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Tuesdays with TMAC – Rainy Days at East Bay!

Tuesdays with TMAC – Rainy Days at East Bay!

(Bill W) February 16, 2010 – For Terry McCarl, East Bay Raceway near Tampa, Florida has been a special place. On ten occasions, he has found victory lane. Three nights with the All Stars at East Bay was something he looked forward to, but two rain outs and an unfortunate accident sidelined the Big Game Treestands #24, and ended the year in Florida prematurely.

Thursday night was the only one that didn’t give in to Mother Nature, and TMAC set the ninth quick time of the night out of 35 cars assembled. “We weren’t far off,” he says. “I think we were a tenth second off of quick time until Dale went out last and set it. I was content with that.”

A start outside of row two in the heat race saw him dash to the win. “The car was great in the heat race,” says TMAC. “We missed the top six qualifier redraw by one car, so that was disappointing.”

Scheduled inside of row four for the main event, TMAC may have outthought himself a bit. “We have a good setup at East Bay, and we used it in qualifying and the heat,” he explains. “In my infinite wisdom, we tried something totally different and we weren’t good.”

Fortunately for the Altoona, Iowa driver, the race took four attempts to go green. “We started on the bottom, and all night long, it was pretty greasy down there,” he says. “On the start, that was not the place to be. On the first start, I was tenth and they had a yellow. On the second start, I was eleventh or twelfth and they had a yellow. The third start, I was tenth or eleventh and they had another yellow. Finally, on the last try I came off running eighth, which was great.”

Things took awhile to click for TMAC, but once they did, he headed towards the front. “The first ten laps, we were going o.k. We were just hanging in there a little tight. Finally, we had a yellow, and that’s when we took off pretty good. I moved around a bunch, and we really started hauling. We were able to pass some top-notch cars. I love East Bay. It’s a fun track that you can pass on, and it’s usually easy on tires for the car owners. Unless it’s really heavy, you can usually pass out there.”

Soon, he was on the leaders. “We got up to third and ran down (second place) Wayne (Johnson) and (leader) Tim (Shaffer) in traffic,” says TMAC. “I thought we had a shot at them. I saw some smoke out of Tim’s car, and that’s probably why we were able to catch up with him.”

The lapped car of Fred Rahmer suffered a flat and almost collected the leader. Johnson was unable to survive the incident. “Rahmer had a problem and Tim came down to avoid him,” says TMAC. “I think Wayne got into the back of him and spun out. I was right underneath them, so I got lucky.”

TMAC was in second, and poised to make a move on the leader. “Our motors (Don Ott) take off so good on the start,” he says. “I had a great start on Tim. I had such a good start in three and four, I almost ran over his right rear. I told myself at the flagstand that if I had a chance I would dive under him, and if not, I would follow.”

It was time to make the move in one and two. “I had such a great run, I had to dive,” says TMAC. “I thought we were fast enough and I dove him. I came across and really thought I had him cleared. Obviously, we made contact and took us both out of the race. Generally, I don’t make too many mistakes, and I really did think I had cleared him. I’m good friends with Janet (Holbrook) and Brian Kemenah, and it was really unfortunate for both Tim and I. In hindsight, you can always think about a different decision, but thinking I had him cleared, I don’t know that I would have done anything different. I think he was having motor problems, and maybe I should have waited another corner or two.”

TMAC will be off until the Big Game Treestands #24 team heads for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, February 26 to compete with the World of Outlaws.

Front Row Challenge/Ultimate Challenge

The 15th Annual Front Row Challenge and the 9th Annual Ultimate Challenge will be held Monday and Tuesday, August 9 and 10, 2010 at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Advance ticket holders from 2009 can purchase the same seats starting Tuesday, February 16 at 10:00 a.m. by calling McTwo Promotions, Inc. at 515 957-0020.

Tickets will be open to the public on March 23. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are welcomed. Visit www.OskyChallenges.com for further details.

Websites for the McCarl Gang!

Driverwebsites.com has developed websites for the McCarl boys. Check out www.TerryMcCarl.com, and check out www.AustinMcCarl.com and www.CarsonMcCarl.com!

In"Terry"gation

Sam Wright asks: Who shovels the snow at your house?

TMAC Answers: I’ve got all these young kids hanging out at my house, and I end up doing it. I actually enjoy it to be honest. For the last month, someone has been doing it, and hasn’t done the greatest job. I wasn’t very impressed when I got home.

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.

This Week in TMAC History!

In 2004, TMAC won a pair of preliminaries in the Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park. On February 12, he beat Shane Stewart, Craig Dollansky, Jim Nier and Greg Hodnett to the line. On the following night, he defeated Dollansky, Sammy Swindell, Jeff Shepard and Daryn Pittman. Both wins paid $4,000.

Website Updates

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 sprntcar@iowatelecom.net with "TMAC" in the subject line.

TMAC Motorsports would like to thank sponsors Big Game Treestands, AmeriCashAdvance.com, DeBerg Concrete and Remington Treestands.

Bill Wright
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@iowatelecom.net

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