TWS....anyone want to share pictures and memories of races at TWS in College Station?

[Garrett]

I used to autocross at the airbase in College station before they built TIS...which is now TWS. I attended the first race there , which was a barn burner CanAm race which Bruce McLaren won. I also attended several NASCAR and Indycar races there. I raced in the first IMSA Camel GT race in December of 1971 (Alamo 200) and won my class (GTO).

[Bobby]

I was president of the TAMU Sports Car Club in about 1975.  Prior to my time in the club, the idea for an autocross at TWS had been kicking around for a while between the permanent regional members (not students), the faculty advisor, the track manager and others.  There was a loose agreement in principal that the club would be allowed to rent the track for an event, with credit earned by providing labor in support of the major races the track was starting to provide at the time.  

I don't know exactly what caused the idea to come up again when it did, but it was brought to me and asked if I wanted to run with it.  I did.  It took a lot of work, by a lot of people over a couple of years, but the AggieCross events came to be.  There is much I have forgotten.  I do remember there were pretty significant bureaucratic and financial challenges, especially since we never foresaw how popular it would get and were just hoping not to ruin ourselves or the university.

Aside from the turnout the big event was that my roommate rolled his Porsche.  That was an eye-opener.....

[Garrett]

Hi Bobby,

I was a member of the TAMU sportscar club from.........1967 until...........well at least 1985 or so. During that time, I ran many events there. In about 1969 or 1070,  Kerry Bonner ran an autocross event there on the "outside" portion of the TWS circuit. We started on the back straight going north, turned left into the horseshoe, and continued across the back straight through the outfield and the finish line was where the outfield crossed back onto the back straight. I won FTD that day in a 1967 427 400hp Corvete (still have both trophys).  This event was carried in the TAMU magazine (I still have a copy somewhere). A member who had "just" completed a restoration of an Olds 442 Convertible rolled it coming down off of turn #7 onto the outside straight (between turns 6 and 7)  He was uninjured (other than $$$) but his girlfriend vilified me in a response to my letter which suggested that beginners should have an instructor.  My point here is that (IF my very old memory is correct) that there were TAMU authorized and run autocross events at TWS in 1970 ans 1971. George Eby was 2nd overall in a  Lotus Elan....we both ran (period) race tires. Bill Jermyn, Kerry Bonner,, Jim and Wendy Ray and George and Patsy Eby were entrants and witnesses.

Garrett Waddell

[Bobby]

George Eby  sounds familiar.  Definitely knew Bill  Jermyn.  He took his Mustang down to Monterrey once, in the general years of the first AggieCross, but (at least) these two particular events were definitely mid-seventies.  His car had been mostly street legal until then.  I was part of the Poplar street gang, if that sounds familiar.

There may have been earlier autocrosses than mid seventies, but if so they needed to work out the details a few years later, as the university's part of it was far from certain.  Edit - Perhaps they were running uninsured at one time,and things were stopped due to the incident you described?

Some people we might have both known - Bill's roomate(s) Tommy and (? ),  Dicky at Hi-Lo, Alan Parker (faculty sponsor), Dirty George,  Delbert(?) the banker, Vernon,  Bill Williams, the guy with the Z-28 whose family owned the alignment shop, Glen someone with a black Lotus Europa (associated with the school?),  the TWS track manager/machinest/SCCA racer (Martin?), maybe more.

[Garrett]

13 hours ago, Bobby said:

George Eby  sounds familiar.  Definitely knew Bill  Jermyn.  He took his Mustang down to Monterrey once, in the general years of the first AggieCross, but (at least) these two particular events were definitely mid-seventies.  His car had been mostly street legal until then.  I was part of the Poplar street gang, if that sounds familiar.

There may have been earlier autocrosses than mid seventies, but if so they needed to work out the details a few years later, as the university's part of it was far from certain.  Edit - Perhaps they were running uninsured at one time,and things were stopped due to the incident you described?

Some people we might have both known - Bill's roomate(s) Tommy and (? ),  Dicky at Hi-Lo, Alan Parker (faculty sponsor), Dirty George,  Delbert(?) the banker, Vernon,  Bill Williams, the guy with the Z-28 whose family owned the alignment shop, Glen someone with a black Lotus Europa (associated with the school?),  the TWS track manager/machinest/SCCA racer (Martin?), maybe more.

This guy "Martin" the TWS track manager .....My memory is that he was a young guy, who owned and tracked a Shelby GT500 Mustang with a real side oiler 427 engine (I know, they came with 428 CID passenger car engines). Your EDIT above seems plausible to me, about the Olds 442 accident leading to a requirement for insurance for the event.  Bill Jermyn died a few years back of a heart attack. Its good to know that someone (besides me) survives to remember some of these old events;-)

Garrett

[dubya]

I spent several hundred days at TIS/TWS from the first event (FIA shakedown before the Can Am) to the first "last races" in 2015.

Mostly flagging and San Jac Crash Rescue Team plus a few other as needed duties.

Road racing safety was my principal hobby for 40 + years.