Des Moines, IA (June 6, 2018) – With a consistent night and another podium finish, Austin McCarl and the TKS Motorsports team now find themselves atop the point standings at the Knoxville Raceway, entering an off week for 410s at the famed half-mile. However, it won’t be a weekend of rest for the Troy & Tammy Renfro-owned team, as they will haul the Casey’s General Stores/Midwest Basement Systems #2KS north to Jackson Motorplex for three nights with the World of Outlaws and a shot at the $40,000-to-win Jackson Nationals!
Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway began with something new for the TKS team this season; finishing qualifying with the #2KS at the top of the scoreboard. “To earn quick time going out as late as we did was pretty impressive,” said Troy Renfro. “Al Parker did a great job on our motor this week. We won the week before with what was a brand new motor, but both Al and myself felt we could get some more out of it, so we spent a day on dyno and got it really good, which showed in qualifying.”
The hard work put in during the week by Troy and Al Parker wasn’t missed by Austin, who gained only his second ever quick time at Knoxville. “It really shows how hard Al and Troy have been busting their butts,” said Austin. “The track was fun during qualifying, because it was already pretty wide and slick, so to go out on that and get our first quick time of the year felt great!”
Austin got off to a great start in his heat race, but admitted that he lost some spots trying to conserve his tire. “I was able to get up to 2nd pretty fast at the beginning of the heat, but then I definitely got too conservative and allowed a couple of guys back past,” said Austin. “Near the end of the race I was able to get things going and got back by my brother, Carson, for third.”
As Troy pointed out, heat races at Knoxville become a bit of a tight-rope walk where a driver can easily lean too far one way or another. “With the six-car invert that is used in the heat races, you have to walk a fine line between being too aggressive or too conservative, since you can only use one tire from the beginning to the end of the night,” said Troy. “Austin’s very mindful of the tire rule and was maybe a bit too conservative in the heat, but did a great job to get up to 3rd.”
Quick time and a solid heat race provided Austin with a spot on the outside of the front row for the night’s A-main, but with the heavy hitters in row 2, that proved to be a precarious position, “Starting on the outside of the front row in the feature is always tough,” said Troy. “You’re out in the slick, while the inside line still has some bite, and with two of the best guys out there starting right behind us (Kerry Madsen & Brian Brown), we fell back early.”
“I fell back to 5th there with a bad start, but the car was great,” said Austin. “It’s too bad we lost some spots early on, because we were definitely fast enough to compete for the win the whole race and I had a shot at the lead on the final restart.”
A late restart had Austin lined up 2nd behind leader Brian Brown and he was looking for the win. “Austin did a great job getting back up to second and one of the last restarts he had the choice to either follow Brown into one on the cushion or go to the bottom to try for the lead,” said Troy. “It didn’t work out and Kerry was able to get by, but it was a great points night and I feel great about where we are as a team and how well Austin has performed this year!”
Austin wished he could have had a second chance at the restart from 2nd, as he would have replaced it with the final restart attempt of the A-main. “When we took the green in 2nd, I entered turn one a bit too low and that cost us momentum, allowing Madsen to get by,” said Austin. “On the final restart, I hit the marks better and felt like had I done that the first time I would have given Brown a run for his money, but it was a great points night and it feels good to be the point leader right now.”
Both Austin and Troy aren’t worried much about the points at this point in the season, focusing more on the task at hand every Saturday night. “We just want to go out and win races,” said Austin. “If we do that, the points will continue to head in the right direction.”
A busy weekend is on the horizon for Austin McCarl and the TKS Motorsports #2KS, as the team will head to Jackson Motorplex for three nights of action with the World of Outlaws, battling to take home Saturday night’s $40,000 paycheck and title of Jackson Nationals champ! Check out the new TKS Motorsports website for the season schedule and more from the TKS team.
TKS Motorsports is thankful for the support from all of their loyal sponsors:
Casey's General Stores, Des Moines Industrial Products (DMIP), Midwest Basement Systems, Neumann Brothers Construction, AFA Wheels, AL Driveline, All Star Performance, AO Designs, ATL Racing Fuel Cells, Aurora Rod Ends, Billy Bell House Moving, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt, Chalk Stix Torsion Bars, Fibreworks Composites, Gail Dielman, Hoosier, HRP, Indy Race Parts, Justice Brothers, KSE Racing Products, Liberty Ready Mix, Mag Tech Ignition, Maxim Racing Chassis, Parker Performance, PennGrade Motor Oil, Schoenfeld Headers, Slade Shock Technology, Snyder Landscaping & Lawn Care, Tony Moro Collision Center, Tony Moro Powdercoating & Sandblasting, Top Flight Wings, Walker Filtration Systems, Webb Family Farms, Wilwood, and Winters Performance Products.
Morgan Broeg
broegracewriting@gmail.com
West Des Moines, IA USA
Twitter: @BroegW