Published: September 12, 2007 10:48 am            

Competitors team up to unseat San Marcos’ Stapp

Auto Racing

Kyle — Cars in NASCAR like those of Rick Hendrick, owner of cars driven by Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, are built from the ground up by teams including mechanical engineers who design, build and make adjustments to the cars. In addition, the multi-car teams share information.

Short track racers in the A-Line Auto Parts Super Stock and Thunder Stock classes at Thunderhill Raceway make race cars of cars that were once ordinary street cars: Chevrolet Camaros and Novas, or Caprices and even Oldsmobile Cutlasses. No help from engineers, but the goal is the same: To make mechanical changes and adjustments to make the cars go faster.

Three Central Texas teams have taken the NASCAR “information sharing” idea to the local level. A series of seminars hosted by Nick Holt, a Central Texan with a national reputation as a suspension-tuning expert, jump-started the idea.

Both Terry Tschoerner of TBS Racing in Taylor and Chase Stapp, crew chief for three-time A-Line Super Stock champion Cary Stapp of San Marcos, took Holt's seminar in 2005. Designing, altering and adjusting the suspension of a car, particularly a racing car, takes skill in math and geometry as well as mechanical skills and knowledge of the theory of how everything works.

Trying to beat Cary (who is one of the most respected drivers in Central Texas, and whose brother and crew chief Chase is equally respected) isn’t easy. At Terry’s suggestion, both Duane Toyne of Frontline Racing and Aaron Brungot of Junior Racers of America (JRA) Racing took the seminar in 2006. Brungot then tested his No. 50 Thunder Stock Chevy Caprice in 2006 and completely rebuilt the car between the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Toyne, A-Line Auto rookie of the year two years ago, made adjustments to his No. 4 Chevrolet Camaro after testing by Duane and Terry late in 2006.

“Terry is a great mentor with a lot of experience,” Duane says of the group’s leader, Tschoerner. “He explains things in a way you can understand and feel making a difference in the car.”

Aaron says the same things, as he and Duane are relatively new to the game.

“Every new driver needs the chance to work with veteran drivers in the class like Terry and Joey. They coach me as much on driving as they do on how to set up the car for best performance.”

Here’s the thing about racing: Terry Tschoerner, his daughter Tracy (2006 A-Line rookie of the year) and Toyne all compete in the A-Line Auto Parts Super Stock series. Terry’s brother Joey and their friend Kevin Bowen compete against Brungot in the Thunderhill Thunder Stock series. But on April 14, 2007 the combined teams rented Thunderhill for a private test session.

They brought TBS Racing's No. 01 A-Line Super Stock (Terry), #11 A-Line Super Stock (Tracy) and the No. 14 Thunder Stock (Joey); the Frontline Racing No. 4 A-Line Super Stock (Duane); and the JRA Racing No. 50 Thunder Stock (Aaron). Then they worked on each car in turn, one car at a time, with the driver in the car and the rest making adjustments, sending the driver out, coming in for the driver's input and more adjustments.

At the opening race on April 28, Cary Stapp racked up another win, but chasing him to the flag in second was Duane Toyne. Terry and Tracy had problems and finished 12th (Terry) and 13th (to start a season-long battle over family bragging rights). Joey Tschoerner took third with Brungot fourth, his best finish to that point, in Thunder Stock.

In what they call “crew chief by committee,” it’s usually Terry, Duane and Aaron who make the calls on what changes to make on race night, based on input from the drivers and their spotters. So how is it all working, and should the dominant team of Chase and Cary Stapp be worried?

In the second 2007 race, Stapp got another win but Toyne got another second place, with Terry fifth and Tracy seventh. Joey Tschoerner won the Thunder Stock race with teammate Bowen second and Brungot fourth again. In June Cary got his third in a row, with Toyne fourth and Terry and Tracy ninth and tenth. In July, Keith Garrett from New Braunfels stopped Cary's win streak. Cary was second with Tracy and Terry ninth and tenth and Tracy getting the bragging rights. Duane's car broke late and he ended up 12th.

In the meantime, the circus went to Corpus Christi Speedway for one race and on the neutral site Terry took everybody with the Olds, the only “metric” car running. Cary was second. Aaron led the Thunder Stock race until the closing laps but got blocked by a spinning car and finished second for a career best.

Back at Thunderhill for the first of two August races, Toyne crashed hard and wasn’t a factor. Nor was Terry, who had been collected in someone else’s wreck. Shawn Paul Lehman of Manchaca won, with 2005 rookie of the year Clint LaFont in second and Cary in an uncommon third. Tracy took seventh. Joey took third in the Thunder Stock race while Aaron had a problem on the first lap, came back to join the field on the lead lap, half a lap down, and ran like it was qualifying to catch and then pass most of the field and finish eighth. By now, Joey and Aaron were fighting for the Thunder Stock championship lead, and Aaron had come in with a one-point edge, now gone.

Mark Mathias of San Antonio won the second August race with Cary second, Duane fifth, Tracy sixth and Terry eighth. Kevin Bowen, who doesn't run every race, started the second Thunder Stock race in August from the pole and led a one-two-three sweep for the group cars, with Aaron second and Joey third.

So, are the Stapps worried? Not this year. Even when Cary doesn’t win, he’s “Mr. Consistency” and with only a couple of races left, he's on top of the A-Line Auto Parts Super Stock points with 709. Clint LaFont is 175 points back, and Duane Toyne is third, 19 back of LaFont. But with Tracy and Terry also in the top 10 (Tracy seventh and Terry eighth) the last few races this year and the whole season next year might give Stapp Racing some problems.

The group is doing even better in the Thunder Stock points race. Joey Tschoerner leads by 25 over Brungot, who is 37 points ahead of Rick Latimer. The occasional team member, Bowen, is in fifth with one win this season.

“We have been successful because we have teamwork and good communication,” Terry Tschoerner says. “We’re also not too proud to ask questions of professionals like Chris Swenson, Nick Holt, and Thunderhill tech inspector Jack Sandefur and his son, Keith.”

Oh, and one other thing that throws a wench in the works: If the Stapps break or crash in practice, the TBS-Frontline-JRA bunch will be there helping them get it repaired for the feature, just as the Stapps will be there to help if the other group has problems. In other words, they help the competition get on the track to beat them. What a strange sport.

        

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