Horst Kroll: A Crew-members Story} Part Two - The 1984 Season

Horst Kroll

Mosport-June 10th,1984
Friday June 8th, 1984, I awoke with excitement for my drive from my Oak Ridge home to Mosport. My first weekend as a crew member for Horst Kroll Racing was about to begin. Little did I know this drive was the beginning of a journey that would take me to being a part of  a record setting and championship winning team. Little did anyone know that Kroll was already 3 races into a run that would end with 23 consecutive finishes and 18 top ten finishes, both SCCA Can-Am records.

The 1984 Can-Am season was about to begin with a 10 race schedule, with new life pumped into the series by Dallas millionaire Don Walker and new sponsor CRC Chemicals. The season would present respectable prize money and  excellent television coverage by ESPN.

Friday morning began with high expectations on the Kroll team. With Micheal Roe of Ireland and Britain's Jim Crawford expected to battle for the title, we approached the season with the realistic goal of improving on the 5th place finish in the 1983 standings and maybe knocking off the top 2 from time to time and ride Kroll's consistency to a top 3 in the championship.

Our expectations where reassured on Saturday afternoon with Horst putting up a strong 2nd in qualifying behind Roe and ahead of Crawford in 4th. Our weekend however ended with bitter disappointment. With our car prepared and ready to go an hour before the race, we left for a team meeting and lunch leaving the car unattended. Shortly into the race Kroll found himself down on power and struggled to a 4th place finish a lap down. To our surprise a post race inspection revealed the car had been tampered with. Although to this day there is no proof, Kroll has always had a suspect team in mind. Needless we never left our car unguarded again.

Dallas-July 7th,1984
Texas was not kind to our team that season on either visit. The first indication should have been on the Wednesday prior to the race. I received a message to go to Kroll's shop in West Hill to pick up a package that needs to come with me on a flight the next morning. That package contained 8 jars of paint. I knew at that point the car had received damage. But how much???

Arriving in Dallas Thursday morning, I was about to experience some of the most extreme air temperatures in my life. During my cab ride to the track I was informed by the driver they were days into a heat wave and there was no relief in site. I joined Rolf Burger, Julie Bishop, Horst and his daughter Birgit in what was to be our crew for this very demanding weekend. I was relieved to learn the cars bodywork had only received some minor damage during transportation. Most of the afternoon Thursday was spent repairing the damaged bodywork and preparing the car for Fridays qualifying. It became very clear one of the weekends biggest challenges was going to be the extreme heat that was around 100°F (38 °C) by noon.

Friday went downhill for us with a stuck throttle putting Horst into the wall during the first qualifying session. Although placing the car 7th on the grid the car received heavy damage and the team was force to pull an overnight at the track returning to our hotel at 4 am for only a couple of hours sleep and a quick shower.

Saturday  morning an exhausted crew meet for breakfast and team meeting, reviewing the list of chores left if we were going to make the 2 o'clock start. With time running out the team battled the extreme heat and fatigue. To make matters worst Horst was also dealing with a bad head cold. We managed a last minute quick, makeshift alignment and put the wheels on with about 10 minutes to spare. After moving up in the field early in the race, disaster struck again. With Kroll pitting with a flat tire, the team were unable to remove the wheel with our air gun. Goodyear Tire had recorded the highest track temperatures in their 20 years of racing (150 °F (66 °C), during Fridays Formula One qualifying, and the extreme heat had welded our wheel nut to the spindle. After retrieving a wheel wrench and extension pipe, Rolf and I were able to loosen the nut with a sledge hammer. With Rolf suffering burns to his hands through his gloves, the nut was forced back on over damaged threads, and Kroll returned to the track to salvage an 8th place finish. With Micheal Roe taking the win and Jim Crawford placing second, Horst also took a serious betting in the points.

After a Sunday morning breakfast at the hotel, the exhausted team returned to the track to load the car and take advantage of our complimentary Formula One passes. Because of the extreme heat, the race started 3 hours early at 11 in the morning. The crowd of 90,000 were in a festive and hospitable mood. Beer coolers were already open and quickly shared with those in team uniforms, however for Kroll the weekend just keep getting worst. While trying to scale a fence to get a better vantage point, Horst fell and landed firmly on his back, returning us to the hotel with one very tired, sick and sore driver. After a team dinner Sunday night everyone was ready to get out of town and back to good old TO as soon a possible.

Brainerd-July 22,1984
Brainerd was a much needed shot of life for Horst. With such a gruelling and expensive Dallas weekend he was in desperate need of a paycheck and some championship points. With Jim Crawford a no show, Horst was able to come up with a solid third in qualifying, followed by a career best second place finish behind championship leader and race winner Micheal Roe.

With a new breath of life and a two week break in the schedule, the team and a few friends gathered at Kroll's condo for a much needed break from the track and a little celebration. With victories in all three races it was clear Roe was the guy to beat, but the excitement in the room that night was that a second place in the championship was a real possibility. It was off to Lime Rock next with a new determination.

Lime Rock-August 4th,1984
On a bright and sunny Thursday morning and with the full team on board we hit the road for Lime Rock Park. Horst had often said his biggest challenge was often getting to the track, not the racing itself. Those words would become far more real later in the day. While riding in the tow vehicle Rolf we lost our breaks on a steep mountain decline. Passing our motor home on a sharp turn to avoid collision we continued to pick up speed. From behind the wheel of the motor home, Horst gave us a "What the hell are you guys doing" look. With a hairpin turn and a bridge facing us at the bottom of the hill, I convinced Rolf to ditch the truck and trailer into a woodpile, barely missing a row of antique cars. After about an hour of bleeding the brakes and re securing the car and equipment we hit the road with a very concerned Horst now driving the tow vehicle himself. The conversation between the two of us the rest of the afternoon centred around how lucky we were. We knew that almost all was close to being lost including lives if not for that driveway and woodpile. We often laughed later about what that home owners reaction must have been upon returning home to find his large, neat pile of wood all over the yard.

Friday evening while sitting around the motor home, Kroll was bothered by his 6th place qualifying effort, convinced that there was a gear box problem and that a gear change was needed.

Steve

Saturday morning race day began with Steve, Horst and myself rising at 5 am for and early morning coffee and gearbox tear down.  As expected we found a damaged third gear which explained the roughness Horst had complained about the day before.

Kroll and Lechner battling on the front strait.

 The race began with Horst quickly moving to 4th and and a lengthy battle for third with Walter Lechner of Australia ensued. Lap after lap Kroll would be blocked by Lechner at the end of the front straight. Forced hard on the brakes and over the curbing Kroll  broke a sway bar and had to settle for 5th  place under protest.

The race ended with Lechner finishing in 3rd behind Roe and Crawford. A position Kroll was convinced would have been his if not for the blocking tactics. Kroll was vocal of this in his post race interview by Micheal Brockman of ESPN.

Kroll and Micheal Brockman of ESPN

Later that night we hit the road for an all night drive to Mosport and the Budweiser 1000 km Endurance race. To our surprise we received a much appreciated standing ovation upon entering the grandstand.

Road Atlanta-August 19th,1984
Road Atlanta saw Horst put up another strong performance. After a 4th place qualifying run the race saw a crash take out championship leader Micheal Roe and 3rd place qualifier Kim Campbell leaving Kroll to cruise to a 2nd place finish behind race winner Jim Crawford. With his second podium of the season Horst was able to secure some much needed championship points.

Trois-Riveries -September 2nd,1984
The Trios-Rivieres weekend began with an early Friday morning drive in my 1973 VW beetle with my family. My two daughters Lisa and Ramie were excited about the weekend away and the prospect of a visit with their favorite driver "Horse" as he was know to them. After checking my family into the motel I joined the team at the track for Fridays practice.

Saturday  ended with Horst posting a solid 4th in qualifying behind Roe, Crawford, and Mario Romano in a 2-litre Ralt. The smaller 2-litre cars would prove to be a factor on this tight street circuit with 7 of them taken up top ten grid spots.

Sunday's race saw Horst battle to 4th place finish behind the 2-litre cars of Romano and Kim Campbell a lap behind race winner Jim Crawford. A late race flat tire placed race leader Micheal Roe in 5th behind Kroll and 2 laps down.

Labor Day Monday began with my family meeting up with the team at a local truck stop for breakfast. With a new excitement of Roe's 5th place finish and dnf in Atlanta coupled with Horst's consistent driving the championship was still in site. We hit the road for home with the two girls excited that they had finally got to meet Horse and the team. With less than a week to prepare it was off to Mosport.



My Daughters Lisa and Ramie

Mosport-September 9th,1984
Mosport proved our team to be a real challenger for a top three in the championship, with Horst posting the third fastest in qualifying on Saturday behind Micheal Roe and Jim Crawford.

Horst is always hands on.

Waiting the start

Qualifying was followed up by a solid performance Sunday with Horst taking his third podium of the season. Finishing 3rd behind Roe and Crawford left Kroll heading west for the final three races with a solid shot at the top 3 in the championship.

Sears Point-September 30th, 1984
After a solid 2nd in qualifying and while running 3rd in the race Kroll was knocked down the feild by a flat tire and struggled to an 8th place finish. With Roe and Crawford finishing one-two in the race Horst found himself loosing ground in the point standings with time running out.

Riverside-October 7th, 1984
After the 8th place set back in Sears Point, Kroll followed up with a strong 3rd fastest in qualifying and 3rd on the podium, behind Roe and Crawford.

Next it was on the road for Texas to meet up with the team for the season final in Green Valley.

Green Valley Raceway-October 28th, 1984
Friday, Birgit and 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 pre-race show, our luck was about to change. While lapping on the track left wet by an afternoon shower, Kroll over-revved 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 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 were robbed of a much needed extra hour of sleep.

Sunday race preparations went fairly well. With most of our regular crew back home we were fortunate to have plenty of volunteers and friends show up to help out.



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 realising 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 a bad season at all, however, with a little more luck in Texas, things could have been much better. 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!!!

Up next: Mosport and the start of the 1985 season.