If it’s August, it’s time for the Knoxville Nationals, which for Terry McCarl means going home.                    Scores of sprint teams have prepped their best pieces for four days of war. But Terry and Lori McCarl also face their Front Row Challenge and Ultimate Challenge promotions at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa in the week before Knoxville.
Many drivers retire and take over their local speedway, planning to make tons of money while “straightening out” the former promoter’s “mess.” But McCarl has a different viewpoint, having raced across America.
“I wouldn’t mind taking over Knoxville some day but Ralph (Capitani) says it doesn’t pay very well,” he says with a grin. “I’ll need something to fall back on eventually, so we’ve done four or five races some years. We finally settled on the two at Oskaloosa because it’s a lot of work if you want to do it well.
“It’s a lot tougher than people think. It’s not just counting the money. They forget it’s a gamble and sometimes you lose a lot of money. When I was a kid, we didn’t have 120 TV channels and Nintendo games, so filling the stands is a lot tougher now.
“You really have to promote today. That’s the problem I have with the guys complaining about bad crowds. They’re not doing anything to promote. They’re putting on races, not promoting races! You have to make it fun for families, while keeping it good for the owners and drivers, and that’s very difficult.”
Unlike many, McCarl puts his money where his mouth is. For the Front Row Challenge, he gave each heat winner a complete chassis. For the Ultimate Challenge, it was a rear end.
“It was a JEI, Schnee, J&J or Eagle chassis with hood, nose and body panels, over $3,000 worth of stuff to win a heat. Or a new Winters rear. I wanted to spread the rewards out and the guys who start up front in the heats are usually the 17th to 24th qualifiers. The chances of them getting up to the big money in the feature are slim, so it helps them while making the races better. I had to purchase them, but the manufacturers gave me a good deal. That brought more cars, which in turn brought more people.”
McCarl would love to have a true short track in the Des Moines area.
“What we really need is a short track around there,” he says. “Ever since I was a little boy with my dad racing at Knoxville, we’ve needed a smaller place for young guys coming up to gain experience, a track where they wouldn’t need as much horsepower or so many tires.”
 McCarl does admit that “investors have come to me in the last couple of years willing to back a short track in the Des Moines area. They understand that short tracks are a lot more fun to watch, with wheel banging, wheelies and the guys out front in lapped traffic all the time. To me, a three-eighths-mile or smaller is the way to go.”
Many track operators try to go it alone, always struggling due to a lack of capital but reluctant to share profits. But McCarl knows how valuable a partner can be.
“Bill McCroskey is my partner in the Front Row and Ultimate Challenges. He was there when we started, the money behind the deal, because I didn’t have a dollar to my name. I was the idea man.
“We work really well together and he’s more than a partner, he’s my mentor. Better yet, he’s got a crazy mind like I do,” McCarl said. “When I came up with a $30,000 to win non-wing show, everybody thought I was crazy except for him.”