Austin McCarl is headed to Hollywood, or at least the closest thing to it in Sprint Car racing.
The 2018 Knoxville Raceway 410 track champion has signed on with Tarlton Motorsports to race the No. 21 car in California for the big name racing owner.
“I am very excited for the opportunity to drive the iconic No. 21 for the Tarlton family,’ McCarl said in a release. “I really am so thankful for Tom and Tommy Tarlton and I’m excited to get to work for the season ahead with (Crew Chief) Paul Baines.”
Baines is the longtime crew chief of the 21 car and will be helping McCarl through the stretch of California races that he will take part in next season.
“McCarl (has) really made some huge strides over the last couple of seasons, and we are thrilled to have him in our car this year,” Baines said. “He brings another dimension to our team, and I can’t wait for things to get rolling. The Tarlton family loves to race, and I truly thank them for providing us with great equipment to do this again.”
McCarl will go from competing weekly at the famous half-mile oval in Iowa to a plethora of unique racing venues in California.
He will be racing for full series points in the King of the West tour through the Northern Auto Racing Club as well as participating in larger races during open dates for the tour.
This will give McCarl the freedom to run at a more diverse set of race tracks against the best of the best throughout the season.
“This is a huge opportunity, and it allows me to travel a bit around the country and get a ton of experience in California,” McCarl said in the release. “After a really strong 2020 season I was hoping to put something together to venture away from Knoxville and gain experience on short tracks, and California provides just that.”
The first race currently scheduled for the King of the West tour is set for March 20 at the Stockton Dirt Track, although there will be more dates to be added.
Until then, we’ll see where we get to see McCarl wheel again.