Austin McCarl – Career Best at Knoxville!
(Bill W) May 4, 2010 – Austin McCarl got off to a great start in his sophomore campaign at the Knoxville Raceway. The seventeen-year-old driver from Altoona, Iowa stormed back to a top ten finish after suffering a blown tire while running second at the halfway point of Saturday’s feature at Knoxville Raceway. He’ll be back in action with the IRA this weekend in Spencer, Iowa and back at Knoxville.
Austin’s night started in hot laps, but he only made it under green flag conditions for a short time. “Oil was coming off the breather, and smoking into the cockpit,” he explains. “Since it was only hot laps, I just decided to pull it in and not take any chances. It turned out to be an overflow.”
Coming out late in qualifying didn’t phase the young driver as he drove the Big Game Treestands #17A to sixth quick in the field. “I was just trying to keep it as straight as I could without lifting,” he says. “I didn’t hit three and four as well as I could have, and that may have put us fourth or fifth, but it didn’t really matter. With the invert of six, it all worked out.”
To get into the invert and start on the front row of the feature, he would have to finish top six in his heat race. He accomplished that by starting and finishing fifth. “I wanted to get through that without doing anything stupid,” he says. “We were in a spot to get our time back in the feature lineup, so that was good. We’re not really thinking about points, so I just wanted to get through there.”
The team did a great job in setting the Maxim chassis with Don Ott power up for the 20-lap feature event. “I felt more comfortable in the racecar than I ever have before,” says Austin. “We were cruising there. It felt great. I could go to the bottom if I needed to, and I was just trying to follow (leader Don Droud). I have to thank the guys on the crew who helped me out. It was great to have them.”
The young driver looked smooth, running second to the veteran. Then the unexpected happened when his left rear tire exploded at the halfway point. “I thought I might be catching him a little in traffic,” he says of Droud. “That was the plan, and then ‘Kaboom!’, the tire went. There was really no warning…it just went. I had no idea.”
A piece of tire caught his left arm, but Austin continued without missing a beat. He drove back through the field to a Knoxville career best ninth place finish. “I was trying to get up through there the best I could and get a top ten to start the year,” he says. “I wanted to get what I could.”
Though his father, Terry, has run with some success at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa, Austin has yet to see it. The mid-week shows have conflicted with school the past few years. On Friday, the IRA will be in town. “I’ve never actually been to Spencer, so I’m looking forward to it,” says Austin. “I’m excited to run on a new track. I’m just as excited to get back out there at Knoxville. It’s all good right now.”
Austin would like to thank Big Game Treestands, AmericashAdvance.com, RFG (Rossie Feed and Grain), Anderson Farms, DeBerg Concrete, Deanfield Farms, Engler, Phil & Vivian, Vortex Wings, Maxim Chassis, K&N Filters, Mark Burch, Hoosier Tire, BMRS, HRP, Schoenfeld, Jocko’s, Butlerbuilt, Bell Helmets, Crow Safety and Chase Graphics for all their help!