Des Moines, IA (July 18, 2018) – Austin McCarl and the TKS Motorsports team picked up their fourth win of the season last Saturday at the Knoxville Raceway and are feeling ready for August! The Troy & Tammy Renfro-owned team will be back in action this Saturday at Knoxville looking for their fifth win and to maybe score some candy from the Casey’s General Stores Kids Candy Drop.
Austin was able to get the night off to a great start in the Casey’s General Stores/Midwest Basement Systems #2KS, by locking down the 3rd position in time trials, which Troy Renfro attributes to the work done during the week. “Everything has kind of come together for us lately,” said Troy. “Our engine builder, Al Parker, and all of his guys have been going out of their way to make our engine even better than it was on day one.”
“We spent the week changing some things around and went back to dyno and reconfigure the motor,” said Troy. “The first night out we won the A-main with it and it’s better now than it was then.”
With the hard work being paid off in qualifying, it was a night filled with close calls once Austin had to deal with other cars on the track. “In the heat we had a real close call at the start,” said McCarl. “I had to squeeze between a car and the fence and thought for a second that our night was going to be done there.”
When the heat got back to green, Austin was able to make his way forward from 6th to third, while focusing on maintaining his car for the main event. “I was biding my time in the heat and doing what I could to save my tires,” said Austin. “We were able to race our way to 3rd, which set us up well points-wise, but the eight being drawn put us starting on the fourth row of the A.”
During the 360 A-main, Austin returned to Troy with some observations on the track surface that helped the TKS team prepare for their drive to the front of the main event. “Austin came to me and said that the track looked almost exactly like it had on the second night of the World of Outlaws weekend,” said Troy. “We had missed a bit on the setup that night, but I’m a big notes taker and we went into the hauler and checked the notes, which helped us get the setup right.”
Austin and Renfro, an obsessive note-taker, reaped the benefits of the notebooks of knowledge that Troy has accumulated over the years. “That’s always my biggest piece of advice to any young guy in the sport today,” said Troy. “Tires, cars… all that changes over the years, but the notes can usually help you figure out what you did right and, more importantly, where you went wrong.”
With a winning setup for the feature, Austin was tasked with keeping the car out of trouble and moving his way to the front (easier said than done). “Our first close call came on the first lap when [Scott] Bogucki got sideways not far in front of us,” said Austin. “Then we had another close call with another car a few laps later, but luckily we were able to avoid contact both times.”
The always eloquent Troy Renfro had a much simpler way of describing some of the near misses throughout the night; “we definitely had a couple of butt-pucker moments between the heat and the A-main,” said Troy.
Benefitting from the hard luck of some other drivers, Austin found himself sitting in second only two laps into the race. “The first restart I had sitting in second behind Tasker [Phillips], he did a great job of blocking the slider and I had to settle in behind him,” said McCarl. Another chance would come fast enough, with another caution allowing Austin to try something new: “On the next restart, I had decided to lay back a little bit and go wherever Tasker wasn’t, so when he went low, I ran the cushion and was able to grab the lead coming off turn two.”
Austin would have to deal with lapped cars and another restart before the end, but raced to a comfortable margin by the time the checkered flag waved. While it was a great night for TKS Motorsports team, it was even better for one of their sponsors. “It was great to have Tim & Kim Heady from Midwest Basement Systems there,” said Troy. “Not only are they a great supporter of ours, but also Ryan Giles in the 360 division, so they got to see both of their drivers in victory lane on Saturday!”
As the clock ticks down to the Knoxville Nationals, the team is excited for the opportunity to see where they stack up against the best. “I’m excited for this coming weekend,” said Austin. “This is the time of year where a lot of the big names start showing up and we get to show what we’ve got.”
To car owner Troy Renfro, Austin has already shown a lot. “I really hope people see what I see in Austin,” said Troy. “He has a bright future that will last long after I’ve retired.”
Austin McCarl and the TKS Motorsports #2KS will return to the Knoxville Raceway this Saturday, July 21st in search of win number five! 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.
Photo Credit: KNIA-KRLS Sports
Morgan Broeg
broegracewriting@gmail.com
West Des Moines, IA USA
Twitter: @BroegW