop it around and keep going because we're going to through the yellow and put you in the back anyway. This is done for obvious safety reasons. One example of what could have or should have been done is Brian Brown and the Dude at the Knoxville Nationals, Brownie wipes out the dude, the dude loops it and keeps going but Doug threw the yellow. They then called it an inadvertent yellow, gave the dude his spot back and the rest you can see on SPEED channel. That was in the middle of the race, this was on the first lap. Had there not been anymore restarts there would have been a huge gap from third place back to fourth or fifth. That's not exciting for the fans at all and Chad is lucky his leg isn't broke in half again because somebody was trying to get by him an not lose any positions. Very , very bad officiating in my eye's. I see it all the time when a guy spins out and keeps it going, normally he's by himself and there isn't anybody around him or he is smart enough to just stop and to avoid a huge pile up, and not on the first lap. I just don't see the harm in a complete restart in that situation. Something McCorkell can think about before the next JSTS race.

Paydirt...this really isn't an "article", but rather a drivers press release. When to throw the yellow has been a hot topic of discussion about every week, at about every track. If a car spins, or goes sideways, then saves it without stopping the flag could go either way. If, however, you expect racers to stop racing when the flag is green, you'll be disappointed every time. Why would they? If in fact they stated in the driver's meeting that they'll throw the yellow when you "loop it out"...why didn't they? Throwing a yellow may cause other accidents as well, especially on the first lap when the cars are bunched up. I completely understand what you're saying, just stating that there really isn't a reason to throw the yellow if a car doesn't stop or seriously slow down.

I met Austin for the first time friday night and the kid is vary nice and does have a good chance of making it in this sport. we all no that there will be there up's and down's and thats just part of learning. good luck this yr Austin

I understand that Janet. It could go either way. I was just venting my frustrations here instead of biting the officials ear off. Lucky for everyone on hoseheads, they get to hear about it instead

I agree Janet, this is a press release and a good one at that. Austin good luck this year and I look forward to watching you race. I also look forward to seeling your t-shirts along with your Dad's.

Rusty