Repost of Aaron's Myspace Blog

BULLRUN II (SPEED): TEAM TPI -OVERCOME- (Aaron's Weekly Blog)
Category: Automotive

      In Bullrun every teams car is altered at least in some small way. But there are teams that are "in for the win" and rework a car completely from the tires up.  Some teams throw thousands of dollars into "building" a winning car. Those teams also can bet thousands of dollars on the final outcome of a rally. That is just the nature of some of the people who run in a Bullrun rally and they take it personal if they don't win (but still have fun).  Anyone that has followed the Bullrun rally knows just who those teams are. I'm not going to make a list of  those superstars today. That would be a blog subject all by itself.  What I am going to do is  focus on a Superstar team that is going to run this season on the Speed channel. I know that they didn't build this car for just this rally, but they knew that Bullrun was the perfect place to put up or shut up. This team put its nuts under the hammer and told Bill to drop it if they failed to impress! - I like the attitude of this team. Team TPI

     As I have done my research on Team TPI.  I have really grown to respect them as people and I even would say become in awe on their skills as builders. (I would enjoy a tour of their shop sometime.) Now I consider myself o.k. at building cars, but they dwarf my skills by far! At the end of this blog if you don't have at least some respect for them and what they achieved in such a short time. You should take up golf and get out the Hell out of the car hobby all together.   


TEAM TPI  - Winning and Achieving -


    When I contacted Brook about doing this blog he didn't start by talking about himself, No. He wanted me to know about his team mate and good friend Wade who is going to be his Co-Driver. And the respect he has for him as a friend.

     Wade you see is 50 now and had retired a few years back.  He works at TPI with Brook and has been there for about 4 years putting around 100 hours a week. Wade calls that retirement?  I would call it more like died and gone to heaven. You see Wade had been into racing anything that moved when he was a tad bit younger. I think he would have even raced petal cars if he could have put a motor in one. Wade isn't your average guy by any means. This guy decided to take up bull fighting at the age of 45! Hell, I'm 39 and I would never get anywhere near a 2500 pound pissed off bovine! Wade would and did.
 

     Still he decided to give up racing a few years ago and became more of a crew chief or master builder.  All those years of racing has given him a perspective that can only be gained from competitive driving. You see Wade is a teacher even though he might not say it. Anyone who enjoys giving that knowledge to those that are willing to receive it is a teacher. I think he learned that from the time he has spent in that Army foxhole all those years ago. Wade is a team player and knows that if you want to have anything great in your life be it building a car or a family of friends you need to be a team.

    Wade brings friendship and experience to this team. He is a guy who is helpful to those around him and can quickly gain the respect of those who lives he touches. If you ever get the chance to spend some time with him listen to what he's got to say. You will walk way with a little more than you did before you knew him.

     The other member of  Team TPI is Brook he's their wheel man. Brook is the All American type of guy. Norman Rockwell would have painted him if  he was around back in the day. Brook was born in Wichita and moved around the country with his parents. Utah, Hawaii, Colorado and a few other states. He was into team sports and with all the moving. He found that he quickly made friends if you became part of a team. In fact he was so good at team sports that he was given a scholarship to Oklahoma State. (This is the second week that I have had to talk about other peoples football teams --- I am a DUCK and we don't like OU. I guess it was before Stup-id's run so I will take one for the team.) As anyone who has ever played the game of football knows that it takes a huge toll on your body and over time your body can't do it anymore.  Still that hunger for competition remains. As does the need to be part of a team.
 

Brook returned home after he graduated from Oklahoma and started his own body shop and helped out with the families auto auction company. Being around cars all the time naturally led him into racing, not drags but track events. He started to travel around the country in his spare time picking up valuable seat time. He was getting good very good at driving and was even able to pick up a full sponsorship. Racing wasn't what Brook was going to be doing professionally, fate had a different path it wanted him to follow. Lucky for us bad for him.
 

    Anyone who races knows that an accident could be just around the corner. You try to do everything that you can to never have it happen to you, but sometimes it just does.  You see Brook had come face to face with that ugly demon and it wanted its pound of flesh. Just before one of the biggest races of his life. Once the medic's removed him from the car and taken him to the hospital. He was informed that he had broken his neck in four places. He and everyone else knew that it  was going to be a long and painful recovery. Racing wasn't going to be as important to him as becoming whole again. He was going to need to learn how to pick up Cheerios and put them in a paper cup. I can only  image how tough it was for a man as active as Brook was. Doing something that only days earlier wasn't even a problem banking it from 12 feet away. Brook needed help while he struggled to regain his body over the next 12 months. There was one special person that would be there and she would be his coach during that terrible recovery period. His wife of 15 years, not his high school sweetheart but a grade school sweetheart. You can see he is a committed man that keeps what he loves and fights for what he wants. They both worked hard to get back what which was taken in that horrible crash.

     While doing his rehabilitation Brook was still looking for cars. (I guess once a car guy always a car guy.) He purchased a 1967 Mustang and gave his body shop the order to put it on a rotisserie. You see this car is going to change his life in a way that I don't think he could even dream of. Brook used that car to help him recover fully. He worked rebuilding himself and that classic and in the end both returned better for the meeting. That rebuild took him two and half years and was the start of TPI.

     Brook sold that 1967 Mustang at Berrett-Jacksons in January of '07 and used that money to start TPI.( http://tpitotalperformance.com ). Once he and his team started this company it has been blessed with the likes of Richard Childress ordering a special car from them that went for $575,000 dollars at auction. But that was the third car in a series of 50 cars that are going to be built by Brook and the TPI team of builders.






 

      What car demands that much money. How about a TPI 1969 RCR SERIES 3 Camaro! This is fully a modern car with all the nicest goodies. The basic RCR Camaro car runs $150,000.00 so you know it isn't a backyard build. The only thing that is still classic about this car is it's body style. But this shop didn't want it to look like any old body Camaro and redesigned it to the TPI standards. This link will show you them building the car.  http://www.tpitotalperformance.com/rcrseries3/Video/Video2.wmv 

     Besides this Camaro they have built so many other great cars that you really should look into. Just take a look at your last issue of HOTROD and that is a TPI 2007 Mustang. And if you read the write up you will learn that they set a Bonneville speed record! (254 mph). They are so impressive as builders one team from the 2nd season is even having them restore their '67 Riviera. (TEAM VW BUS) 

     This Season we are going to see RCR #1 running in the Bullrun. I can see this team pushing what they know to be a full on muscle car on to victory. Don't ever count this team out. They are driving a hand built Camaro that is a "drivers" car. Brook has seen his dreams come true and isn't afraid of putting his work on display for people to see. He knows that his companies name and reputation are going to be on the line. He also knows from the start of this race that the other teams are going to be gunning for him. Team TPI knows that if they make a mistake those other teams are going to be on him fast and willing to take him out.

     Brook knows he is blessed and gives back to those that might never have a chance to do some of the things he has done in his life. His involvement with charities that help children include Boy Scouts, Leukemia Foundation, Three trees, and March of dimes. He at times might seem like a hard ass but you tell him a child needs some help and he will be there helping. A real winner is someone that gives when it isn't conveinent and helps when it isn't asked for. So I have added a couple of links at the end of this weeks blog for those that want to help as Brook and Team TPI have.

BoyScouts - www.scouting.org/
The Leukemia Foundation - www.leukemia.org/hm_lls
Three Trees - www.threetrees.org/
March of Dimes - www.marchofdimes.com/

 

FEBRUARY 2009 -LETS GET IT ON! 
AARON & MISTER HAPPY!