Terry McCarl had been trying to win a race at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio for a number of years, as he looked to add to his impressive list of wins throughout the country. He was victorious for the first time in his career at the track last month and made it two in a row at the legendary high-banked half-mile on Friday night claiming the annual Knight Before the Kings Royal.
For McCarl, it was his second World of Outlaws win of the season and the ninth of his career with the series. He started on the pole and dominated the 30-lap contest, holding a three second lead at one point in the race prior to a late red flag. He earned $10,000 for the triumph and was greeted by a Knight in armor in Victory Lane.
“It feels great,” said McCarl after the win. “I can’t thank Tod and Lisa Quiring (car owners) enough. Tod Quiring is the best thing that ever happened to me. It’s a pleasure to drive this thing. My guys are working so hard and I decided to have them build a new car last night and they were probably hating me last night, but it paid off. We had a new car the last time we were here and won that one as well.”
McCarl led at the drop of the green flag and was challenged in turns three and four on the opening lap by Jason Meyers who powered his way from fourth to second in turns one and two. McCarl led the first lap and quickly began to separate himself from Meyers and the rest of the field. By the sixth lap he was in traffic and just a couple of laps later put two lapped machines between himself and Meyers, extending his lead at this point.
He continued to work traffic and with 10 laps to go had pulled away from Meyers and had over a three second lead. The first stoppage of the night happened with nine laps remaining as Jac Haudenschild got upside in turns three and four. McCarl used a strong restart to quickly pull away from Meyers and had again checked out when the second and final red flag of the night flew with six laps remaining for a vicious crash involving Garry Brazier, Ed Lynch Jr. and Rob Chaney.
One final strong restart for McCarl cemented the win for him in the Big Game Treestands Maxim as Donny Schatz moved into second late in the race and tried his best to track him down.
“I wasn’t sure how far out in front I was, but the car felt pretty awesome and I knew that is anyone was going to hang with me they would have to be really fast,” he said. “These Outlaws guys are the best in the world. With Donny Schatz and those guys behind me, you never want to give up and that red (flag) gave them a chance to work on their cars and get better and you never want to do that. My guys had the car so good.”
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