|
Tuesdays with TMAC – Big Times for a Driver/Promoter!
(Bill W) July 29, 2008 – Some big shows loom ahead in August and Altoona, Iowa World of Outlaws driver Terry McCarl will be both competing and promoting in a busy couple of weeks. This week the WoO has three shows scheduled, while TMAC and the McTwo Promotions team are busily preparing for the Musco Lighting Front Row Challenge on Monday and the Searsboro Telephone Ultimate Challenge next Tuesday.
The Front Row Challenge on Monday at the Southern Iowa Speedway has taken on an even greater significance, with the addition of a special event to the $50,000 to win from the back feature. In addition to contingency prizes, the heat winners will run a foot race for the rights to their choice of All Pro Cylinder Heads (a $5,000 value). "Bob Williams of All Pro has stepped on board, and we have gotten a lot of positive responses about this," says TMAC. "I think some folks are more excited about seeing their favorite driver line up in the blocks in their driver suit than the actual heads giveaway!"
Tuesday's Ultimate Challenge has also upped the ante for drivers. Heat winners will receive a Weld Wheel, while Qualifier winners will take home a new Winters rear-end. In addition, the Keith Hutton hard-charger will award a special prize. "Brown and Miller Racing Solutions (www.BMRS.net) will be giving a $1,000 gift certificate to the Keith Hutton hard-charger award," says TMAC. "We're excited, because we know with the format we're offering and USAC on board, that this is lining up to be the best Ultimate Challenge ever!"
WoO Travels
Two straight days of rain washed out WoO plans to run at the Ohsweken Speedway in Ohsweken, Ontario last week. TMAC takes some consolation in the following fact: "I'm the only driver that drove my motor home out of the pits without getting a tow!" he brags. "I'm pretty proud of that."
Friday night saw a short field of 23 cars competing at the I-96 Speedway near Lake Odessa, Michigan. After a tough qualifying effort, TMAC rebounded to move from 14th to 11th in the feature. "We were o.k. at I-96 in the feature, but we timed bad," he remembers. "We just kind of held our own to be honest. We were having some motor problems and were trying to get another night out of it on a big ½ mile. I think we had hurt it at Williams Grove the last part of the race."
The WoO next moved to the KC Raceway near Chillicothe, Ohio on Saturday. TMAC is fond of the track where he has two wins…one coming in the WoO show a year ago. "I like KC. We qualified o.k. (14th) and ran well in the heat (2nd). We had a new car at I-96 and we were starting to get a handle on it. We were up to fourth in the feature, and looking for traffic to come. I was running the top of three and four like we did last year when we won."
Things went haywire from there when KC track owner/promoter Jim Nier got upside down in TMAC's line in three and four. "I heard something in the radio down the backstretch and couldn't hear what they said, but I hit turns three and four high like I had been," says TMAC. "There sat Jim upside down. He has a black car and it was dusty and hard to see. It was scary because he was lying right where I was running. If I had panicked, I would have t-boned him…I had nowhere to go. So to be honest, I hit the fence as hard as I could and tore the car up bad. I still made contact with him, but not as bad as I would have if I locked it up and panicked. I got out of the car to check on Jim as quickly as I could. We're buddies. He didn't get hurt and that was the main thing. It did cost us a top five finish, and it seems when we've had good finishes going, things have happened."
Last night at the Paducah International Raceway, TMAC broke the track record in qualifying for a time, before Donny Schatz bested him by .007 of a second. "It's dumb stuff to most, but I'm kind of quirky in that I love the track records," says TMAC. "It was a bit of a disappointment, but still a good sign that we have things in order for qualifying."
TMAC finished fourth in an entertaining heat. "I didn't get to watch it, but I think the heat was as good as I would have ever seen. It was a knock-down drag-out deal with Jason Sides finishing up front on the bottom. It was a good track with good racing all night long."
After an eighth place dash finish, TMAC lined up eighth for the feature. "We ran well. We were up to fifth and they had a yellow flag late in the race. Our tires went away under caution, and I couldn't really get it going again and dropped back to eighth. We were contending for fourth at one point, so all in all, it wasn't a bad night of racing the way things have been going."
Tomorrow the WoO tackle the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa for the first time in its history. After running for Mark Burch in the 360 Nationals preliminary on Thursday, plans shift to two weekend races in Wisconsin: Friday at Wilmot Speedway in Wilmot, and Charter Raceway Park near Beaver Dam. "We've been going forward the last couple races, so that is good for the confidence," says TMAC. "We'd like to get a win or two heading into the Nationals though. We start knocking down top tens, then the top fives and wins will follow."
Meet and Greet the WoO Drivers in Burlington Tonight!
Meet TMAC and some of your favorite World of Outlaws tonight (Tuesday) at the Heartland Harley Davidson Buell in Burlington from 5-8 p.m. Join fellow fans and drivers for beer, brats and B.S! Heartland Harley Davidson is located on 155 South Roosevelt!
Crazee Combos Continue!
TMAC and Daryn Pittman are continuing their "Crazee Combo" deals at the merchandise trailer! For $25, you can purchase a t-shirt, hat, sticker and coozie from TMAC! Take advantage of the "Crazee Combo" this weekend!
WoO at 34 Raceway!
The World of Outlaws are coming to another of TMAC's favorite tracks, the 34 Raceway near West Burlington, Iowa tomorrow! The race will be a prelude to the 10-day Southern Iowa Sprintweek. Tickets remain!
2008 FRC/UC Tickets!
Order your Front Row Challenge and Ultimate Challenge tickets right now! Call McTwo Promotions Tuesday-Thursday beginning from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 515 957-0020 to secure your seats for these popular events!
Infield Party Passes for the August 4 and 5 events will be $20 in advance or $25 the day of the race!
For more information on the Challenges or on TMAC Motorsports, visit www.TerryMcCarl.com.
In"Terry"gation
Brian Sammons in Doylestown, OH asks: I am a new fan to WoO. A friend of mine took me to my first race in June at the Ollie's 360 NASCAR Challenge and I got to meet you and look at your car. I have seen three races since then on the Speed Channel. My question is, why do some dirt tracks rubber over and some don't? Is it the type of clay or moisture content or what? The last race I saw you run (Dodge City) the commentators said that the track was so rubbered up that passing was very difficult. Thanks again for being so friendly and autographing the hat for my daughter. I actually went to the race hoping to get a Tony Stewart autograph and ended up a TMAC fan.
TMAC Answers: The type of dirt you have in a region is a factor, and they can say whatever they want, but it really comes down to track preparation. If these guys really want to get it done, they can. I remember as a little boy, Mr. Dunkin (at Knoxville) was crossing in front of us with the grader after the races before we could get to the pits. They can talk about wings and tires all they want. We keep going to a harder tire and it's not helping. You can tell at the beginning of the night if the track is going to rubber up, just by looking at it, and the amount of work that's went into it in most cases. Dirt tracks need to be run at night, and the best races are on a dry track. It's tough to find that fine line sometimes. At KC, the track was slick but it didn't hurt the tires at all. That's the kind of track you need. Tommy Helfrich at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana has it figured out. They bring out their tillers and redo the track at intermission if it's not looking good. I think the fans will wait for a 30 minute intermission if it means better racing.
Got a question for TMAC? Send it to us at [email protected], and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for TMAC" in your subject line.
Today in TMAC History!
TMAC has scored two victories on this day in history. In 1995, he bested Johnny Herrera, Steve Beitler, Jaymie Moyle and Brent Antill at Knoxville. As part of his incredible season at Huset's Speedway in 2001, he won on this date ahead of Peter Murphy, Gary DeWall, Dennis Moore Jr. and Kenny Hansen.
Website Updates
Jason McConnell, who was featured in the latest FlatOut, has some new photos for us on the site in the "Terry McCarl" and "At the Races" galleries.
Keep up to date with McCarl Motorsports at www.TerryMcCarl.com. We keep it fresh for TMAC fans!
"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 [email protected] with "TMAC" in the subject line.
TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Big Game Treestands, AmeriCashAdvance.com, DeBerg Concrete and Remington Treestands.
(Jason McConnell Photo)
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IAUSA
[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com
|
