The Wishbone Alley Gazette
Doo Wop 3 & 4
The first rallys of the Club Rally season should be gentle, friendly
affairs. New cars, old cars with modifications, neglected cars, new team ups- all add up
to a requirement for special atmosphere. The Washington DNR came through for us and denied
use of Capitol Forest.
The politics were the subject of much discussion. "Get rid of
Jennifer Belcher" was the oft-repeated phrase. A few folks asked their State
Representatives for an explanation, and were refereed to DNR, which mentioned
"liability exposure" as one of the reasons. Weıll hear more about this.
The Thurston County ORV park isnıt open this early in the season, so
John Nispel and Ron Barker laid out some stages circuiting the whole park.
Saturdayıs rally turned out quite well, albeit with short stages. As
for gentle, the list of DNFıs and "excitement" resembled a normal rally! (But
much gentler, since the trailers and tow rigs were within yelling distance.)
It was a rainy, muddy day- but wait a few minutes, and the squalls
would pass, the umbrellas were put away.
There was a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO! The story goes that these
"built" cars can be had at reasonable prices. Apparently, there is an existing
pipeline for parts; a distinct advantage over placing orders across the ocean. (A lovely
little English Ford Escort once languished for a month waiting for a windshield, for
instance).
The Subaru forces had 4 Imprezaıs in wildly differing trim, ranging
from Richardsı car built from parts, to Paul Eklund's method (drop a WRX motor into a US
chassis, then fiddle the various parts and wiring harnessı to match.)
Working out team procedures is an important part of the learning curve.
From the grandstands we watched in horror as the hood flew up on quickest part of a stage.
The Oregon driver was smart enough not to stop in the ankle deep mud. But then both driver
and codriver burst out of the car and secured their respective hood pins! Bet they give
that job to just the codriver next time!
Sundayıs events started in the Montesano watershed. The process of
closing the roads got mixed up and some spectators got in, delaying the run. Then they
moved to the Nuke Site.
RASC scraped up workers for the 1.6 mile paved section. Kirk and Terry
Simons did the ATC by themselves. Beside clocking the rallyists in, they had to do traffic
control, since the first 700 feet of stage was shared with business traffic to a storage
facility recently opened on the newly created "business park". Nolte was
starter. Besides counting the rally cars down, the civilian traffic had to be waved
through. Pete Shelton and his brother-in-law manned the other end of the public road.
The technique is to hold the traffic until the rally car leaves, then
let civilian traffic through. Not that tough, eh? A guy with a red Typhoon was waived
through right after the rally car started- and outdragged the rallyist to that
intersection!
As we suspected, years of high school Driverıs Ed weighed heavily in
the rally driverıs minds. Watching the rallyists from Flying Finish, Dave Folker reported
that nearly half the rally cars tried mightily to stay on "their "side of the
painted pavement lines!
The STOP control got settled as Jay Kingsley tried to remember how this
was done. His only help was Joel McLaughlin, actually scribbling numbers in the logs for
the first time.
The NWR-SCCAıs new FRS handy talky radios presented new ways to mess
up, but that got worked out and we can plan to retire the hated landlines between FF and
STOP.
Most of the rallyistıs were happy just to get to drive, they liked the
paved stage.
The rally moved on to the Brooklyn Stage, which was followed by the new
"Smith Creek" stage (up and back). The major incident of the weekend had a car
into a tree, and the driver was taken to the hospital for observation, somewhat against
his will.
The final run (from Brooklyn east), was "highlighted" by John
Lane's DNF. The story we were spreading was that the navigator got "lost". The
humor here is that the navigator was Ray Damitio, who has driven that road regularly since
before most of us were born!
Joe and Navonne Waterhouse set up speakers at the midpoint
"spectatorıs location", and kept the mob (clinging to the hillsides)
entertained and informed. Crowd control wasnıt the problem it is at Portugal, mostly
because the view is much better high up on the slopes (the rear-drive cars were awarded
"style points", judging from the whoops and yelps.)
TRIVIA
Amity Trowbridge, Janice Damitio and Ray Damitio were all navigating in
separate cars at the Doo Wops. Ray said that the Celica All-Trac is sold and ready for
delivery, and heıs picked up a couple of Talons to build into a new rally car. Or maybe
heıs got more Talons than that.
Volvo report: The State Patrol has new "stealth cars". You
remember the unmarked Mustang, metallic blue with louvers over the rear window? Well, the
guys at Ravenna Volvo looked in wonder as 4 very plain looking, pastel cars rolled off the
delivery truck. The cars were quickly whisked off to Bellevue, where the blue and red
lights were mounted on the visor in front, and behind the smoked windows in the rear.
While looking like "grocery getters", typical
"full-Volvo power" resides under the hood, and the cars probably top out at 150
mph.
For Sale
Dave Folker has a "running" truck for sale- $500.
ı90 Camaro RS, blue, auto,V6, T-top, CD, alarm, $3500. Pete Shelton (206) 365-4173
Mazda Parts: RX3 &7 parts, header, wheels, headlights & Taillight assemblies,
engine part, plus complete ı82 RX7 parts car. Pete Shelton
(206) 365-4173
2000 RASC Calendar to June
Call the NEW NWRC Hotline (206) 256-9627 for latest info on Puget Sound TSD events.
*4/7 Friday Nighter, Portland
*4/ 8- The PACCAR once-a-year open house is Saturday from11am>3pm. The Technical Center
is where the engineers play with new materials and test things, often until they break.
You can also get a ride around their test track, if things add upŠ This is part of
the Skagit Valley Tulip festival. Traffic may resemble I-5 at rush hour on a Friday
afternoon.
*4/14- Friday Nighter/TS, Eastgate,
*5/5 Friday Nighter, Portland
*5/ 12- Friday Nighter /ORCA,Eastgate
*5/20 SCCA The X-Miles, Portland (Course/Tour)
*5/21 SCCA The X-Factor, Portland (Tour)
*6/2 Friday Nighter, Portland
*6/ 3-4- Coast To Coast TSD (Vancouver Island)
*6/ 9- Friday Nighter/ORCA, Eastgate
Oregon Trail Rally, April 15-16, 2000
Saturday's worker rendezvous is 11:00 am at the NAS Tillamook Air Museum, or 12:00 PM at
the Trask River Park. We will be working Œtil about 11:00 pm.
To the rendezvous points from the Tillamook Shilo Inn, event HQ:
Take Hwy 101 South, then left on Long Prairie Road (look for fighter plane on pedestal).
Follow the signs into the parking area.
12:00 Trask River Park
From the Tillamook Shilo Inn, go south on Hwy 101. Turn left on Long Prairie Road. Follow
Long Prairie Road past the Air Museum. Turn right onto Trask River Road. The park is
approximately 12 miles up Trask River Road.
Sunday's 6 am rendezvous is at the Tillamook Fred Meyer store, across the street from the
Shilo Inn, event HQ. We will be working till about 4:00 PM, then on to the awards banquet
.
Speedvision Schedule
A guy on the Scooby list got Speedvision to e-mail him their WRC broadcast schedule:
Times are Pacific. All on Mondays!
FIA World Rally Championships
5/1- 5:30 PM Monte Carlo
5/8- 5:00 PM International Swedish Rally
5/22- 5:00 PM Safari Rally
6/12- 5:00 PM Rally of Portugal
6/12- 5:30 PM Catalunya Rally
6/19- 5:00 PM Rally of Argentina
6/26- 6:30 PM Acropolis Rally
7/10- 5:00 PM Mid-Season Review
7/31- 5:00 PM Rally of New Zealand
9/4- 5:30 PM Rally Finland
10/2- 5:30 PM 555 China Rally
10/16- 6:30 PM Rally of France (Corsica)
11/6- 5:30 PM San Remo Rally
11/27- 5:00 PM Rally Australia
12/11- 6:00 PM Network Q Rally (Britain)
12/18- 5:00 PM End of Season Review
---------------------------------------
We finally have Television schedule for SCCA Pro Rally on Speedvision as follows:
Times are Pacific.
7-May 5:00 PM Sno*Drift/Oregon Trail
7-May 9:00 PM Sno*Drift/Oregon Trail
2-June 12:00 PM Sno*Drift/Oregon Trail
26-May 7:00 PM Rim of the World
27-May 11:00 PM Rim of the World
23-June 7:00 PM Susquehannock Trail
24-June 11:00 PM Susquehannock Trail
14-Aug 5:00 PM Maine Forest
14-Aug 9:00 PM Maine Forest
11-Sep 5:00 PM Ojibwe Forest
11-Sep 9:00 PM Ojibwe Forest
27-Oct 5:00 PM Wild West/Prescott Forest
27-Oct 9:00 PM Wild West/Prescott Forest
11-Nov 5:30 PM Lake Superior
12-Nov 9:30 PM Lake Superior
------------Rainier Auto Sports Club------------
will meet this coming Monday, April 10 , 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: Weıll review events coming up this year.
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
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