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Rainier Auto Sports Club |
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Rainier Auto Sports Club May 1999 The Wishbone Alley Gazette
Minutes of the April Meeting -Reported by Mark Nolte, Secretary. Meeting called to order at 7:40PM by Vice President Kirk Simons; President
Vince Plancich was excused.
The upcoming Doo Wop Club rallys were discussed. RASC only had a stage on Saturday, one which we had "worked" before. There were no plans for Sunday. Olympus and associated rumors were discussed. No one has talked to anyone
on that event's staff. There was some question as to whether a staff for
such a "large" event was actually in place.
The NWRC report was brief, with no news. Kirk Simons shared his experience
riding with Nolte and using the Timewise rally computer.
The SCCA Wild West rally came up: we've been requested to staff a Saturday stage; the organizers are aware of the difficulty getting to Olympia for the Friday night stages. The stage is some sort of variation of the long, long RXR-Beeville-California Road stage. Roy Ward has been to Eastern Washington looking at roads, with Paul Appel. The current plan is to get to Airway Heights, near Spokane. The question of the rally date came up, with the first weekend of November "looking good". The Alcan 5000 came up, with 34 cars registered. The rest of the discussion
will not be reported in these minutes.
Raindrop Rally was discussed next. The workers were listed, with some
doubt about Joel Wright being able to attend. Rallymaster Mark Nolte described
the route as 130 miles and 4 hours and 15 minutes long. The trophy plaques
are on order. Kirk Simons volunteered to "check" the route. The RASC
Friday Niter was discussed. Kirk Simons has decided to pick a route close
to his house.
The subject of a "RASC Banner" came up. Various numbers were bandied around. Meeting was adjourned at 8:45PM
Raindrop Rally - Reported by Mark Nolte
We were able to score 13 controls. The 4-hour route was composed of two hours and 13 minutes of TSD, so there were a lot of CP's for the distance. The typical Friday Niter runs about 2 hours, with 3 or 4 checkpoints, for instance. Using passage controls allows me to get the most checkpoints out of the available crews; the downside is that you don't know how you're doing until the end. Possibly the toughest part of laying out a rally is finding a good start location. RASC member Pete Shelton volunteered Alley Chevrolet, which worked out perfect, what with the dry place to attach the door numbers. Once that was decided, the rally route sort of "fell into place". We Transited to Maltby, as good a place to end as any (unless I could
find a place with restrooms- I couldn't). I also liked minimizing higher
speeds in the Odometer Transit, since I still suspect that the tires measure
different at high speed than at slow (rally) speeds.
Section 4, "English to Skagit Flats" was my longest TSD. I made a mistake in the RI's at RI 7- the mileage was 2.46, not 2.56; a typing error. (This was pointed out by a competitor). The first CP, 4C was at 10.07 miles, with the next (4D) at 10.97 mi., both on Frank Waters Road at a 37 CAST. Among the meager scenery on this rally, you got a glimpse of the Olympics, if the weather was right, on your way down the Marine Drive to Norman Road. Usually clogged by bicycles, I didn't notice any on this drizzly day. You passed a "15 M.P.H." sign at 15.48 mi., went around the corner and passed a black SUV with a CP crew in it- they timed you at the sign (CP 4K). You passed a "Truck Crossing" sign at 16.508 miles, with the CP crew timing you from just beyond (CP 4L). Most of our checkpoint crews were using "checkpoint clocks" that require just a button-push to capture your time, so the timing should be pretty good. Now another stint on I-5, although I hope you got a hint of what the "good ol' days' were like on the piece of old highway 99 that we ran. Imagine traveling that road in the 50's, as the main road! In case you're wondering, the route I took avoided long, straight, boring roads on the west side of the freeway. The "Poor Dirt Farm" TSD was named mostly for the monster houses that keep popping up in the neighborhood. Nice places, but what a place to start a daily commute, to ??? And those little dirt side roads lead to more mansions. There were only 2 CP's on this "section line road" TSD- CP 6D
at 9.316 mi., and 6F at 11.954. You wouldn't see either one, since
there were "scenic distractions". 6F has some interesting scores, but didn't
have anything unique about it to make so many cars late. Then into Arlington
and Haller Park. Ah, a potty stop! I tried and tried to build a TSD that
started right at the park, but the city streets don't adapt well to staying
on time. I found a parking lot for starting the TSD, except they
built a church annex on it during the layout weeks! So the start of the
"Burn Road" TSD wasn't very "clean". I decided not to use Jordan
Road, which many of us have memorized, because of the increased traffic.
There just aren't that many ways to head south from Arlington, and I think
I picked the best. I have to admit that I only drove it at rally speed
once- all the other times, I was holding up traffic! CP9A was at
.651 miles, close to the start and on the "funnest" road on the whole rally.
Note the scores for cars 6 and 7- there's a story there. CP 9C was at 3.933
miles, and 9G was at 6.558. Unless the road was blocked by someone else
driving the speed limit (unlikely), you should have been on time. Then
Granite Falls, and a short Transit. The place is busy in the summer, and
remarkably busy nowadays. Once remote, the place even has a McDonalds.
There were two checkpoints on this stretch of the rally. CP 11C was at
4.510 miles, at a "gotcha" location on top of a rise, and 11J at 11.894
miles. This
You arrived at Machias, and the Centennial Park. Just to keep things manageable, I started the final Transit at the end of the parking lot. A rather odd way to do a TSD section, but inconsequential for scoring purposes. We did 75 miles of TSD and 54 of Transit, a 58/42% split. If you were on your first rally, this had a few nuances you won't encounter
on other rallys. It was planned around a tight schedule- a reasonable start
time, and finishing up downright early! There are about 2 1/2 hours
of more
Raindrop Results
# DRIVER/ NAVIGATOR
CLASS Total
Trivia * Toyota has a print advertisement describing a one-off, very special
$20K wrench they use for assembling their vehicles. While this may be primarily
to speed assembly, I pity the poor mechanic who is expected to work on
the vehicle in the "real" world. My Jeep needed "help", with an intermittent
starting problem. Consensus opinion (!) was that I needed to replace
the Flywheel Position Sensor. The only way to do this required collecting
all my ratchet wrench extensions, and tightening the bolt from about 4
feet away.
Wild West Rescheduled to June 18-19, 1999 THE EVENT: The WILD WEST Rally is part of the Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship. The Sou'Wester and Wild West ClubRallys are sanctioned by the NORTHWEST REGION of the SCCA. The ClubRally events qualify for the 1999 NORPAC and the 1999 NORTHWEST REGION ClubRally Championships. The events will adhere to 1999 ProRally and ClubRally Rally Rules and Rules for Organizers. ENTRY: Entry to the event requires a paid entry fee, valid state drivers license, valid SCCA ProRally (National) or ClubRally license for both driver and co-driver, vehicle liability insurance, valid vehicle registration and a completed entry form. The entry fee for the WILD WEST ProRally is $400.00 thru June 3, 1999, $450.00 on June 4. The entry fee for the Sou'Wester and the Wild West ClubRally rallies is $250.00 thru June 3, 1999, $300.00 on June 4. The entry fee is for one or both rallies. Competitors wishing to enter the ProRally (National) and ClubRallys should add $25.00 to the ProRally entry fee. Checks should be made payable to NORTHWEST REGION, SCCA and mailed to BOB GRASS, 24529 13TH PLACE SOUTH, DES MOINES, WA 98198. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: CO-CHAIRMAN
EVENT DESCRIPTION: The WILD WEST ProRally will use the normal stage format utilizing FISA signs and control procedures. The ProRally will run fourteen stages, all of which will be scored. The two ClubRallys will include all the ProRally stages. The event will have 140 stage miles and a total of 300 miles. All stages will be on gravel. HEADQUARTERS: The headquarters and press room for the WILD WEST Rally will be the Shelton Inn, 628 Railroad Avenue, Shelton, Washington 98584 (360) 426-4468. The Headquarters will not be staffed until the afternoon of June 17th. REGISTRATION AND SCRUTINEERING LOCATION: Location To Be Announced SCHEDULE: June 17, 1999 - Thursday
June 18, 1999 - Friday
June 19, 1999 - Saturday
Northwest Region Rally Committee Minutes Highlights
Friday Nighers....ARE BACK!! After an absence of one year, NWRC-TSD
road rallying is back to it's original schedule: 2nd Friday of each
month: May 14th, June 11th, July 9th, Aug 13th, Sept 10th, and Oct
8th. Same starting location: Eastgate Park-n-Ride (Bellevue)
- take exit 11A off of east bound I-90 & Follow towards 150th, remain
going towards the Park-N-Ride on the road which parallels the interstate
(westbound). Same registration time: 6:30 PM with First Car
Out @ 7:30 PM. Cost for this two hours of fun is $15.00 for non-car club
members & $10.00 for car club members. And for further rally
information call the : NWRC HOTLINE @ 206-256-9627
Please forward any items for sale to Terry Simons, e-mail: tjs9820@gte.net.
or call 425-806-1741
Information made available from Ben's Rally Page
The Wishbone Alley Gazette is published for the members and friends
of the Rainier Auto Sports Club. Subscription prices $10 per year. The
NEW editor is Terry Simons, phone 425-806-1741. Contribution and paid /
unpaid ad eagerly received at 4029 228th St Se Bothell, WA 98021
or e-mail to tjs9820@gte.net.
It's that time of year again. Starting in January membership is due.
The Wishbone Alley Gazette is published for the members and friends of Rainier Auto Sports Club. Subscription price is $10 per year. The editor is Terry Simons, phone 425-806-1741. Contributions and paid/unpaid ad eagerly received at 4029 228th St SE, Bothell, WA 98021
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