Roe Wins Can-am Title, Kroll Limps To 3rd In Texas - October 28, 1984

October 28, 1984

Horst Kroll of Toronto, with a serious fuel pick-up problem, struggled to a disappointing 8th place finish ahead of Micheal Roe in 9th, in the SCCA Can-Am race at Green Valley Raceway, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Roe who had run out of fuel, had enough of a point lead to win the Championship. With Jim Crawford winning the race and claiming 2nd in points, Kroll was forced to settle for 3rd in the season standings. 

Below is from; The Horst Kroll Story} Part Two - The 1984 Season, as told by crew member David Wheeler.
Green Valley Raceway-October 28th, 1984

 Friday I arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to meet Horst in what was to be another trying weekend. Our landing was almost adverted to Houston due to heavy thunder storms and high winds. Conditions I would learn later had left the pit area a muddy and soggy mess.

 Saturday qualifying went well with Horst posting the 3rd fastest time behind Roe and Crawford. With the car performing well and a solid starting position in the bag, we changed into some clean clothes and prepared for and evening out. However, a last minute request to mount a camera on the car and have Horst do a quick lap for the ESPN prerace show would soon change our luck. While lapping on the track left wet by an afternoon shower, Kroll overeved and damaged the engine. With a spare engine on board it was determined an engine change would be the best and quickest solution.

 The evening was spent removing and replacing the engine and other race preparations. What should have been a routine job soon turned to total frustration. With everything completed an attempt to fire the engine failed. The problem was finally resolved at around 3 am and a tired Horst and I left to get some sleep. With Horst pouring us a quick nightcap of rum and a 6 am wake up call scheduled, we turned in at about 4 am.

 We arrived at a small diner near the track around 7 am for breakfast but realized something was not right. None of the other teams were there as they were the morning before. With all the confusion the night before we had totally forgot the fall time change and robbed our self of a much needed extra hour of sleep.

 Sunday prerace preparations went fairly well, except for one small moment of excitement. With most of our regular crew back home we were fortunate to have plenty of volunteers and friends show up to help out. After cramming as much fuel in the car as possible, one of the helpers arched the battery by mistake and a fire erupted on top of the fuel cell valve. The volunteer, known as Big Red, seen in the cowboy hat in the pictures below, started to quickly run from the scene. As a claim Kroll smothered  the fire with a rag, he asked "Where are you going". Big Red in his strong southern draw replied, "Man, I was heading for Dallas".

(Horst, Julie(far right) and I with friends and volunteer crew)



(Our team for the weekend)

 Our bad luck continued into the race with Horst realizing quickly he had a serious fuel pickup problem and struggled to a disappointing 8th ahead of Roe in 9th who had run out of fuel but had enough of a point lead to win the Championship. With Jim Crawford winning the race and claiming 2nd we were forced to settle for 3rd in the Points. Not bad but with a little more luck in Texas things could have been much better.

Both trips to Texas that season turned out to be long, sleepless, and disappointing weekends, still overall 1984 represented the most successful season of Horst career, and I was very happy and thankful to be a part of things.

 At the airport the next morning I purchased a souvenir of Texas. It was a glass paper weight containing a cow paddy. The label read "Genuine Texas Bullshit". How appropriate!!!

For more; The Horst Kroll Story} Part Two - The 1984 Season