The Rhino boy
Team/Driver History Page
The Early Years
Rhino boy driver Terry Coates began his driving career in
the Sports Car Club of America's PRO Rally series campaigning
this 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit. The car was prepared by himself
and his two teammates, Navigator Joe Corbin and Crew Chief
Bobby Newman. The team was based in Chillicothe, Ohio--Terry's
hometown and the host city of the Sunriser 400 PRO Rally. The
team competed in this series from 1986 to 1989.
 This team was known as "Series 3 Racing",
named after the cast-off IBM computer whose parts supplied
much of the switches and wiring of the car's interior. The
car is shown here in its original trim, before a 1987
rollover that lead to a long winter but a better-looking
car (photo not available).
Although seriously underpowered and running on a shoestring
budget, the team usually managed good finishes within their
driver's seed group. Until the car grew weary, mechnical DNF's
were rare. The team suffered only the one major crash in their
years of competition.
The Middle YearsAfter finding PRO Rally too expensive
to compete effectively, driver Terry Coates turned his efforts
to the Sports Car Club of America's Showroom Stock series. This
effort was mounted without the backing of a team and while
Coates was attending college at The Ohio State University.
Coates completed his first driver's school in the summer of
1988 using a Dodge Omni GLH Turbo, borrowed from once-co-driver
and current Showroom Stock competitor, Rob Jones. Coates'
results at the school were favorable enough that the
requirement of a second school was waived. A Showroom Stock "B"
Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V was pieced together and Coates entered
regional competition.
Progress was slow at first as funds were terribly limited in
the college years. Coates drove the car to the races
while followed in a 1977 station wagon that Coates had paid
$200 for in order to have something to use as a parts carrier
and sleeping quarters.
A big crash at Indianapolis Raceway Park set Coates back
almost a year in his goal to attain a National Competition
License. The car was effectively totaled, but with the help of
Ernie's Foreign Salvage in Chillicothe, it was rebuilt well
enough for Coates to complete his required races and to earn a
National License in time for the 1992 racing season.
Recent TimesThat brings us to the present day. The
trials and tribulations of that first season of National racing
are well-documented among these pages as are the '93-95 seasons
riddled with success. With any luck, however, those years will
soon find their way to this page as Coates and the Rhino boy
organization continue to rise in the ranks.
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