Stopping by and talking with a race car driver like Terry McCarl is always a fun thing to do. Talking with him and listening to what he has to say, all the while knowing that he's one of the all time greats, is a great experience.

A lot of things go thru my mind during the conversation. Identifying this guy as one who's won track championships at some of the top sprint car tracks in the country like 7 times at Knoxville and 7 times at Huset's.

He's raced them all at one time or another. There isn't much he hasn't seen. He's won against national circuits like World of Outlaws and All Star Circuit of Champions. I think you would have a hard time finding a sprint car racer that could say they hadn't been beaten by Terry some where along the way.

This is a guy that's done this for a long time. He has done it as a profession, meaning that he's a pro.

In this interview, we get a look at his hauler. This is his living quarters when he's away from his home in Des Moines, Iowa.

He tells, 'This whole thing is a family deal.' He even says that his sponsors are like family.

And talking about sponsors, I asked him how much it costs to race like he does for a season. When he got to the hard number part, Terry answered with, 'A quarter million dollars.'

Terry is a proud man. That's what I've respected about him thru the years. We talked about how we've been doing this for a long time. Him racing, me covering racing, pretty much for the same length of time.

I was right in the middle of years and years where his pride was being challenged by being disliked for being successful. He never stopped being proud of his family, team, roots and what he does and how he does it.

The only way you will ever top any record books is by being a winner. A winner is one who doesn't just go with the flow, but instead does it their own way. A loser gets one taste of defeat and quits. A winner gets knocked down and keeps getting back up.

Winners work harder than losers. You're never going to become a champion at anything working 40 hours a week and then spending the rest of the week kicking back in the La-Z-Boy watching TV.

Terry McCarl is a winner. And I have personally announced many of his victories over the past two decades.

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