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Bill LaBarge wins TPS


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Bill LaBarge wins TPS Race #1 at SAS

 

By: Neil Upchurch, Texas Pro Sedans – Race & Administrative Director

 

San Antonio, Texas (March 3, 2007)

 

Bill LaBarge of Bryan, Texas started 2nd but finished 1st in the Texas Pro Sedans 25 lap race at

San Antonio Speedway. The TPS series contested their first race of the new 2007 season at the SAS

half mile high banked asphalt oval. The event marked the beginning of the 32nd consecutive racing season for the San Antonio based Texas Pro Sedans organization.

 

Qualifying saw the fastest time trial lap posted by TPS “Rookie” driver Ja Lane of Houston in his Ford Focus. He turned a new TPS/SAS track record of 21.480 seconds. His electronically timed lap betters the previous record of 21.910 set on March 11, 2006 by Bryce Dishman in his Ford Mustang/svo. No other driver topped the standing TPS lap record. Six time TPS Champion Bill LaBarge piloted his BMW to a 2nd fast clock.

 

The Texas Pro Sedans four cylinder stock cars provided the “B Main” racing event for the large grandstand crowd who were awaiting the ASA “Alamo 200” feature race. The TPS race was highlighted by a 24 TPS car entry. Three TPS cars experienced engine failure during practice, never-the-less, the largest support race field of the night saw 17 TPS cars take the green flag for their 25 lap Feature Race.

 

Ja Lane led the race from the green flag. He spun between turns 1 and 2 and went to the rear of the field by TPS rule. LaBarge took the lead for the restart with 25 laps to go and won the race 0.21 seconds ahead of eventual runner-up 2005 TPS Champion Sergio Hexsel’s VW Rabbit. From the restart, the race was run all green without the need of a yellow flag.

 

A total of four Texas Pro Sedan drivers completed the race on the lead lap. Recording 25 laps were #26 Lalo Leal who placed 3rd in his Ford Mustang/arca. He was followed by Mike Knotts who finished in an impressive 4th place driving his familiar #48 VW Scirocco.

 

The TPS Championship Points standings for the new season list LaBarge with a four point lead over Hexsel with a challenging eight month 2007 race schedule yet to be contested.

 

The next Texas Pro Sedans race will see the four cylinder stock car series return to San Antonio Speedway on Saturday night, April 7th for two 8 lap qualifying heat races and a 20 lap Feature Race.

 

San Antonio Speedway - Official Race Results

Race # 1 - March 3, 2007

Re: Positions 11-15 official results audited and changed March 5, 2007

 

Finish Car # r Driver/Hometown Car Type/Engine CC Best Qual Lap Laps

1 27 Bill LaBarge/Bryan, TX BMW/2085 22.020 …….. 25

2 20 Sergio Hexsel/Live Oak, TX VW Rabbit/2042 22.540 …….. 25

3 26 Lalo Leal/Corpus Christi, TX Ford Mustang/2338-arca 22.950 …….. 25

4 48 Mike Knotts/Universal City, TX VW Scirocco/1648 23.810 …….. 25

5 85 r Ja Lane/Houston, TX Ford Focus/2210 21.480 …….. 24

6 70 r Mike Merrell/Kingsland, TX VW Scirocco/1766 22.790 …….. 24

7 18 Lanny Young/Kingsland, TX VW Karmen Ghia/2275 24.040 …….. 24

8 24 r Joshua Freeman/Universal City, TX Ford Probe/2338 24.510 …….. 24

9 14 r Will Robertson/Corpus Christi, TX Dodge Neon/2000 24.490 …….. 23

10 66 Ariel Arredondo/Kingsville, TX Ford Taurus/2030 23.930 …….. 23

11 55 John Miesen/Marion, TX VW Sedan/2332 25.240 …….. 23

12 11 r Steven Carpenter/Corpus Christi, TX Ford Mustang/2338-svo 25.420 …….. 23

13 78 Adam McCosh/Cibolo,TX VW Sedan/1835 25.540 …….. 23

14 72 Candi Hogan/Cedar Park, TX VW Sedan/2160 25.450 …….. 22

15 50 r Rick Dawdy/San Antonio, TX VW Rabbit/1870 24.050 …….. 22

16 23 r J.J. Osburn III/Converse, TX Ford Pinto/2338-svo 26.750 …….. 21

17 56 r Jason Krueger/Seguin, TX VW Sedan/1835 33.500 …….. 1

18 22 Harry Osburn Jr./New Braunfels, TX Ford Mustang/2338 27.010 …….. dns

19 4 Joshua Tuttle/San Antonio, TX Chevrolet Cobalt/2180 dnt …….. dns

20 71 Bruce Mabrito/San Antonio, TX VW Scirocco/1648 dnt …….. dns

21 19 Lloyd Hart/San Antonio, TX Toyota Corolla/1941 dna ……..

22 01 Mike O'Connor/Weatherford, TX Pontiac Sunfire/2298 dna ……..

23 9 r Eric Robbins/Red Rock, TX Ford Pinto/2338 dna ……..

24 84 r Chris Foster/San Antonio, TX Ford Taurus/2030 dna ……..

 

Margin 0.21 sec. Car #85's 21.480 sets new SAS/TPS record. Feature leaders: #27 led laps 1-25, all green from 1st lap yellow.

Penalty notes: #26, 55, 56 stated at rear (no practice), #11 (scanner not working). #66 qual time disallowed (weight infraction).

dna - did not arrive dnt - did not time dns - did not start r - eligible for 2007 TPS "Rookie Of The Year" Award

TPS thanks race sponsors:

Richard & Bea Villanueva

Nelson Skinner, Attorney

Mark O'Donnell of Custom Control Modules

Lone Star Grass and Landscape thru: Luke and Candi Hogan

Randy Larsen Air Cooled Race Engines

TPS thanks San Antonio Speedway for hosting and initiating the 32nd consecutive Texas Pro Sedan racing season.

 

TPS Points thru: Race # 1 - March 3, 2007

TPS Points thru: Race # 1 - March 3, 2007

Note: Changed after March 4 audit re: car # 50 added gate bonus

 

Position Car # r Driver Hometown Points

1, 27 Bill LaBarge/Bryan, TX …….. 20

2, 20 Sergio Hexsel/Live Oak, TX …….. 16

3, 26 Lalo Leal/Corpus Christi, TX …….. 13

4, 85 r Ja Lane/Houston, TX …….. 13

5, 48 Mike Knotts/Universal City, TX …….. 11

6, 70 r Mike Merrell/Kingsland, TX …….. 9

7, 18 Lanny Young/Kingsland, TX …….. 8

8, 24 r Joshua Freeman/Universal City, TX …….. 7

9, 14 r Will Robertson/Corpus Christi, TX …….. 6

10, 66 Ariel Arredondo/Kingsville, TX …….. 5

11, 11 r Steven Carpenter/Corpus Christi, TX…….. 4

12, 23 r J.J. Osburn III/Converse, TX …….. 4

13, 50 r Rick Dawdy/San Antonio, TX …….. 4

14, 55 John Miesen/Marion, TX …….. 3

15, 78 Adam McCosh/Cibolo,TX …….. 3

16, 72 Candi Hogan/Cedar Park, TX …….. 3

17, 56 r Jason Krueger/Seguin, TX …….. 3

18, 22 Harry Osburn Jr./New Braunfels, TX …….. 3

19, 71 Bruce Mabrito/San Antonio, TX …….. 3

20, 4 Joshua Tuttle/San Antonio, TX …….. 1

21, 19 Lloyd Hart/San Antonio, TX …….. 0

22, 01 Mike O'Connor/Weatherford, TX …….. 0

23, 9 r Eric Robbins/Red Rock, TX …….. 0

24, 84 r Chris Foster/San Antonio, TX …….. 0

 

r - eligible for 2007 TPS "Rookie Of The Year" Award

 

 

Official Results & Point Standings Certified by:

Neil Upchurch

Race & Administrative Director

Texas Pro Sedans

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i wasnt there but by where lalo started sounds like he was the fast car .comeing from back to third .i say lalo needed a yellow to get in the mix ..i im also wondering aboult this fast focus . why did he go a lap down ..did he have a flat .

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To answer the questions from ................

 

From poorboy - "How did the 85 loose a lap?" As the above story reports "Ja Lane led the race from the green flag. He spun between turns 1 and 2 and went to the rear of the field by TPS rule." He was lapped later by #27 and #20 on lap 7 when he got hung behind about five other cars.

 

From oldtimer - "..i im also wondering aboult this fast focus . why did he go a lap down ..did he have a flat" He spun on the slick inside lane between turns 1 & 2. He was lapped by #27 and #20 on lap 7. He didn't have a flat. It was an all-green race from the re-start of lap one. No help from any yellow caution flags.

 

I hope this answers your questions. Thanks for you interest in the Texas Pro Sedans series.

 

Neil Upchurch

Race & Administrative Director

Texas Pro Sedans

210/655-3222

 

btw oldtimer - did you finish getting the engine into #84?

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Yep i just talk to steven neil . thanks for your responce .now as for your answer on the 84 car .that you was wondering aboult in your drivers meeting .. i dont know why he did not show up ..chris and i worked our tales off getting that car running .thow not perfect sense it was 830 at night before we finaly got it to fire ..kinda hard to put a car together that come.s in a basket so to speak and you dont know how pieces go .the one thing he didnt get was a trans mount .we had to take the time to build one ..and then rewire the distributor and replace it aswell so that added insult to injury ,lol then he had no driveshaft bolts ..so that slowed us down for awhile ..had to go find some .so jessie and lisa snuck out there the last hour and helped us finish it . 9 .half hours we spent on that car ...... lol never spent my birthday with a stranger before ..but anyway i dont know why he didnt make it .sad deal we worked hard to get him there .owell .got me tuned up to start working on our other cars ...

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Lalo definetly had a quick car. He passed Me and Adam before we got to turn 1. I was one of those 5 cars that held up the 85. Trying to get around those bugs is pretty difficult when they are two wide! Once me and Ariel got by we had a good race until his handling started to go away. 8th place in my first race was a big accomplishment for me and the team. I wanna thank Harry, JJ and my Mom and Dad for helping out. And Ed for taking our team pictures during the race.

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What I want to know is how did 72 get put in 11th, when she was WAY behind me. The only cars I remember going by me were the 66, 11, and 55. And the awsome race I had with Josh in the 24. That was fun. Did you pass me Josh? I thought you backed up after 72 slid up and hit my car.

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As for Lane getting lapped, remember he is a raw rookie. He took his time getting back up to speed on the restart, and was very tentative during his passing attempts. As Neil stated, several guys were running in pack in front of him, and he took his time geting around them. During all this is when LaBarge got around all of them. When he had open track, he was clearly running faster than anyone else out there. As he went on, he started letting it run up the corners, and then diamonding off, classic old SAS lines.

 

I would sum it up as first race jitters. But the car is in one piece, and he learned a lot out there.

 

For those who don't know Ja, he is Pat and Brenda Lane's son, and they also had Mike Balzer out there with them. Balzer is still on the mend from his ATV accident, but he says he is slowly getting better.

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hey pipsqueek78 i was kinda wondering the same thing about candy cause i knew i passes her on the back straigtway but in the results it shows her ahead of me

 

Yeah, and then in the points they have the 23 in front of me when I lapped him on the track. I didn't get to meet you at the track, but that was a fun race you and me had for a while there.

 

Ya Adam I got around you when you got caught behind the 50. Then I almost had you lapped on the last lap. I can't wait till the next race.

 

Ah. I dont know why I don't remember you passing me the 1st time. I thought you had backed off when Candi slid up into me. I thought you were on the same lap as me, that's why I raced you so hard. It was fun regardless.

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In regard to the scoring questions posted by pipsqueek78 and cRt racing, the matter of the TPS procedure of posting provisional results after the race was done at SAS on March 3 as usual. The procedure was described at the pre-race March 3 Drivers Meeting.

 

One scoring inquiry was filed by #55. His inquiry was upheld, provisional results were changed and his inquiry fee was returned.

 

No other inquiries were filed by #78, #11 or anyone else. Therefore, the results became official and may longer be the subject of inquiry.

 

In other words, you had an official opportunity to speak up and you didn't and it is too late now. (See TPS Rules, top of page 2, "RACE PROCEDURES").

 

Neil Upchurch

Race & Administrative Director

Texas Pro Sedans

210/655-3222

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well if i would of really been worried about it . i would of done something . but wasnt racing for points pipsqueek brought it up so i was just letting him know i thought there was faults in it . but anyways wasnt trying to upset anyone . besides the car was so far off in horsepower oh sorry no excuses just the 11 car wasnt the one to have to worry about saturday

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mike not taking anything away from anyone but as bad as the 11 car was running ( maybe it was me ) even with a stock motor he might have

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ohh but anyways this is taking attn away from where it really needs to be !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATES TO GREAT RUNS BY BILL LABARGE- SERGIO HEXSEL AND LALO LEAL

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