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Ja Lane notches first TPS Win


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Ja Lane notches first TPS win at THR

 

Thunder Hill Raceway, Kyle, Texas (June 9, 2007)

By: Neil Upchurch, Texas Pro Sedans – Race Director

 

In the Texas Pro Sedans Feature Race, TPS Rookie driver Ja Lane started 4th and finished 1st. He drove his #85 Ford Focus which is crewed by veteran SAS stock car drivers, Pat Lane (Ja’s dad) and Mike Balzer. Sergio Hexsel started 6th and finished second in his #20 VW Rabbit. Only one second separated them at the checkered flag.

 

Leading the 1st 6 laps was 6 time TPS Champion Bill LaBarge. He won the 2nd Qualifying Heat Race in his #27 BMW. Leading laps 7 thru 20 was Lane to top the TPS 15 car field. It was Lane’s first TPS Feature race victory and one of the few ever turned by a Rookie in 32 years of TPS racing. The event ran all green without the need for a yellow flag

 

Four TPS drivers completed the Feature race on the lead lap. The 3rd place car was driven by Bill LaBarge. 4th place went to Mike Knotts in his #48 VW Scirocco. Turning in a 5th finishing performance was another TPS’s rookie, Rick Dawdy in his #50 VW Rabbit in his best 2007 race finish.

 

Qualifying #1 Heat Race winners was Donnie Moore in the brand new #10 George Merrell VW Scirocco. The car began to experience engine failure on the last lap of the heat and was unable to grid for the Feature Race.

 

With one win and two runner-up finishes, Sergio Hexsel extends his lead for the TPS Championship Points title to 9 points over Ja Lane who moves into 2nd place in the standings.

 

The San Antonio based Texas Pro Sedans touring series is conducting it’s 32nd consecutive year of four cylinder stock car racing in Texas and the southwest. Five more races remain to be run with the possibility of the addition of one more race.

 

TPS will return to Thunder Hill Raceway on Saturday night, June 23. That race format will partially invert both qualifying heat grids and will be announced to all TPS members in the pre Race Bulletin for the event.

 

Buggy Warehouse of San Antonio thru: Steve Foster will be the exclusive sponsor the event and has posted increased purse awards for the June 23rd TPS race.

 

Thunder Hill Raceway- Race # 3 - June 9, 2007

 

Finish Car # r Driver/Hometown Car Type/Engine CC Heat 1 Heat 2 Laps

1 85 r Ja Lane/Houston, TX Ford Focus/2210 2 20

2 20 Sergio Hexsel/Live Oak, TX VW Rabbit/2042 3 20

3 27 Bill LaBarge/Bryan, TX BMW/2085 1 20

4 48 Mike Knotts/Universal City, TX VW Scirocco/1648 4 20

5 50 r Rick Dawdy/San Antonio, TX VW Rabbit/1870 2 19

6 23 r J.J. Osburn III/Converse, TX Ford Pinto/2338-svo 7 18

7 94 Harlon Hatcher/Converse, TX VW Rabbit/1784 6 17

8 78 Adam McCosh/Cibolo,TX VW Sedan/1835 4 16

9 71 Bruce Mabrito/San Antonio, TX VW Scirocco/1648 8 16

10 55 John Miesen/Marion, TX VW Sedan/2332 7 15

11 70 r Mike Merrell/Kingsland, TX VW Scirocco/1766 6 15

12 56 r Jason Krueger/Seguin, TX VW Sedan/1835 5 15

13 10 r Donnie Moore/Hutto, TX VW Scirocco/1628 1 dns

14 46r r Mark Rahn/San Antonio, TX Chevrolet Cobalt/2181 3 dns

15 24 r Joshua Freeman/Universal City, TX Ford Probe/2338 5 dns

dna 26 Lalo Leal/Corpus Christi, TX Ford Mustang/2338-svo

dna 18 Lanny Young/Kingsland, TX VW Karmen Ghia/2275

dna 66 Ariel Arredondo/Kingsville, TX Ford Taurus/2030

dna 22 Harry Osburn Jr./New Braunfels, TX Ford Mustang/2338

dna 29 Rico Gutierrez/Corpus Christi, TX Ford Mustang/2338-svo

dna 14 r Will Robertson/Corpus Christi, TX Dodge Neon/2000

dna 28 r Kostin Suhre/Marion, TX Honda CRX/1798/4-valve

dna 72 Candi Hogan/Cedar Park, TX VW Sedan/2160

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

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

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

dna 84 r Price Allen/San Antonio, TX Ford Taurus/2030

dna 74 John Wasek/Austin, TX VW Scirocco/1628

 

Feature Race - Margin of Victory 1.00 second. Race leader: car # 27 led laps 1 - 6, # 85 led laps 7 - 20

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

Penalty notes: No penalties issued at this race.

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

TPS thanks race sponsors:

Richard & Bea Villanueva

Nelson Skinner, Attorney at Law

Randy Larsen Air Cooled Race Engines Custom Control Modules, San Antonio thru Mark O’Donnell

TPS thanks THR for hosting this 3rd TPS race of the 2007 season.

 

TEXAS PRO SEDANS 2007 REMAINING SCHEDULE (Subject to Change, Additions, Deletions)

Race Date Rain Track Remarks

Jun 23 tba Thunder Hill Raceway 2 - 8 Lap Qual Heats & 20 Lap Feature Race

Jul 14 7/28 Thunder Hill Raceway 2 - 8 Lap Qual Heats & 20 Lap Feature Race

Jul 28 tba Thunder Hill Raceway Time Trials, 25 Lap Feature Race

Aug 18 9/15 Thunder Hill Raceway 2 - 8 Lap Qual Heats & 20 Lap Feature Race

Sep 1 9/2 open date tba

Sep 29 10/13 Thunder Hill Raceway Time Trials, 32 Lap Feature Race @ THR "Spectacular"

Nov 10 11/17 2007 TPS Awards Dinner - 6:00pm Carlos Kelly's Restaurant, 6846 Hwy 87 East, San Antonio

 

 

TPS Points thru: Race # 3 - June 9, 2007

 

Position Car # r Driver Hometown Points

1, 20 Sergio Hexsel/Live Oak, TX …….. 51

2, 85 r Ja Lane/Houston, TX …….. 42

3, 27 Bill LaBarge/Bryan, TX …….. 35

4, 48 Mike Knotts/Universal City, TX …….. 33

5, 26 Lalo Leal/Corpus Christi, TX …….. 30

6, 70 r Mike Merrell/Kingsland, TX …….. 28

7, 50 r Rick Dawdy/San Antonio, TX …….. 21

8, 24 r Joshua Freeman/Universal City, TX …….. 19

9, 55 John Miesen/Marion, TX …….. 18

10, 23 r J.J. Osburn III/Converse, TX …….. 15

11, 78 Adam McCosh/Cibolo,TX …….. 15

12, 94 Harlon Hatcher/Converse, TX …….. 13

13, 56 r Jason Krueger/Seguin, TX …….. 13

14, 18 Lanny Young/Kingsland, TX …….. 12

15, 71 Bruce Mabrito/San Antonio, TX …….. 9

16, 66 Ariel Arredondo/Kingsville, TX …….. 9

17, 10 r Donnie Moore/Hutto, TX …….. 7

18, 22 Harry Osburn Jr./New Braunfels, TX …….. 7

19, 46r r Mark Rahn/San Antonio, TX …….. 6

20, 29 Rico Gutierrez/Corpus Christi, TX …….. 6

21, 14 r Will Robertson/Corpus Christi, TX …….. 6

22, 11 r Steven Carpenter/Corpus Christi, TX …….. 4

23, 28 r Kostin Suhre/Marion, TX …….. 3

24, 72 Candi Hogan/Cedar Park, TX …….. 3

25, 4 Joshua Tuttle/San Antonio, TX …….. 1

26, 9 r Eric Robbins/Red Rock, TX …….. 0

27, 01 Mike O'Connor/Weatherford, TX …….. 0

28, 19 Lloyd Hart/San Antonio, TX …….. 0

29, 84 r Price Allen/San Antonio, TX …….. 0

30, 74 John Wasek/Austin, TX …….. 0

 

Drivers without 2007 points

31, 1 r Mark Pinson/Wichita Falls, TX …….. *

32, 2 Jack Dishman/Devine, TX …….. *

33, 3 r Jesse Sandoval Jr./Corpus Christi …….. *

34, 5 r Gage Guevara/Corpus Christi, TX …….. *

35, 12 Joe Maloney/San Antonio, TX .. *

36, 15 Tom Johnson/Kingsland, TX …….. *

37, 16 r Bill Stipe/Baytown, TX …….. *

38, 38 Dave Parks/San Antonio, TX …….. *

39, 46d rSteven Dalrymple/San Antonio, TX .. *

40, 77 G.B. Carter/Harlingen, TX …….. *

41, 88 Nellie Kelley/Corpus Christi, TX …….. *

42, 97 Kevin Hallman/Cibolo, TX …….. *

 

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

 

Official TPS Results & Point Standings Certified by:

Neil Upchurch

Race & Administrative Director

Texas Pro Sedans

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Congrats to Ja Lane on his first win... and as Neil said, it is a very special and rare thing to win one in your rookie season!! ;)

 

I wasn't able to make it out, but sounds like it was a great race... Congrats and good job to all of the TPS drivers for making this an all green flag race!! Looking forward to when I can get back out there with y'all!!

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Congrats to J. Lane. I dont think it mattered where you put the car, it seemed hooked up...

 

To All TPS drivers, you ALL continue to make me proud as a Sponsor... Job(Racing) well done...

 

Thanks to Neil for the opportunity to be a Sponsor... There will be more to come this year!

 

To Milton, I like the New name. Real catchy... Custom "Cool" Control Modules... Means new cards, but heck I'll probably sell more product this way... :D Seriously, thank you for the many plugs Saturday night... I could hear you loud and clear...

 

Mark O'Donnell

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LETS , REWORD THIS // MY LAST POST GOT KILLED ... . GOOD RUN MIKE KNOTTS ..GOOD TO SEE SERGIO MAKE THE RACE SEING HE SAID HE MAY NOT FOR FEELING BAD ..GOOD TO SEE JJ FINISH TOP SIX ..AND JA FOR WINNING IN A FORD . CONGRADULATION . I SEE YOUR GETTING IT ALL TOGETHER .. .PS NICK I WASNT BEING A SMART .A22 ...OR AM I NOW ..

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