Austin McCarl – Season Opener This Weekend!
(Bill W) April 26, 2010 – For seventeen-year-old sprint car driver, Austin McCarl, the season will take flight this weekend at the Knoxville Raceway. The Altoona, Iowa high school junior will drive a car owned by his father, Terry, this season. The schedule will focus primarily on Knoxville and Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota.
Austin drove for Ohio car owner, Janet Holbrook, last season, and the team will see a total turnover with family ownership. The clincher came from a familiar sponsor in Big Game Treestands based in Windom, Minnesota, and the Oklahoma based AmericashAdvance.com. “It’s just an awesome opportunity, and I plan on taking full advantage of it,” says Austin. “Tod Quiring (owner) of Big Game Treestands is sponsoring the team. Also, Bob and Jane Berryhill at AmericashAdvance.com have stepped up as well. We couldn’t do it without both of them. I really appreciate the opportunity and I’ll give it my best shot.”
A familiar wrench will serve as crew chief. Glenn Freeland, who worked his magic with Terry in multiple track championships, is on board for Austin’s entry. “Glenn will be working on the car, and we’ll have Maxim chassis with Don Ott Engines under the hood,” says Austin. “We should be fast. I’ve always wanted to work with Glenn, and this will give us that opportunity.”
Austin had the opportunity to perform on a big stage in the off-season. His high school basketball team at Southeast Polk High School made the 4A championship game, with the power forward seeing plenty of quality minutes in three games played at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The team was defeated by Ames High School, who featured North Carolina recruit, Harrison Barnes, in the final. “That was an awesome experience,” says Austin. “In a race car, you are racing in front of a crowd of people, but in basketball there’s nowhere to hide when you make a mistake.”
The team will hit Knoxville as much as possible, while running other 410 shows in the area. “We’ll hit Knoxville and Huset’s quite a bit, as well as any 410 shows close to home when we can,” says Austin. “If we had a 360 or an opportunity to run one, we would do some of that too.”
Austin would like to thank Big Game Treestands, AmericashAdvance.com, Phil & Vivian and DeBerg Concrete for all their help!