Rainier Auto Sports Club
August 1999
The Wishbone
Alley Gazette
Minutes of the July Meeting - Reported by Mark Nolte, Secretary.
Called to Order by Kirk Simons at 7:36 PM. President Vince Plancich
was excused. The Minutes of the June meeting as printed in the June WAG
were approved, after a clarification of the "Alcan" name was presented
by Jerry Hines. The Secretary acknowledged the error. The Secretary also
asked if anyone recalled discussion of RASC doing another "hamburger stand"
at the July Solo. This had indeed been discussed, but never made it into
the Secretary's notes. Treasury- Kirk said it was the same as June. The
new "RASC Banner" was displayed by the Jones', with accompanying oohs and
ahs by the crowd of 8 looking on.We then congratulated Gretchen Jones on
her 50th birthday.
Old Business-
Wild West report by Nolte. Also mention of radar trap speeds. Other
members recounted their experiences.Oregon Trail report by Nolte. Mention
of civilian on the course, HAM radio troubles, and the Murker showed up
on Sunday for a short while. Friday Niter- Kirk had it handled. We had
enough people such that the Shelton's could leave for another activity.
Dave Folker worked his first Friday Niter, along with Joel Wright and Kirk
Simons. The rally had about 17 cars. ORCA and Torque Steerers provided
workers for 5 controls. John and Derris Humphrey were rallymasters. The
vintage races at SIR on the 4th of July were well attended, with comments
about the various fields and mention of Ed Millman's clean races.
New Business-
Pete Shelton showed the preliminary artwork for RASC Tee shirts, to
the acclaim of most of the members present. Carl Hillman did the design.
Discussion of bids and estimates, with 2 shops mentioned. Jerry reported
recent conversations with his/our attorney. RASC has to renew our legal
name and the Alcan Rally will be handled at the same time. Pete Shelton
shared a newspaper clipping. He, Mark and Carl Hillman went go-cart racing,
then were interviewed by a reporter. The article was from "Times Weekend"
dated June 11, 1999. Friday Niter- Kirk has selected the roads, now needs
to find traps and loops and write the route. No Alibi Rally- Roy
reported that Grant County has 50 M.P.H. limit, unless otherwise posted.
The rally route is just about done and the checkpoint locations are under
development. Roy wondered if RASC would want to lend
its name to a group of enthusiasts in Wenatchee. There is apparently some
interest there. Nolte mumbled something about selling franchises.!
The previously announced date, the first weekend
in November, conflicts with the only available date for an SCCA-NWR Club
Rally. Roy checked with the Airway Heights "Super 8" motel to see if the
Alibi date was movable, and they didn't see any problem. Roy will announce
the new date after negotiations with John Nispel, representing the SCCA,
are concluded.
The August meeting will be a Bar-b-Que., hosted by Jerry and Colleen
Hines at their Kirkland home. The date is still August 22nd, time from
1 until 6pm.This is combined with a "Pre-Alcan" Party. (see Flyer to directions)
Alcan Rally report- Jerry reported a few in, a few out. Still 35 potential
entrants. Rod Hall is working on putting together a Hummer deal.
Meeting adjourned at 9:05pm.
Wild West Report -
It was a wonderful Saturday. Why? Yet another experience
of meeting deadlines at precisely the right instant. It's so nice to see
that it can be done. Of course, having a few minutes slack time would be
a pleasure....
Actually, I didn't have fun. A week spent waiting for
"the other shoe to drop" and waiting for something to hit the fan takes
the fun out of it. Being that close to trouble is uncomfortable. The weeks
spent assembling a team make for many pleasant conversations. When the
goal is to populate 23 positions, I can understand the telemarketer's situation-
a lot of calls, few results.
Then there was the schedule. I'll never "meet" at
7:30. It's too early. I had to get up before the sun, and Tom Palidar
mentioned 3:30am....
As it was, John Nispel told some people to meet
me, without mentioning their appearance. It's always delightful to see
Carolyn Barker again, then try not to ogle at the daughter-who-grew-up
(Kim brought her two kids- Cody and Tanner, for a "rally " experience).
Nispel also sent a dirtbike rider to help, but I didn't know what he could
neither do- nor what to do with him. As it was, he wandered around until
Paul Appel snagged him.
Duane and Carol Lewallen saw Vince at a store and
asked if they could help (Soccer season is over). They brought the
kids and the mountain bikes. It was amusing to watch the rally cars
hesitate at the 90-right turn. A few teams even headed for the banner
guard! Being good workers, they stayed in place waiting for sweep to arrive.
It never got there.
Joel Wright is out of school for a while. He got
to see a great 90-left, as well as see some old friends who wandered down
from the service area. I suspect this is where Ron Barker got out
the radar gun and clocked some of the rally cars at 80+.
Paul and Peggy Appel were deep in the route, doing
both HAM duties and scaring off civilians. I don't know what they did with
the motorcyclist they snagged. Also from Wenatchee- Sal Spagnole thoroughly
blocked the 1600 road with his large pickup truck, just down the stage
from where the California road meets the mainline. He brought his personal
radar gun, and caught the rallyists at 65-70 mph.
I asked Jarvis Owens how "his" spot went, and he
replied "the dog got a good rest". I guess it was dull- but with that dog,
you never know. I didn't see Angus Proud's dog, although I sometime
wonder if the dog has more fun than Angus does. Angus NEVER frolics in
the woods like his dog does...
Last time Sue Calvert joined us, she brought along
two young men who were enthusiastic about "race cars". I assumed the same,
and when Sue showed up all-alone in a Miata, I didn't have time to change
the plan. I'm afraid she drove most of the stage with that lil' car,
then set of shop on the California Road. She "caught" the Rabbit
doing its end/barrel roll/land-on-the-stump. It was chilling to be
all alone and watch that happen. Fortunately, the guys got out of the car,
shaken & stirred, but OK.
Mark and Carl Hillman watched a Celica take a rather
odd line at the bridge, late in the stage. The mistreated car shed much
of its right rear suspension. They called it in on the radio and
the support crew eventually Showed up. The team generator wasn't
up to the draw their welder put on it, even with Mark holding his thumb
on the circuit breaker. The car couldn't be dragged onto the trailer
until the wheel was attached. Well, Mark's a very creative guy, and
with a bit of "design"help, they used a hose clamp to locate the rear pieces
enough to get it on the trailer.
Kirk and Terry Simons got to "guard" the Spectator
corner. I asked if it went well, and they had a great time- met a lot of
old friend. Terry had to be at work at 2:30, but decided this was
more fun, and was a few minutes late.
Gretchen Jones ran ATC all by herself, with me watching
and generally getting in the way. Although she's been doing this for decades,
she didn't correct the Stage Captain (ah hem) when we waved cars into the
control early , and wrote the actual arrival time (=penalty's!) rather
than the IN time they were supposed to get. Something about a mental block
against starting cars minutes before they arrived! The scoring crew figured
it out and fixed the scores. The rallyists seemed to appreciate being allowed
to "rally" rather than fall asleep waiting for their IN time to come up...
Steve Richards and Mike Jones ran the Start.
These fellas were not the "perfect fit" for this particular job, since
Steve's knees are aging faster than the rest of his body, and Mike Jones
is still recovering from his surgery. Steve got to park his car close
by, where it was recognized as a "classic". (Steve giggled and replied
that it wasn't for sale.)
Roy Ward specified that he not get out of his car
since his back problem flares up if he's not careful. He parked across
the Mainline at the Far West. I think he, Paul Appel, and Sal set
up their own little "net" on their radios and "graded" the drivers as they
passed the widely dispersed locations. The other end of the stage had its
excitement from the get-go. It seems that the gravel pit, a mile from the
end, was operational and working on this particular Saturday. The
only choice was to pull the Finish up a mile. This put Tom Palidar
and his crew in a tizzy- for only a moment. Tom parked at a wide spot,
then handed the reel of wire to Mike Workman, who unreeled it up the road
until he reached the end? After a moment's discussion with Vasco dePinna,
then with Mike Hoffman, who then asked Brian Palidar...they decided the
end of the wire was a good place for the Flying Finish. By time Nispel
arrived to pass final judgment, it was all set up! I don't know how
Tom assigns the tasks (short straw has to make sandwiches?), he does get
the job done.
There's a cluster of roads at the west end of the
stage that I'm never quite sure of. It would take half a day to chase down
all those roads, so we populate it with road guards. Dave Folker
came down on Friday night, so he was one of the few who got enough sleep.
Mark Wilkie and Tracy Lubaski had a VW Van, and Mark works evenings, but
they didn't catch any sleep.
When it was all over, we dribbled out of the woods
and slunk home, looking for sleep. I learned later that we were invited
to the post event activities /food held at the Moose Lodge somewhere in
Shelton.
Oregon Trails Report - by Mark Nolte
A week after the rescheduled Wild West, Oregon put on their first two-day
rally. As a very tired organizer remarked very late on Saturday night,
"this is a lot of work". John Nispel arranged for the temporary migration
of 2 (two!) trailer-loads of NWR equipment to Oregon, where there seem
to be lots of lovely roads.
From a worker's standpoint, it went fairly well.
The schedule got muddled when the dust prompted two-minute spacing. Of
course, the big question was whether there were enough workers to support
the effort- and the combination of eager Oregonians and a lot of a Washingtonians
covered that problem. Since it was also "Field Day" for the Hams, there
might have been a shortage, but things got covered. There were two incidents
of note: a rally car went into a tree badly, and the experts decided to
transport the driver to a hospital. He was OK, but stayed overnight just
to make sure. This required an airlift, with all the hoopla of closing
down roads for the helicopter and all.
The other was our worst fear- two cars started the
stage and the mid-point Ham announces that a "pickup truck just went by,
against rally traffic". Organizers suddenly appeared on site, and sweep
went into the stage to find the wanderer. Then road guards were recruited
from among the spectators and all the side roads got covered. After the
stage was run, the guy was found down a side road. He had encountered the
first rallyist, who stopped and yelled at the guy enough to scare him back
into the woods!
The last stage ran as close to the St. Helens finish
as possible, closing down a farmland road with the support of the folks
living along the gorgeous, smooth stage. All the drivers, and even most
of the navigators were wide-eyed and giggly-happy after running it.
The big excitement was when the midpoint HAM reported "PICKUP
TRUCK ON THE COURSE!" after we'd sent the first 2 cars out.
Editor/Publisher Questions:
Question 1:
At our last meeting we had a discussion on what would it take to get
more people involved in joining Rainier Auto Sports Club; either by attending
meetings, helping organize an event, or working.
What would it take to get your involved? No responses, do
this mean no one cares. I care, How are you?
Question 2:
Do you like the new look of the WAG? Since I received no response
to this question, I would say that everyone is HAPPY with the new
look.
Is their anything new and/or old that you would like to see added?
Again since I had no responses to this question, I would suggest that we
cut the size of the newsletter down. I will be removing the NWR Region
News, and NWRC information.
Trivia
* New wheels: John Nispel donated the very tired, old Datsun Pickup
to charity. Still worth something, apparently. The replacement is a 1994
Nissan diesel Pickup. White, just like the last one started out. Kevin
Needham showed up at the Club Rally's in a red Toyota pickup. It looks
awfully good for 223,000 miles.
* "The Road Not Taken" TSD rally in Oregon is canceled for 1999. An
organizer "got unemployed", plus some road use issues.
*Nolte gets home from California and is waiting for the driver to take
him to the car park. What are the odds of meeting Sam Bryan? Just in from
England, he was over for a visit. (Kirk Simons announced that Sam Bryan
was visiting from England. Sam told Kirk that he was involved with
club-level rallying in the UK.)
*The August issue of "Sport Compact Car" magazine had a few interesting
articles. The one about turbocharging a Subaru 2.5RS may not be of wide
interest. The writers did do two articles involving dynamometers. If I
read it right, the car is placed on rollers, run up to a certain speed,
and then a load is put on the rollers- enough to stall the engine. The
"load" translates into power. Since the Acura they were testing smoked
its tires, the test was unreliable! And the "readout" was a "needle" gauge
somewhat hard to read. They took their cars to another, brand-new dyno
with digital readouts and got better numbers. I conclude that the typical
dyno test is only reliable as a comparison, not for empirical numbers.
(And testing the Subaru worked very well that way, with the editors still
only providing a guess of 210hp for their mult-thousand dollar custom project.)
* Another tidbit leaped at me, but maybe you already knew it. Mazda
decided to measure the capacity of their rotary engines based on the volume
of one of the three chambers. So the 13B engine, which I assumed was 1.3
liters, would equate to 2.6 liters.
* Is Maryhill on? Vince was told "no", but the latest newsletter from
SOVREN, dated July 12, says Bob Bush is working on it, for the October
2/3 weekend. Last time I was there, Goldendale had 2 motels, one with 28
and the other with 32 rooms. The Dalles, in Oregon, has more.
Northwest Region Rally Committee Minutes Highlights
Nothing to Report
For Sale: 1991 Dodge Caravan ES, all white. ex-Mark Qvale. $4500
For Sale: 1984 Ford F250 3/4 ton extended cab. Recent engine-out rebuild.
102K miles. $4000
For Sale: Mike Jones- Gallant VR4, 25K miles, $12,500 firm. Offered
by Mike Jones
Please forward any items for sale to Terry Simons, e-mail: tjs9820@gte.net.
or call 425-806-1741
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.
-
Single Membership $17.00
-
Family Membership $20.00
-
WAG Subscription $10.00
RAINIER AUTO SPORTS CLUB monthly meetings are held on the second Monday
of each month. Past Members, visitors and spectators are welcome.
1999 Board Members: President: Vince Plancich; Vice President: Kirk
Simons; Secretary: Mark Nolte; Treasurer: Terry Simons; Historian: Mike
Jones; Board Members at Large: Pete Shelton and Jerry Hines
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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