I tuned in to SPEED last night to catch the Outlaws at Williams Grove (there was nothing else going on at the moment), but it was rained out so they were showing old broadcasts. During the first show, they did a little piece on McCarl and showed a flashback to the race at Chillicothe last year where he passed Schatz for the lead in the feature and waved at him out the left side of the car just after he'd gotten by. This brought to mind a couple thoughts:

Sometimes I actually like that kind of swagger, especially when the athlete (racer) can back it up with his performance. It adds a little spice to the proceedings, etc. But, knowing what I know about McCarl, all seeing that did was piss me off. What a ******.

Secondly, I don't know if any of you have seen the clip I'm talking about, but McCarl's left arm was waaaay out of the car. Like, well past the elbow. I kept rewinding the DVR to look at it again, because I couldn't believe just how much range of motion he had. It sure looked like he wasn't even wearing arm restraints, and if he was there was either way too much slack or he was wearing the cuff up close to his shoulder.

My point is that he's obviously quite foolish for improperly (if at all) wearing his restraints. His arms shouldn't be able to get much at all beyond the cage. After more consideration, I realized that if McCarl actually drove real sprint cars for a living instead of ones with crutches on top, he'd be forced to be more concerned about things like arm restraints.

You better look at who your talking about Derek, ALL THE MEN are running Wings and they are WAY FASTER than the non wingy's and a hell of lot safer.

I think Terry McCarl adds something to the sport when he waves at those guys he passes that the fans like to see. I think you just got to know Terry McCarl.

I also commend the WoO for NOT mandating the Han's device or arm restraints if a guy doesn't want to wear them. Its up to the Driver who straps his A$$ in that seat what he wants. He's the one thats got to climb out of that car when its upside down, on fire, or whatever and maybe he/she don't want anything restraining there arms from getting out??? I think they are a valuable safety tool but thats just my opinion.

This is true, all the Mickey Mouse Club are running the non-wing cars but as fans, that's what we have so that's what we watch. And it's damn good most of the time. The old guys are in the WoO and are making a good living, but the racing is a shadow of what even a weekly non-wing show can offer. Those cars are faster, but that wing on top covers up so much. And they are safer, which is why I have more respect for the guys who run wingless.

I don't know what the WoO rulebook looks like, but if they don't mandate arm restraints then that's pretty disappointing. HANS devices, in my opinion, should be a driver's choice due to cost and lack of proof that they're 100% effective in all cases. But arm restraints need to be as common and enforced as a helmet.

From the 2008 WoO rule book....

g) Arm restraints are suggested.

I watched him run wingless at eastbay and do actually pretty decent.. Not a T-mac fan, but i dont dislike the guy either.. He sure as hell isnt afraid of the gas pedal..

I think you'll find that most of those guys don't run em. 1 guy i worked for never wore em cause he has had em unlatch the seat belts. I have seen many pic's of half throttle racers ( LOL) waving with their arms way up outta the cage.

Winged sprint cars may be fast but they have be come a boring form of sprint car racing they are like racing slot cars sorry but the non wing sprint cars is where the real racing is.:O::kookoo:crying::applaud::checkered:

:moon::moon::moon: Whatever! You have not seen a winged show in awhile I guess!

Apparently neither have you. :rolling

I'm thinkin' McCarl is actually a pretty cool guy, if you ever get the chance to meet and talk to him (we did). When I asked, he said he would run more, sans wing, but there was no way he could make a living at it. Gee, where have we heard that before?:eek:
I thought the wave deal with Schitz was funny as hell when we heard about it:O::thumb