When he was a young boy, Terry McCarl used to read the racing papers from cover to cover, dissecting every single race report, story, photo and advertisement that was in them. One of the things that fascinated him the most was the payouts for sprint car races. At this time, he realized that one day he wanted to be a sprint car racing promoter and yearned to find ways to pay a fair purse to the driver and owners.
That opportunity came about in the mid-1990’s, when his friend Bob Berryhill was in town for the Knoxville Nationals and suggested that a race was needed early in the week leading up to when the festivities began at the famed half-mile. This led to McCarl teaming up with Bill McCroskey, to bring the fans the Front Row Challenge at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, beginning in 1996. The pair expanded to include the Ultimate Challenge, for non-wing sprint cars in 2001. Again this year they will promote the Front Row Challenge and the Ultimate Challenge on August 6-7 at Southern Iowa Speedway.
“I just love sprint car racing, ” said McCarl, driver of the Big Game Tree Stands Eagle. “It is my passion and what I have been around for my whole life. I plan to be in it for the rest of my life. The day I can’t race, hopefully I can turn into a promoter. That is what I think makes me a better promoter than some guys. To me it is not all about money. It is about the sport and helping it grow for the future. Certainly I would like to make a few bucks in the mean time. ”
Just as when he is out on the track racing with the World of Outlaws, McCarl faces a number of variables when he prepares to promote the pair of events annually. First and foremost on this list is the weather and the one four-letter word that promoters never use, rain. Despite enduring showers last year on the day of the Ultimate Challenge, McCarl and his staff made the most of what Mother Nature dealt them and the show went on. “The most important thing to promoting a sprint car race or any outdoor event for that matter is the weather, ” he noted. “That’s pretty scary. All year long you are praying for good weather. Last year we had rain in the morning and sprinkles all afternoon for the Ultimate Challenge. Everyone wanted me to cancel it. My wife wanted me to cancel it, but I wouldn’t do it. I stuck it through and it ended up being a great race with a great race track. ”
While the bulk of his time is spent operating his World of Outlaws team, and making sure they are ready to race nearly 90 times a year, McCarl puts in a significant amount of time preparing for the two events that he promotes, as does his wife Lori. “We start on this thing in January, and it’s certainly not 40 hours a week, but it’s always on our mind, ” he said. “We are always working on selling tickets and getting sponsors. It’s not a full-time job for those eight months, but it certainly is a lot of work. ” McCarl who is always one of the last drivers to leave the pit area after a race is quick to point out how important it is to get the fans involved when they attend a race, especially the children. He remembers how impressionable he was as a child and is quick to point out that this helped develop his love for sprint car racing.
“I have a passion for the sport and I want to see it grow, ” smiled McCarl. “We do a lot of things for the kids. If you can get them hooked like I was when I was a little boy, then they will stay hooked and be in love with sprint car racing forever. ” One of the things that McCarl often wondered when he was a boy reading the racing papers was how to better take care of the drivers and car owners at the pay window. One of the things that he does with the events that he promotes is that he will provide the heat race winners with an added incentive. Last season it was a rear end that each heat race winner received, and this year he is working on something different that will reward the drivers and teams and help cut down on the expenses they incur to race. “Being a racer I just try to take care of the drivers and the car owners, since I too am a car owner, ” he said. “You can only pay so much money, but I try to do other things to help them out, and hope they come back. ”
While he still has a couple of weeks to prepare for those events off the track, McCarl’s main focus is on the track and returning to Huset’s Speedway on Tuesday, July 3 with the World of Outlaws for the series lone visit to the track this season. He won for the 77th time at the high-banked 3/8-mile on June 17, a day after he won his first World of Outlaws A-Feature of the season at Knoxville Raceway. The native of Altoona, Iowa is a six-time champion at the Huset’s Speedway, and also holds the track record, which was set in time trials in 2002 and still stands.
“I just love that track, ” said the always optimistic driver. “It’s a great track for the fans and the drivers. It will make you a great driver. It’s a tricky race track that changes through the night like every dirt track does. It’s the perfect size track for sprint cars. You have to drive the top like an animal and the bottom with a lot of finesse like Bobby Allen. They always get great crowds there, because they put on great racing. ” Last season McCarl won for the first time with the World of Outlaws in the series second visit of the season to the track in July, after recovering from surgery on a severely broken left leg in May of 2006. He also finished second last season in the series first visit to the track that is located just outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where a number of his sponsors are based.
“We about won the spring Outlaws show as well, ” he said. “It’s special for me because of the records I hold there and the championships. The same with winning an Outlaws race at Knoxville. Those were a couple of my goals to win those shows and we have been able to do that. Hopefully we can get another one. ”
McCarl enjoys racing at Huset’s Speedway because of how enthused the fans are. He races at tracks from coast to coast with the World of Outlaws and is quick to point out how knowledgeable and passionate the fans are at Huset’s. “The thing about Huset’s is that the fans are so racy, ” he explained. “They are so into sprint car racing, and that is what makes going up there so special, whether it’s for a weekly show or for the Outlaws show. ”
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