|
The Wishbone Alley Gazette
May, 1998 Rainier Auto Sports Club
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rally News
• Wild West: The PRO-Rally Circus came to town, and combined with two
Divisional rallys, saw nearly 50 entrants. Kirk Simons/ Pete Shelton finished.
Friday nite saw the organizers scrambling for workers (expected) and a lot of
DNF's (somewhat expected).
A notable story had John Forespring as fast sweep in the "Fat Ford" Mustang.
The Jake Dekovic/Katie Callahan/Mazda 323GTX went off the road between the
yellow and red Finish signs of the Taylor Town stage! Attempting to jerk the
car back on the road, the tow loop broke off the Mazda, smashing the rear
window of the Mustang. The 323 stayed there until after the rally.
Taking good care of the rallyists, Bob Grass came by and transported the
teams back to service. (Beats staying in the woods with checkpoint crews.)
Then he ferried them back out to watch Kevin Needham "jeep tow" the cars back
onto the road.
The big story on Friday night was the burning of the Doug Schrenk/Rob Walden
Saab 900. The fire wouldn't stay out, and eventually everything flammable
burned. Wheels melted, blued transmission, etc.
RASC was handed Saturday's "Beeville/RXR" stage, the longest at 17 miles.
Gretchen Jones spent hours on the phone enlisting help, then ended up working
ATC all by herself (I was there, but, you know....) Mike Jones is barely
getting his voice back, can walk Ok with a cane. So he was appointed to
Start/count down the cars on this wild stage! Cathy Haggerty kept the log, as
we all waited for Mike's voice to go ... but he lasted!
The stage needed a lot of road marshals. Angus Proud had the first station, 3
miles in. He's worked that road 3 times now, and never with any traffic to
worry about. Dave Folker had possibly (my opinion) best spot, watching the
rallyists slither 90 left, then acute right. Ginger Clark was one of the few
to actually have somebody show up at her station, but without trauma. Well,
how well can a lady block a road with a Miata?
Carl Hillman blocked a sideroad on a straightaway, the one with active
logging. Jay Kingsley was at the famous California Road corner, where the
rallyists had to slow waaaay down from "freeway" to tight, loose stage road. A
scant quarter mile away, Ed Millman reconsidered his position as one car, then
another, blew the 90 right and tore down the bannerguard "protecting" his
Saab. Gregg Hightower marked his Mitsu at his sideroad, then wandered down to
the next good corner and kept Ed company.
Jarvis Owens wrote of his station: "Thanks for the excellent stage location.
Haven't had such a good time in several events. Even Alison had a good time.
On the first stage car 74, (Noah Third/Jason Lane from Canada) high centered
on our curve. We scrambled to warn oncoming cars and kept trying to get them
extracted from the ditch; sweep finally had to pull them off of the stump.
Then, on the second running, Janice Damito high centered on the outside of the
same curve, with Alison trying to slow the oncoming traffic, I was able to
help them get the car back on the road. What really got the Adrenalin pumping
was the fact most competitors were pumping 9/10ths effort into this curve and
were using the whole road, so with the back of her sticking into the road we
had to get every one slowed down enough to have full control. Alison said
that was the first rally that wasn't boring for her. "
Then the stage got back on the mainline, with Rod Chelgren blocking one end
and John Christiansen at the other. Although the chances of side traffic were
slight, the consequences of an ittsy bitsy mistake justified their being
there. Paul Taylor (KC7LA), was at the actual end of the straight, where the
rallyists did a tricky acute right. Ron Barker showed up here with a radar
gun. The winning Choiniere Tiburon did 97, with the Buffum Hyundai Elantra
clocking 105. At 75, the Kosmides Toyota Supra must've been having a slow day.
Fastest? At 110, the Brasil/Bradley Audi S2 went fastest.
The Simons/Shelton Dodge Omni GLH Turbo was typical at 87. Sweep was doing
57. Kirk and Pete finished second in class 2 on both days, 9th overall for the
Divisional weekend.
The railroad crossing became exciting when the second car on the road broke
one of the "bed boards", between the tracks. The Merrill Escort went over the
loose but heavy timber, which disabled a differential for the rest of the day.
Other crews told of looking in horror at the 10x10 end on, and praying for
ground clearance....
Ron Barker went in, between the stages, and pounded 18" spikes to hold the
old wood in place for the second running.
An eager newcomer, Roy Mackey, was stationed beyond the tracks, so he only
heard the loud noise(s). He didn't have anybody appear out of the woods at his
corner, either, but heard motorcycles at one point.
Tom Palidar supplied a complete Finish crew- Vasco DePinna, Brian Palidar.
Carl & Ellen Graff (N7JBG & N7JBF) were the finish ham(s). This was Tom's
first appointment as an "official". I didn't stick around to hear him say that
it wasn't any different- he'd been doing the same thing, with me getting the
"title", for months! - Nolte
•Raindrop Rally turned out very well, with 32 entrants of varying skills. The
123 miles took just 4 1/2 hours, so our checkpoint crews never got bored. We
scored 12 controls in just 59 miles of TSD sections.
The weather cooperated gloriously, and the convertibles were in "summer
mode". The whole idea was a nice drive, which it was, as near as the
rallymaster can tell. Reviewing the critiques reveals enough contradictions
that I guess it turned out as intended. (Of course the speeds were too slow!
They always are! )
The nine novices mostly suffered from the lack of help- gotta work on that
aspect.
There were a few glitches. The package containing car numbers arrived with no
"1" 's, so we started with 20. Taking pictures of the cars, for the trophies,
was a good idea (Thank you, Terry Simons!) I should have planned (somehow) to
take pictures in the TSD sections, rather than during the Odo check, when the
cars bunched up.
New roads are always popular with the "old timers"; stopping for a look at
the abandoned WPPSS power plant is regarded as the highlight. The 40 story
tall cooling towers are awesome.
Checkpoint workers found Rod Chelgren taking pictures, then manning two
controls. Jarvis Owens covered two, also. Pete Shelton showed up with his big
Chevy and Amy's brother. The Jone's took pictures, did tech, and got to two
checkpoints. The Breazeales took fine pictures in the odo check, and managed
to get to two checkpoints, besides doing the vital work of pre-checking the
week prior. Our sweep team, Kirk and Terry Simons, covered the first CP, then
picked up the scoresheets. Terry typed these into her laptop on the road
(including the names of the rallyists), such that scoring all those CP's was
nearly complete by time they got to Izzy's Pizza. A balky printer slowed down
presentation of the scores.
•Saturday Niter- RASC has the August Saturday Niter (August 15). As
rallymaster-designate, Nolte decided to recycle an old route. While we're at
it, let's recycle some old trophy plaques. The dash plaques we've accumulated
over the years need a better home, if we can figure out how to recycle those.
If we can attract some recycled cars and rallyists, maybe we can make some
money...
•Evergreen State 1000- Roy was well enough to deliver 40 miles of new route
that he considers "exciting". The Start/Finish will definitely be in the
Wenatchee area, and overnight in Omak.
The Pacific Coast Challenge series either fizzled or became a "performance
TSD" series. Wrangling over how to award series points and finances seem to be
the problem. Our rally was dismissed as too tame! ES1000 won't be part of any
series. There is a "buzz" to put together some sort of SCCA Divisional-level
series in 1999.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club News
•Dave Folker is finding a filing cabinet to keep all the RASC "stuff" in.
Terry Simons has looked through the boxes and boxes of paper, but a proper
filing system will speed sorting of the "stuff". •The club owns 6 reflectorized checkpoint signs, maybe its time to buy two
"real" checkpoint clocks, at $170 each.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trivia
• Chatted with John Nagel at Wild West. He's working on putting together deals
to revive the Olympus. One thing we don't consider is how much prize money
the "big" rallys pay; not much. By offering real award money, Nagel may just
attract some serious entries. No more mention of Microsoft. •SOVREN has bought into a timing system for its races that uses radio
transmitters. The in-car transponders run about $190, or $160 for a portable
9volt unit. No mention of the control unit/computer price. The benefit, of
course, is 1) uses fewer people in timing/scoring, and 2) the results are
computer generated as fast as the printer can print.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Sale
•For Sale: Mazda 12A header, plus RX3 parts. Must make room for RX7 parts Pete
Shelton (206)365-4173
•100 watt siren driver/amplifier. You'd need an adequate speaker...but never
be ignored Roy Ward, 425-869-3836
* '68 Sprite. One project too many. Big Healey needs attention. $3000, Ed
Millman 206-361-7389
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1998 RASC Calender
•Call the NWRC Hotline at (425)277-4351) for latest info on Puget Sound TSD
events.
•Saturday Niters are the second Saturday of each month, Start is at the
Eastgate Park and Ride.
•For most B.C. events, see Dennis' Wendes' Web page at:
http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/dwende/
May 8 Rim of the World PRO-Rally
May 24 "Quicklift Forklift Novice Rally" Reg 9:30am, FCO 11:31;abt 4 hrs.
long. Start:Knight & Day Restaurant in Coquitlam , B.C. (108 - 2635 Barnet
Hwy.).
June 6 Oregon Trail, Div PRO-Rally
June 5-7 Susquehannock PRO-Rally
June 12-13 Edge of the Rock stage rally, (Vancouver Island). If all goes to
plan, Edge will be observed this year with the intention of being included in
the CARS National Performance Rally Championship.
The rally needs workers. Tony Latham is the mainland contact, e-mail:
dlatham@d.... Or at 604-263-1971 in Vancouver.
The worker contact on Vancouver Island is Roy Lima. E-mail him at:
rflima@p...
June 20 "Some're Solstice" TSD by ORCA, $25, Eastgate Park & Ride. Reg
10am, FCO 11:01, appx 5 hrs. "This rally features through route determinants
that change approximately once a leg." Debbie Sjodin, RM 425-776-2249
(dsjodin@w...)
June 20 Reno Div-PRO
June 27-28 Summer Rally, Vanc. Island. Reg: Moxie's Restaurant in Nanaimo.
Features overnight stop in Port Alberni.
July 11-12 "Gold Digger"; All nighter. Registration is at Boston Pizza in
Whistler BC at 11 p.m. Martin Wilson , RM, (504)683-6517
Jul 18 Mountains to the East (Ore)(Levear)
Aug 1-2 ORV Rallysprints, Elma
Aug 1-2 Maine Forest PRO
Aug 8-9 Road Not Taken, OR
Aug 15 SatNiter by RASC
Aug 16 Rally at PIR (OR)
Aug 28-30 Ojibwe PRO-Rally
Aug29-Sept 5 Alcan 5000 Rally
Sept 12-13 POR- Mich.
Sept 19-20 Evergreen State 1000 TSD
Oct 2-4 Prescott Forest PRO-Rally (AZ)
Oct 3 "Nite on Bald Mountain" touring TSD by ORCA. Sunset 'til midnite or
so. Gregg Hightower, RM, 425-226-4936. Mostly gravel
Oct 17-18 "Totem Rally" (TSD) , BC
•Alcan 5000 news: Course survey will be conducted the week starting May 23,
so this is also the last call for "favorite destinations" to include ! We
also have a surprise factory entry in the works from a previous Alcan winner,
more on that when it's firm!
jhines@e...
http://www.eskimo.com/~jhines/
Jerry Hines, Kirkland, WA(425)823-6343 / 6307 fax
Alcan 5000 related: <www.dodgeadventurer.com> and <www.jeepdestinations.com>
##################
|
