October, 2000
Rainier Auto Sports Club
* Observations on a Shortened Rally Season:
Wild West Weekend by Ron Sorem
It was south of Shelton, WA., 8:30 or so Friday night.
We are on our roof in the path of the next competitor; Iıve turned off the
car overlooking the fact that this also extinguished whatever lights may still be
operational. My first thought was "I canıt get it to move, must have knocked it out
of gear - oh yeah the wheels arenıt on the ground anymore - shut it off, save the motor,
reduce the risk of fire. "
My son is already outside and yelling, "get out of the car"
repeatedly and urgently enough that I attempt a one hand push up and release my harness.
Surprisingly itıs still quite a distance to the roof and my helmet bangs loudly when I
fall to earth. I crawl out co-drivers door and walk around the car.
By now Josh has done a 100 meter dash up the hill flagging down the next car
so I donıt get T-boned. He and their crew now get out the warning triangles and the Red
Cross from their route book (our route book will be found further down the road after EMT
crew arrived). I feel sorry somehow for these two young men on their first
pro-rally; our car is just a hulk and they ask what to do as other cars arrive. They need
to stay with us; they knew: see to immediate first aid, send second car as quickly as
possible to the end of this stage to get help on the way and close the stage.
A car arrives "Is everybody OK?"
"No! Possible broken arm or dislocated shoulder." (By this time
Iıve decided to sit down before I fall down). Several other cars arrive, see me
laying on the side of the road (you know- keep the victim still) and think the worst, so I
give a small wave and thumbs up, hoping they wouldnıt freak out. The EMT crew arrives in
a Jeep. A great young man on vacation from California plops his suitcase size kit down
next to me and begins his searching inquiries both verbal and physical. He asks how
attached I am to my driving suit, and I say "a lot" and he tells me theyıll cut
it off at the E.R. Letıs compromise, just cut around the arm gusset and weıll sew it
back later. Pain getting worse, adrenaline easing away, he finished his diagnosis -
possible dislocation, probably no broken bones.
I stand next to the Jeep, arm in a sling, as they start to pull our car back
on its wheels and hear myself referred to as the victim on the EMT radio traffic. I recall
them interrogating Josh for pains, shock, etc, asking if he has blurred vision, "
Yes- Oh wait I need my glasses. There itıs OK now." (Both our glasses kept going
further than we did when we dropped from 50 to 0.) A rally organizer arrives to transport
us out. We spend a few minutes at the end of the stage; they figure out the best place to
take us for treatment, we joke with friends at the control. Time to go, let the other guys
get back to their fun. Weıve still got hours to spend in the ER
So, what happened? I donıt really know. We were doing real well I thought.
Weıd seen several "offs", some little, some big (Was that a Lancer EVO wing
waaay out there in the trees, all we could see were taillights and wing). A couple
of cars out, in our class, maybe we could get some good points this time. The new
Silverstones were really hooking up great, Subaru was running great, still need some more
technique on hairpins but we were fast. Too fast I guess.
The "moment" went by pretty fast for me, but then Iıve done it
before. There was a definite airborne silence; no gravel banging the skid plates and the
engine racing in free-wheel, but my "moment" went by in real time. Josh
said it was slow motion for him. He could see the little trees going by, and when the
"moment" was over he thought we were just stuck between the trees so the doors
were pinned closed, then he realized we were upside down and the gravel was coming right
up to the windshield. He put his feet up (down??) to touch the windshield and pulled
the harness release, thumped the door open and took off. He said later that he was
surprised he ran the right way to stop traffic. Heıs never been upside down in a
car before.
There isnıt one usable panel on the car, but both door windows are intact,
the right quarter window is intact and the windshield cracked but stayed in. All
this, thanks to an excellent cage by Dave Clark.
Thanks to all the personnel for doing the right things: Bob Grass for his
time and counsel; John Forespring, John Nispel and Rich Olmstead for keeping their sense
of humor; Kevin Needham for his crews.
Thanks to all the competitors who came up to us on Saturday with offers to
help, and concerns for our well-being. Itıs great to be accepted in this kind of
"family".
PS: Rough count by sight and as evidenced on trailers, we were first of
six rollovers, with no major injuries and everyone showed up for dinner at the
finish. Donıt ever scrimp on safety equipment.
The rumor mill is partly why I wrote this piece. We heard all kinds of
misinformation on Saturday, The Red Cross was out, and the crew was also out of the
car. Call me a wimp, but I really didnıt feel like lounging around with an OK sign
until sweep showed up, relying only on my own diagnosis. At any rate the car was
taking up most of the road and it would have been a pretty good impact if someone didnıt
get stopped in time. In my mind I wanted "immediate medical attention" and
the Red Cross was the way to go.
There was some confusion, I hear, about the last few cars coming
through seeing an OK, but I donıt know the details-- I know the first car did the right
stuff; the second car was sent for help (I know I said possible dislocated shoulder or
broken arm, thatıs all); and the rest stopped, asked about us, then went on to the
control. It is possible that the Red Cross was turned to OK for the last cars just
to let them know everything was being taken care of. I heard this on Saturday (of
course, once displayed, the Red Cross is supposed to stay up, you can wave cars through to
clear the area even with a Red Cross)
PPS: Tuesday AMŠ More x-rays, posterior dislocation, rare, two
small fractures, closed reduction under general anesthetic, operating room, off work for
6-8 weeks, but "Boy it feels better now."
* Pacific Forest Rally 2000- The western Canadians put
together a nifty stage rally outside Cache Creek on September 23.
By setting controls along a mainline haul road and at the end of spurs,
various combinations of roads composed the 15 stages. The Route Book read more like pace
notes than what weıre familiar with, and there was a minimum of arrows and staking.
Certainly no numbers on stakes corresponding to the Route Instruction number. A lot less
work to set up. It was a unique set up, and worked very well for the 11 car field.
Two "classes" were held in Vancouver prior to the rally, so the
newly minted workers really knew how to go about it. The methods were just different
enough to be educational. John Nispel, Mark Nolte, Joel Wright, and Mark
Wilkie trekked up as volunteer workers. Good time was had by all.
* Friday Nighter: RASCıs October 13 is the last Friday Niter of the
year. That gave Rallymaster Kirk Simons a lot of ideas, and heıs whipped up a dandy
little rally. Mostly because heıs taken it very, very seriously, with enough ruses to
keep the masterıs wondering if they are doing it right, and the novices wonıt know the
difference until after its over.
TRIVIA ---------------------------------
*Scanners (follow up): Some research proved the WAG wrong! The WSP wonıt be going to the
800 MHz Trunked system for a while. Seems that the Feds dictated the change, but when
presented with the estimated cost, choked. The Trunked system would require quite a few
more towers and relays to equal the coverage that the current system has. (Thanks to
Roy Ward)
*Wayne Moddison had a triple bypass to celebrate the coming of Fall. Heıs staying with
his brother in Orting until heıs on his feet, probably home the 3rd week of October.
For Sale ------------------------------------------
* '80 2.6 Plymouth Fire Arrow, and lots of rally parts, on jack stands in my
garage. Excellent shell, stripped for welding in a cage. Apart, not a roller. $500
to any Club Rally aficionado. Everything goes. Helluva' deal! "Health forces sale!
Mike Jones (425) 823-8329
* Pair of Chrysler-type (I think they're LeBaron) bucket seats left over from
the Turismo project. Light blue. Also MoPar 2.2 Turbo aluminum valve cover. Free
locally. Roy Ward, 425-869-3836.
RASC Calendar---------------------------
* Call the NWRC Hotline (206) 256-9627 for latest info on Puget Sound TSD events.
* Oct. 13 Friday Niter by RASC FCO 7:31, Eastgate
*Oct 14 Night on Bald Mountain by ORCA Registration 4pm, FCO 5PM. $35 http://www.nwrally.com/nobm/nobm.htm
*10/28-29- Coast To Coast TSD (Vancouver Island, overnight Duncan.) http://www.rallybc.net/
Nov 18 Armageddon TSD ("monte carlo"), Bellingham. 4hours, Registration
Noon, FCO 1:01PM, Rallymasters: Lingblooms (360) 733-8897 (e-mail:
slingbloom@nas.com www.nas.com/cscc
* Nov 11/12 Totem TSD in BC Interior, part of P.C.C.
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Rainier Auto Sports Club will meet this coming Monday, October 9, 2000 , at 7:30 PM
at CoCo's in Bellevue, (520 112th Ave., between the
"NE 8" and "NE 4th" Exits of 405 on the west side of the Hwy.) We have
a meeting room set aside in the back. Monthly meetings are the second Monday of each
month. Past Members, visitors, and spectators are welcomed.
Agenda: Kirk will hold forth about the Friday Niter. Nolte will mention
Pacific Forest Rally, and the Wild West. Nominations for 2001 Officers and/or report from
the Nominating Committee. Where is Steve Willey this week? Maybe Jarvis will show off his
new car.
2000 Board Members:
President: Terry Simons- 425-806-1741; Vice-President: Jerry Hines (425) 823-6343
Secretary: Pete Shelton- 206-365-4173; Treasurer: Ed Millman (206)361-7389
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 Mark Nolte, ph. 425-226-3155. Contributions and
paid/unpaid ad eagerly received at 2108 NE 12Th. St., Renton, WA 98056 or
e-mail: mnolte@uswest.net
Rainier Auto Sports Club, P.O. Box 852, Kirkland, WA 98134
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