NickHolt Posted May 9, 2004 Report Share Posted May 9, 2004 VW Sciroccos finished one-two at the Texas Pro Sedan race last night at Thunder Hill Raceway. After a couple of years where Ford Mustangs and a certain BMW have dominated the series, it looks like the Sciroccos are staging a comeback. Donnie Moore of Hutto, who started on the front row and led all 20laps, and Sergio Hexel of San Antonio raced their Sciroccos to the checkered ahead of Lalo Leal of Corpus Christi who was driving one of the potent Mustangs. Defending TPS champion Bill LaBarge of Bryan experienced some sort of mechanical problems and finished 10th, one lap down. Nick Holt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24fan Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 the real challenge for the sciroccos has yet to come , 2 of the fast mustangs have yet to appear the 2 & 6, Will be interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Yeah, and there's always the possibility that Bill Labarge will get the BMW back on track... Ya think? I wouldn't pour the Scirocco champagne just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkr77 Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Whoohooo! GO VW! I have a GTI that i might make into a TPS after the warranty goes out...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-Crew Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 wk77, Bring it on.. 16V motors are legal this year but no one has tried one out yet. The next race is Corpus Christi, the 2 & 6 better do their homework because just having a ton of horsepower won't do much good there. San Antonio is likely to be just like ROMCO at TMS, there will be a great race for 3rd.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wkr77 Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 it's going to be a while...my GTI is a 2004...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyRodriguez Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 also to be fair, Donnie Moore is heck of a race car driver, that helps. Glad to see him back in the winners circle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted May 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 TPS is turning out to be an interesting deal. I can't wait for a few 16-valve engines to get built. Might even try to get someone to build one for Bruce Mabrito. 25 years ago Bruce used to kick butt in the 4-cyl Vega that Johnny Ivy and I built. I'm just not sure if he can still climb in and out of a race car. Naw... he's not too old to race. He and I are both only 39. (Why is my nose growing???) There's also no doubt that the 2300 cc Fords with those aftermarket heads had the rest of the TPS cars outclassed for a year or two. But there have been some significant rules changes over the past year that have made the playing field a bit more level. No doubt about it, though, that LaBarge team has got that BMW flying and will be hard to catch in spite of the resurgence of the Sciroccos. Bill's and his team are dedicated professionals and it shows. And has anyone else noticed how fast that red Karmann Ghia is? All Randy Larsen has to do is get that air-cooled rocket ship to stop pushing in the turns and he's looking at victory circle. And next time you are in the TPS pit area, wander by the Donnie Moore Scirocco or the Sergio Hexel Scirocco and take a look at the engineering in those cars. No wonder they are starting to catch up. Nick Holt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Nick- You're right about the red Ghia. He was the talk of a fairly crowded VIP suite the last time the TPS cars were at THR, and people were noticing how fast the car is. If he gets it to handle, look out. As for pushing in the turns, it's weird that a rear-engine car would push that badly, but when I was racing one of the original Formcar Formula Vees in SCCA, it pushed, and that was with the transaxle behind the engine! As far as I know, every Formcar built pushed in the turns, particularly if you got off the throttle. Very weird... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24fan Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 the competition has changed alot in TPS and everyone has embraced the challenge. The 2 new owners of the 2 & 6 have done very well in adjusting to the Farmer built cars. with the horse power down it all comes to handling and I think those two guys will fair well. The guy in the 6 car appears to be a smooth driver and I look for him to win one soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slysnake Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 VW!!?? <perk!> Hmmm.... maybe the VW Rabbit needs to get into this action when they come to CCMS. Lalo has been pressuring me to run... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinghia50 Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 Thank You to tqj3,and Nick for noticing my Karmann Ghia,It has been alot of work to get it where it is,I have been working alone, and around a very buisy schedule,I have called a company in california,that one of their mechanics runs an aircooled bug with almost the same coilover shock set up that I have, and he has given me alot of valuable advice on setups,as yall know there really isnt anyone for me to compare to locally that races rear engine cars.I think my setup is finally close,so now I will start engine and trans gearing tweaking to get the little dude up at the front,again Thanks to all who have noticed as this makes all the work worth it...............Randy Larsen #50 Texas Pro Sedan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdw64 Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 I know I will be corrected if I am wrong, but didn't G.B. Carter run a "Ghia" at CC Speedway about 3 or 4 years ago?? If you have handling questions, he is a good guy to make sure you are going in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinghia50 Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Yes,G.B. Carter did run the black Karmann Ghia #77 at Corpus Christi,and also participated in alot of the Texas Pro Sedan races the last couple of years,he is a great driver and I always enjoyed racing against him,we both have a little different setups as the cars go(he used to run the standard torsion suspension and an unlocked differential)as I run a (coil over suspension and a locked diff)so we couldnt really help each other with setup,interesting also is that my father bought G.B.'s Ghia and turned it into a dirt track car that is now #51x, when my father passed away April 9th,I became the owner of the car and it resides at my house in Wimberley,I have raced it twice in Cleveland,north of Houston at Dundee motor speedway and broke the first race ,then went on to win the second time I ran it.....Its a great car and might make a come back in the Pro Sedans as my backup car...Randy Larsen #50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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