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By
Amanda
Brahler
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WWW.ARCARACING.COM
(7-30-03)
Jacksonville,
Florida's
Carl
McCormick
is
on
his
way.
He
has
not
just
one,
but
two
things
going
for
him;
the
know
how
and
the
know
who.
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 For
McCormick,
he
started
his
climb
up
the
racing
ladder
in
local
dirt
events
in
his
native
Jacksonville.
Along
the
way,
he's
crossed
paths
and
befriended
racing
legends
James
Hylton
and
Junie
Donlavey.
As
if
their
expertise
wasn't
enough,
Hylton
added
another
step
in
McCormick's
climb
when
he
offered
him
a
ride
in
his
#48
Ford.
"Junie
and
James,
those
guys
have
been
around
a
long
time.
They
have
a
lot
of
knowledge.
I
try
to
learn
as
much
as
I
can
from
everyone
around
me,"
McCormick
says
of
both
his
friends
in
Donlavey
and
car
owner
Hylton.
Entering
the
double
header
at
Pocono,
McCormick
carried
along
the
advice
of
Donlavey
to
help
him
to
the
finish.
"Junie
said,
'Go
to
Pocono
and
go
to
learn.
Learn
what
you
can.
When
you
get
a
sponsor,
then
you
can
go
win
these
things.'
It's
hard
to
not
go
for
it
every
week.
But
I
was
patient."
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The
patience
is
slowly
paying
off
for
the
Hylton/McCormick
duo.
The
weekend
netted
the
pair
a
seventeenth
place
run
along
with
a
best
showing
of
12th,
but
much
to
the
driver's
dismay.
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"Even
though
12th
place
isn't
a
bad
finish,
to
me,
it's
not
great.
Everyone
here
was
real
happy
but
I
wasn't
as
happy
as
everyone
else.
I
want
to
win.
It's
hard
as
a
driver
not
to
be
as
competitive
as
you
want,"
he
adds.
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The
car
owner
however,
was
pretty
pleased.
"We're
doing
not
what
I
call
super
but
we
are
holding
our
own.
Carl's
taking
care
of
our
equipment.
Starting
at
Daytona
within
a
six-week
period
I
lost
three
racecars.
Since
we've
had
Carl
with
us
we've
not
had
as
much
as
a
bent
fender.
That
reflects
the
driver's
ability,"
Hylton
says. |
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McCormick's
ability
goes
hand-in-hand
with
his
willingness
to
sit
back,
listen
and
follow
directions.
"You
can
have
a
football
player,
he
can
be
the
best
in
the
world.
But
if
he
and
the
coach
don't
get
along,
he'll
just
be
an
average
player.
If
he
listens
to
his
coach,
he
can
become
one
of
the
best
players
out
there,"
Hylton
explains.
"Carl
has
the
potential
to
be
as
good
as
any
driver
out
there.
In
some
aspects
he
already
is.
He's
a
very
good
listener.
He
believes
in
his
coach.
Not
that
I
know
everything,
I
don't.
But
I
have
been
around
long
enough
to
know.
He's
a
very
good
student
and
I'm
happy
with
him."
With
a
content
car
owner,
what
more
could
McCormick
want?
A
full-time
sponsor
to
don
the
hood
of
his
car
in
order
to
make
his
effort
season-long.
"We
believe
in
what
we
are
doing
and
we
think
we
can
do
it
well.
If
we
get
an
opportunity
we
can
win
races.
We're
trying
to
get
sponsors,
we're
trying
to
get
money.
The
guys
racing
up
front
are
no
different.
I
know
I
can
do
it,
I've
done
it.
We
just
need
something
to
work
with,"
he
says.
As
the
part-time
team
packs
up
and
heads
to
the
track
for
the
second-half
stretch,
they
have
laid
out
plans
for
five
more
events;
Nashville,
Talladega,
one
of
the
dirt
tracks,
(specifics
are
yet
to
be
determined)
Chicagoland
and
Charlotte.
"I
think
we
should
have
a
good
run
there,"
McCormick
says
of
the
series'
next
race
at
the
Nashville
Superspeedway.
"
Nashville
was
my
first
ARCA
start.
It's
concrete
on
radials.
I
had
never
ran
a
concrete
track
and
never
drove
on
radials.
It
wasn't
a
big
deal.
I
just
didn't
have
anything
to
go
off
of."
At
the
time
though,
that
didn't
seem
to
matter
to
the
ARCA
driver.
He
still
managed
to
qualify
20th
with
a
non-qualifying
setup
on
the
car
and
raced
competitively
all
day
before
troubles
with
a
pesky
oil
line
dropped
him
back
to
18th
at
the
stripe.
"I
hope
to
have
a
really
good
run
this
time,"
he
adds.
And
there's
no
reason
he
shouldn't
with
Hylton
cheering
him
on
in
the
pits
and
the
skills
behind
the
wheel,
McCormick
may
be
the
quite
a
threat.
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