August, 2000 Rainier Auto Sports Club
Rally News
* The Around The World Rally: Rod /Phillis Johnson and the Lingblooms met the rally
near Banff and followed it to the border.
* The Gold Digger TSD (July 8-9) in British Columbia drew 8 entries. Fouse/Wende won.
Positions 3-8 were filled with novices.
* Edge Of the Rock- July 14/15 (9 entries), 10 stages.
1 Scott Trinder/Bob Trinder
2 Janusz Komorowski/Tomasz Karzynski
3 Ted Wilkinson /Martin Wilson
4 Zbigniew Szewczyk /Piotr Krol
5 Maciej Ogrocki/ Michael Nicols
6 Mark Ward/ Ken Kwong
7 Richard Byford /Frances Olsen
8 Paul Westwick /Bill Westhead
9 Kyle Miller /Todd Patola
* Wild West, Sept 15-16 by John Nispel
Friday's stages will start at 6 PM; three roads run twice; a new short stage north of
the Shelton-Matlock road just west of 101, Dayton and Taylor Town stages have been
requested.
Saturday: Two stages north of Shelton-Matlock road, the long stage we ran in the last
rally and a stage starting at the Spider lake gate and finishing at the Beeville gate just
North of Matlock (RASCıs stage - 2-3 RMs).
Then the rally will move to stages similar to previous years, a stage north of Kennedy
creek going west to the ORV Park, a stage in the park and a stage.
We've asked for permits, but we don't have permission yet.
Backround
* Politics: The WAG has always (?) stayed away from politics, since there are other
venues for that blather and not enough for rally-related stuff.
That changed when Jennifer Belcher closed the forests to the rallyists. The SCCA-NWR
recognized this early on and adopted a highway cleanup to promote the sport (Imagine that-
pick up gum wrappers and promote rally!).
The WAG hereby solicits info/articles that will promote our sport- including info on
the candidates for Forest Commissioner.
Please submit your opinions and/or information to the WAG via the addresses listed at
the end of the WAG. (Iıll try to handle this tactfully. For instance, Mike Lowry hasnıt
entered the race to make himself more popular, so why is he running?- MN)
* Highlights: Rallygroup meeting July 13 (condensed by ed.)
In attendance: John Nispel, Janell Mullins, Joe & Navonne Waterhouse, John
Forespring, & Gail McDonald, Charlie Malony, Frank Hamilton, Janice Damitio, Ben
Bradley, Rich Olmstead & Lynn Needham.
Old Business: Shitepoke/Dryad Quest report: Everyone liked the roads, average speed for
the 20 mile stage was 75 mph, Sunday weather was rotten, but overall everyone seemed to
have a good time, and from Janice "everything was great". Janice asked about
addresses for sponsors. We will add them to the route book for the National Rally.
Charlie is going to investigate the cost, etc of getting magnetic signs (SWEEP &
EMT) for official vehicles. He will report at next meeting. (He) has been going through
the trauma kits and they need to be updated and will give us a list with prices at the
next meeting.
Highway Clean up - July 9th. 13 people attended. John Forespring thought it would be a
good idea to give each person a $25 credit with a maximum of $50 per team. The attendees
included: Janice Damitio and her son Warren, Sean Tennis, Amity Trowbridge, Nate Tennis,
Nat T-Stow, Alan & Carey Wright, Don Swier, Andy & Julie Sharples, John
Forespring, & Lynn Needham.
Rally Cafe - We will be cooking in Bremerton on July 29/30. There was much discussion
on the logistics for the weekend.
New Business: ORV Rally School /Sprint - August 4/5/6. We will be doing a national
license school on Friday. Rally Sprints on Saturday & Sunday. Third Quarter Region
membership meeting will be Saturday night. We need door prizes. Matt Sweeney will be
making the first overall trophies for Saturday and Sunday.
Kevin Pennington has requested he be moved up to Class 1 for the remainder of the year.
Rich Olmstead moved we honor his request. John Forespring modified Rich's motion to have
Kevin's class 1 standing retroactive to the first of the year. It was voted on and passed.
Wild West - Sept 15/16. Phoenix Inn downtown Olympia. $79 double bed rooms. Tech will
be at Corvette & High Performance on Black Lake Blvd. Welcome party will be Thursday
night at the Doo-Wop Diner. We'll know about the St Martin's stage next week. (No go-ed.)
Auto Glass Pro will sponsor the welcome party. Public stage will be at the ORV Park. More
discussion followed. We still need to work on the banquet for Saturday night.
There is a tentative date of October 10th for a Reno rally.
Rich Olmstead - Oregon is doing a feasibility study to see if December 2 is a good date
for a rally
Oregon had a rally cross last weekend with 90+ cars. They rented their own water truck.
That worked out well.
Meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.
* Highlights of the July RASC meeting (condensed from Pete Sheltonıs notes- ed.)
Treasurers report (from Terry) had only a guesstimate of $1499.00 with a possible
$250-300.00 insurance bill still out.
4 guests appeared at meeting (hopefully new members) and were introduced.
The club explained who and what we do...no one could explain why...
OLD BIZ
No Alibi was a success from everyone who we talked to...Special thanks goes out to Kirk
for taking over Rallymaster.Kirk said he would do it again next year. It appears we made
money on event although exact numbers not available yet.
NEW BIZ
President Terry said there was a possibility of Rainier getting back into Solo cookouts
again.
Rainier is being asked to help with road clean-up on the Regionsı sponsored road
section... dates are July 9th and August 20th
The club inquired to whether Mark would possibly do Raindrop Rally next year..I believe
he said no but hopefully
Friday Niter ..October...no work started yet Kirk is looking for a route and help.
TRIVIA
* New cars: Kirk and Terry traded the Wrangler in for a Grand Cherokee.
Revealing his NASCAR fandom, Jarvis Owens has a Dodge Intrepid. The van was totaled, in
Tacoma, by a fender bender accident.
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
8 ı68 AH Sprite, 1275, roller. Race parts multiplying, must make room. Ed Millman,
(206) 361-7389
RASC Calendar
* Call the NWRC Hotline (206) 256-9627 for latest info on Puget Sound TSD events.
Coast to Coast moved to October- the woods are closed due to fire danger.
* 8/11 Friday Niter, Eastgate FCO 7:31
* 8/12-13 The Road Not Taken, SCCA Natıl Touring rally, Western Oregon. (503)662-3417 http://twistyroads.net/trnt.html
* 9/8 Friday Niter Eastgate, FCO 7:31
* 9/15 Pacific Forest stage rally, Cache Creek, B.C.
* 9/15-16 Wild West SCCA ProRally , Shelton (Call Nolte if you want to work a stage or
two)
* Sept. 23/24 Totem TSD, B.C.
* Sept. 30/Oct 1. Midnight Rally,
* Oct. 13 Friday Niter by RASC FCO 7:31, Eastgate
* 10/28-29- Coast To Coast TSD (Vancouver Island)
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The Lingblooms meet the Around the World Rally- (excerpt from the July "Howling
Transmissions")
They had left Banff that morning where it had been sunny and warm, and here they were,
in the snow and the cold, still wearing their shorts and sandals. This was especially
brutal for the team in the Lagonda who had their fabric top in place but who had no side
curtains or windows. Burrr.
The next few days found us driving an odd selection of roads doing timing and passage
controls. One road in particular will be forever etched in my memory. We had been
travelling on a secondary county road and turned off onto a gravel road. The first few
miles were a delight; wide and smooth, gentle elevation changes, and broad, sweeping
turns. We were able to drive the van in the 60+ mph range quite easily. The fun and games
eventually ended, and what had been a romp through pastoral pasture land turned into a
wallow on a very narrow, deeply-rutted, cattle-strewn, dirt and mud cow trail. Pleasure
turned to pain.
The competitors were on a schedule which would see them trying to average about 50 mph
through this section. When we arrived at our control location, the control coordinator for
the North American leg of the rally and another control crew from Seattle, our rally
friends Rod and Phyllis Johnson, were there waiting for us. Within a few minutes the rally
cars began to arrive. By and large, the competitors seemed quite at ease with what they
had just driven through. Comments ranged from, "You should have seen the roads in
China," to "We are glad that's over!" There were problems to come however.
One must remember that these were older cars and that, while the level of
"competitiveness" varied from car to car, most of the rallyists wanted to do
well on these timed sections. Reports began to arrive that a car had rolled over. It was
the team from the Netherlands driving the 1955 XK-140 Jaguar. Then came word that the
French team in the '64 Mercedes 230SL Lagonda had rolled as well. And one of the Healey
3000ıs had gone off the road and become high-centered. Yes, folks, these were not trailer
queens by any stretch of the imagination.!
By that day's end, all of the cars had found the finish hotel and were being attended
to by their crews. The victims of the rollovers were doing just fine, albeit a little
tender around the edges. The next morning, the Jag was awaiting suspension parts, but the
Merc was merrily motoring along with the only obvious damage in the area of the
windshield. The temporary replacement was a unit from a Subaru. It stood about eight
inches higher than the roof of the car and was held in place with duct tape. There was the
usual tongue-in-cheek talk of protesting the new "aero aids" but the crew took
it all in stride.- Ken Lingbloom
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Rainier Auto Sports Club will meet this coming Monday, August 14, 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: Wringing our hands over the busy September schedule. Kirk will explain the fine
points of taking a new car on a Friday Niter(and doing so well heıs now in Masterıs
Class!) Steve Richards will report The Road Not Taken rally. Jarvis may show off his new
toy. Plans for Wild West.
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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