Des Moines, IA (August 1, 2018) – Coming off a full weekend competing with the All Stars Circuit of Champions, Austin McCarl and the TKS Motorsports team have their sights set on the busiest two weeks of the year! The Troy & Tammy Renfro-owned team will next be in action at the Knoxville Raceway for Sunday night’s Capitani Classic, then head down to Oskaloosa for the Front Row Challenge, before they go back to Knoxville for their Wednesday night prelim at the Nationals.
The TKS team got their three-race All Star weekend started on Friday night at the Jackson Motorplex. “We made some changes between hot laps and qualifying,” said Troy Renfro. “It ended up not being the right route and set us back.”
After qualifying fifth in their group, Austin would start and finish in that same spot, failing to transfer from the heat. “I tried some stuff early in the heat, but ended up just falling in line and had to go through the B-main,” said McCarl. Friday night ended up tough on the tires of the Casey’s General Stores/Midwest Basement Systems #2KS: “After the heat, we had a hole in the tire and had to change that out for the B,” said Troy. “We had good speed in the B and ended up 2nd, but had another in that tire and had to make another change.”
Austin would end the night in 20th after failing to make much headway during the feature event. “The track took some rubber in the A and we basically just fell in line and held on,” said Austin.
The qualifying effort on Saturday night at Knoxville didn’t go quite to McCarl’s plan, but the ASCoC format provided a boost. “I didn’t do very well in time trials on Saturday,” said Austin. “I had watched my dad run well on the bottom when he went out to qualify, but I missed the line and was lucky to make the invert in the heat.”
With a spot on the pole of their heat, the team tested a different setup, hoping to hit on something for the next couple of weeks. “We tried some different things for the Capitani and Nationals,” said Renfro. “It ended up not working out too well and caused us to fall back to 3rd in the heat and miss the dash, which left us starting pretty deep in the feature.”
Mired back in pack, starting 16th in the night’s main event, mayhem would strike the TKS team early. “There was quite a debacle at the start of the race,” said Austin. “We got hit on a couple of different sides and ended up spinning, but were lucky to not suffer any damage.” However, now taking off from the tail, McCarl would suffer some damage to his top wing after some contact with the wrecked car of Trey Starks. “I just clipped his wing while he was on his side and it kicked up and tore apart our wing, which forced us to the work area,” said Austin.
“With the damaged top wing, duct tape became our best friend,” said Troy. “During the first caution, we didn’t have enough time to get a new wing on, so when the red came out again with 11 laps left, we had him come back in to get it switched out. We played it conservative, but we look to avoid DNFs at all costs and Austin did a great job of working his way back up through the field.”
When hearing where they ended the night, Austin was pleasantly surprised. “Honestly, when I got out of the car I thought we had finished around 17th, so when some of the crew was saying that it was a nice run to get to where we did, I finally asked them where we finished,” said McCarl. “I was surprised to hear them say 12th.”
The weekend wasn’t done yet for the TKS team, as they made their way to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa on Sunday night. “We qualified well enough to make the invert again, which was key to the night,” said Troy. “We had good speed in the heat and were able to win that and get into the dash.”
Moving up a spot in their dash, Austin would roll off 6th in the A-main, though a fast track and a tight racecar would make the 30-lap feature tough. “It was a fun night overall, but the track was a bit too wet and fast all night, which made it hard to pass,” said Austin. “The car was pretty tight in the A, but we were able to hold onto a top ten.”
With the busy weekend over, it’s now time for the team to turn their focus to the Knoxville Nationals. “It was nice to get a three-race weekend in and a lot of track time,” said Renfro. “Now we’re focused on having everything ready to go for the Nationals.”
It’s Knoxville Nationals time! Austin McCarl and the TKS Motorsports team will have one more chance at the Knoxville Raceway to get tuned up for their Wednesday night prelim this Sunday, August 5th at the Capitani Classic! Then, on Monday night, they’ll venture down to Oskaloosa for the Front Row Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway. 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