A new temporary gig

Well, Heath's motor is not feeling well, so we're opting out of NEFR. Somehow he thinks we "scuffed" pistons at STPR. Not sure how that happens, but it certainly acted like it. Over heated, slumped quickly in power and finally expired.

Anyway, that aside for the time being and hoping it's all OK by Ojibwe, I got a call from Andrew Havas to see if I'd consider breaking a newbie, Eric Hansen. Eric, it seems has purchased Brian Goss's venerable Neon (I'm told 23 events and 21 finishes. No mechanical dnf's. Pretty impressive record!!). The Havas shop is upgrading the cage in this car (along with jumping in and helping rebuild one unfortunate MR2 from STPR AND crewing the Wilburn PGT effort) and tweaking some other stuff. A deal was struck and I'll be at NEFR in a P Neon and getting yet another youngster addicted to this sport.

Eric has rallycrossed and knows the physical dynamics of throwing a car around, and we'll be able to use notes since I have enough experience as a co-driver to qualify for that. So we will get the notes and run recce and start to understand how to communicate. This will be a great exercise for both of us. Eric, because he's never done this before and won't know what to expect. And me, because I'll be looking for confidence and maturity in a person who's been let loose on a road with no rules! Havas has me expecting to be pleased!!!!

I thoroughly enjoy the role of bringing new drivers up to speed. This is a game where often, then role of the co-driver with a new driver is underestimated. In many cultures, fathers take their sons to professional prostitutes so they can experience a quality "first experience". While many teams progress well from roommates to building a car to rallying together, most discover the rallying experience lacking. Not so when the newbie finds a veteran to "break him (or her) in." There will never be another "first time" and I intend for this on to be a memorable experience for Eric and one that snags his ass in this sport for a lifetime!

What's Big Brown and Nunnemonster RallySport got in common?

When Big Brown got out of the gate at the Belmont Stakes last weekend, the crowd was hoping for the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

When the Nunnemonster team set off on the stages at STPR last weekend to avenge their “issues” at 100AW, the team was hoping for some real good seat time, flashes of brilliance (from both sides of the car) and even a possible PGT podium since Stephan Verdier was not in attendance.

Thursday recce went well and Heath and I got a lot of good data into the notes for us to use. We were introduced to the new stage at STPR, Waste Management I (and it’s turn around evil twin, Waste Management II). For 9+ miles this stage has everything. Some of the tightest twistiest roughest stuff since Echo Lake on LSPR (picture first gear RallyCross stuff) high speed smooth stuff (rev limiter in 5^th), high speed rutted stuff (throwing your car every which way), jumps (which we chose not to jump and for good reason….cars dnf’d on these jumps!).

Thursday night we took the 686 car out to the shakedown stage and discovered we had a nicely running normally aspirated rally car. For some reason the turbo decided to take a holiday. Back in town we consulted a few local Subie geniuses and got the whole thing worked out. We would start with plenty of boost.

On Friday morning, while we were set up in the service area at the Fairgrounds, Heidi Niday (JB’s wife and a steward at this event) approached me to see if I knew of any co-drivers available. Seems Don Conley’s Co-driver flunked a breathalyzer test at the Novice School and they threw him out. Well now….It also seems that Heath’s Mom has about 8 or 9 “notes” events under her belt, so the hookup was made. Oh….a true co-driver, Heidi (Nunnemacher, not Niday) showed up with helmet and suit so she was ready to go!!! I LOVE IT when things fall into place!

Our pass on Waste Management I was less than stellar, but we were one of a very few cars not changing a tire in the turnaround. We discussed why the relatively slow time and decided we had not attacked the slow stuff hard enough. In 15 mph competitive sections, 18 mph is a 20% increase…or 12 seconds per mile….so we had to take the slow stuff more seriously. It’s a math/co-driver thing, but it’s real. Getting an extra mile per hour at 15 MPH is much more critical than getting it at 115 MPH. On Waste Management II (WM I in reverse) we turned a very respectable time and boosted our finishing position 10 slots. Felt good.

Then on to the Fairgrounds and the Subaru Spectator Stage. This was actually kinda fun. A walk through revealed the surface (which was on land fill) was strewn with all kinds of metal chards, but they never seemed to cause a problem. The rally ended up running this twice and I only remember seeing one flat. We actually turned the fastest PGT time on this stage. Unfortunately the Conley/Nunnemacher car discovered some weak linkage issues with their G2 VW and dnf’d the stage, but the rules allowed for that and they were only penalized 1:00 and allowed to restart the next morning.

So home to bed and up for the Parc Exposé on the square in Wellsboro the next AM.

There was a little excitement as Crew Chief Chris Lowe was forced into the Parc Exposé by an official before we had an opportunity to refuel. So a quick chat with steward Steve Gingras got us the opportunity to fuel on the way out of town at Crew member John King’s abandoned gas station…worked out well. But having killed 5-6 minutes refueling, we had to scoot to get to the next stage, the iconic Asaph stage with the great R2+ over bridge with 1000’s of spectators. We made it there with time to spare, but as we checked in it was obvious there was a “hold-up”. Seems Pastrana had turned his new ’08 STi into a VW Beetle about 4 miles in and a red cross had been (justifiably, since his co-driver, Derek Ringer had been hurt and needed medical attention) thrown. So we transit Asaph. RATS!

Now here’s where Big Brown comes in. We started the next stage all full of piss and vinegar. Heath was driving quite aggressively and I was on the notes….and about 3 miles in the car just started to “back down”, Big Brown style. By 4.8 miles we pulled it off to the side with very little power, LOTS of temperature, and she finally died. Fortunately Big Brown didn’t die, but the 686 car certainly did.

The Conley/Nunnemacher G2 car, however did finish and took second in G2.....great run!!! They ran the final Subaru Spectator Stage in true "Never-Say-Die" fashion unable to get the car into any gear but 4th!!!!!!

So that’s the story. I know. That’s racing. But I want the world to see what a talented young driver Heath is. We kicked some PGT ass at 100AW and were set to repeat here.

The prognosis on the engine is, at this printing, unknown. So NEFR is a maybe. Ojibwe will be the next certain event for Nunnemonster RallySport.

Many thanks go to a marvelous crew....Chris, Karen, John, Eric, Nick, and Heidi even 'tho she ended up co-driving for someone else. I'm sure that was a helluva lot more fun than bumming around service and cooking burgers!!!!

Lots of car parts!

Oergon Trail '08 should go down as the rally of the decade.....for attrition! Cars littered the hillsides of rural Oregon all day Saturday and Sunday. After running a handful of Mickey Mouse stages at Portland International Raceway Friday night and yet another in Hillsboro Saturday morning, we went out west to run some proper stages.

In the first 10 miler we saw 5 sets of triangles and drivers and co-drivers with OK signs. But no cars. The cars were all so far down the mountains they weren't visible at road level! Then into service at the Vernonia School and back out to a nice 16 miler....3 more off. In two stages we'd lost over 1/3 of the cars in front of us!

Dmitri drove a fast but cautious rally. Our times (when everybody was running) were in the 13th -15th spot among all the cars running (both National and Regional). We had a real battle going with Dave and Rick Hintz (local NW Rally heroes) for the overall win of the first Regional.
But by the time the day had ended, They'd broken a header and we'd lost a turbo pipe so we both dnf'd! SubieGal Jamie Thomas (I co-drove for her at the rain shortened Wild West in '06) inherited the Regional win in her PGT WRX Wagon. Great drive!

A similar story benefited Pat Moro over the weekend. Piotr Wiktorczyk had rented a PGT Subie from Cascade Autosport (the same guys who'd worked on Dmitri's car between Olympus and here) to challenge Stephan Verdier and Scott Crouch in PGT. Before the sun set Sunday, both Piotr and Stephan had gone off and dnf'd and Moro inherited the PGT win.


But close on his heels all weekend were the husband and wife team of Nate and Brandye Conley. While not setting blistering paces all weekend, their stage times were frequently in the top 10 which left them a position to inherit whatever anyone wanted to give them. Wiktorczyk and Verdier went off late. Add to that Norm LeBlanc flying off on the penultimate stage and Travis Hanson had gone off on Saturday. Jamie Thomas was only running the regionals, so PGT left the Conley's some real opportunities for points. And they took them. AND fifth overall! CONGRATS!


So next on the Hemispheric calendar is Rocky....in Alberta, CA. There are a LOT of cars withdrawing from that event this week!

Oh...and how cool is it that two of the podium cars are Mitsubishi's!!!!!

Off to STPR, but first a little diversion to the UK to see my daughter, Mindy, her husband Chris, and our rally buddies in the West Midlands!

Once more into the brink!!!

So Dmitri left the car with Cascade Autosport near Seattle after Olympus for some well deserved R&R. There I understand she received some gusseting in the rear suspension and a left front wheel that was actually properly located (thus allowing Dmitri to drive in a straight line!). Also she received new knees (rebuilt suspension struts) and had her internals examined (drive train found to be in excellent condition.....a phenomenon the Subaru guys wish they had...Mitsu drive trains are BULLET-PROOF).

So we'll meet at the Holiday Inn Express in Hillsboro, OR Thursday and start to figure out how to keep up with the Hintz Brothers (local regional experts at this) to try to get Dmitri some additional regional points. Chasing National Points with the likes of Block, Pa$trana, Pinker, Foust, Johnson, etc., etc., etc., is not worth the head games it plays on you.

Oregon is one of those irritating events that just eats up days. We have to be at Portland International Raceway (45 minutes from our motels) to run about 7 2/3 miles of stages between 7 and 9PM Friday night. Then we race all day Saturday. Then we race all day Sunday....so we get a lot of miles, but we also use a lot of motel nights. And those of us who live East of Oregon (and who doesn't) most likely will not fly out 'til Monday morning. But that's OK, too, 'cuz the party these guys throw at McMenamin's micro brewery is about the best in the business (although prime rib at Olympus last month was pretty awesome, too!).

Current entry list shows 60 cars entered and we're 22nd on the road....about where we started Olympus. But I'm looking for good things from Dmitri out here. He got real comfortable with the car and me and his driving as we ended up in Pomeroy last month....stage speeds were improving exponentially. And we're seeded in among some friends of ours George Georgakapolous in front and the Conleys right behind, so we're gonna have some good ol' fashioned mountain side racing fun!




Oh. I have a checkered record here. In '04, Dennis Martin and I fell off the mountain (literally)









Then in '06, Matthew Johnson and I won PGT out here.

And last year Justin and I tried a Formula Ford line through a crowned road L4-> that didn't quite work as planned. And that was after ripping off suspension parts and a rear bumper at PIR and then the next day running 15 stage miles with nothing but 5th gear and Matthew's crew and Otis's guys completely rebuilding the car in the basement of the Holiday Inn Express to the sound of many languages and some really esoteric music. The scene reminded me somewhat of Apocalypse Now!

Q. In what game does 2 beat 4?

A. When John Lane's driving the 2 wheel drive Volvo and the rest of us are chasing him in our AWD thunder machines!

This past weekend was the Olympus International Rally held in beautiful downtown Pomeroy, WA, population 1500+/-. Neat town. I could just see it 100 years ago with a dirt road as main street and wood sidewalks...great people, too!

With my normal driver (if there is such a thing as a normal rally driver) sidelined with such worldly stuff as schoolwork, I teamed up with Dmitri Kishkarev in a 1997 Mitsu Evo4 for this West Coast swing (which will most likely include Oregon Trail next month). Dmitri is on the Matthew Johnson path (several years in a VW Golf and stepping up to AWD and some real power), although Dmitri isn't taking the indirect route through PGT. This Mitsu is an Open Class car all the way. Feels just like Dennis's although maybe a little down on power.

Dmitri is a controlled driver. He's totally aware of both his and his car's limitations, and we didn't put a wheel off all weekend. Since he wants to run three events for the total investment of towing to the Pacific Northwest from New Jersey (how the hell does a rallyist exist in NEW JERSEY?), Olympus, Oregon Trail and Rocky Mountain in BC, he announced he wanted to "take it easy" on all the components.

The stages were reputed to be wicked fast an proved out to be exactly that. Speeds over 110 were experienced by lots of teams. But I wouldn't call this really unsafe. Two of the stages had straights (with multiple crests) of 1.4 and 1.25 miles, so you just mashed the peddle and hung on. There was very little to go wrong. Derek Ringer (WRC Champ with Colin McRae and now co-driving for Travis Pastrana( claimed at the award podium that he had never ridden so fast in his entire rally career. Indeed I don't think any of us has. But it is pretty unforgettable blasting along looking down a the digital speedo on the terratrip read 118!

Rally America in their wisdom and in perfect alignment with their lawyers and insurance carriers have ruled that stages that average over 80mph will be "neutralized" by giving all the cars that accomplish that the same time that would denote 80mph. So many stages were basically 'uncontested'. It's a shame, too, because the roads were spectacular and fun. Good cambering, great spectators, and all around fun.

But back to our rally. Saturday we started off pretty tentative. I'm not sure whether it was getting used to me, or holding back on the car, or what, but we basically held our road position. I felt both Dmitri and the car were capable of better, but it's his car and his wallet!

By the end of the first day we were soundly entrenched in 17th overall place, which was a little move up the ladder (we started 22nd). We had finished 5th in the Regional event (4th Open), and there wasn't a scratch on the car. Overall a good day.

But Sunday, Dmitri must have awakened with a good Russian sneer on his face, because he and the car were in no mood to pussyfoot around. We went out and set 13th fastest time on the first stage, and we were now dicing with John Lane in the BHV (Big Honkin' Volvo) for an overall win in the second Regional event. We discussed some techniques on how to handle the communication of the long straights that worked to perfection and really clicked. There were four stages. Unfortunately the 2nd and the 4th stages were 'neutralized' by the R-A 80mph rule, so the only two that counted were the 1st and 3rd. going into the 3rd, John had us by 5 seconds or so. Dmitri took off with a mission and drove incredibly. The straights topped out at 118 (or better). All the corners were nailed and we were really cooking (we'd beaten John on this stage on the first pas, but now we had to get him by over 5 seconds!). In typical Dmitri 'attack' mode he went for the chicane at the end of the 700 yard straight a little too hot and slid to a stop inches from the chicane barrel (hitting it was 10 seconds), but then killed the engine. When restarted, we were so close to the barrel we had to back up before taking off. ARRRGGHHHH! At the finish control I asked the crew what John's time had been and we STILL BEAT HIM! But only by two seconds. So that's how 2 beats 4. Total differential 3.4 seconds.

We won Open class in the Regional, which Dmitri tells me is the first trophy this car has ever gotten, and stayed entrenched in our 17th overall position in the National.

On a scale of 1-10:

Rally location = 9.5 (hope they build a Holiday Inn Express in Pomeroy! We commuted 35 miles)

Rally roads = 10 AWESOME Great surface and engineering. I had no problem with the speeds

Officials = 10 I never had a watch that differed from a worker's by more than 1/2 second. And it was always in MY FAVOR!!!!

Evo4 = 8 A little down on power requiring some babying that I think cost us several places, but Dmitri is as much fun for me in his as Dennis is in his....tough cars, great drive trains.

Dmitri = 9 Wish we could have pushed it Saturday. A little tentative on Saturday...rusty since no driving since Tall Pines...all that was gone by Sunday, 'tho!

Me = 8.5 A little late on a call or two, lost once or twice in successive 6's, but I'm hearing everybody had those problems.

Humor of the weekend was the Jemba note R3+ 1000. About 1/3 through the 1000 yards with the speedo reading 110 or more, Dmitri implored urgently over the intercom "what's next!!!!!" Knowing we had another 500+ yards I calmly replied "Don't' know. Let me look" that broke up the tension. Dmitri had heard I could be an asshole!

Until Oregon! Or whenever something else neat happens.

Good luck on finals, Heath!!!!

Wow...it's been a long cold Winter

I'm sworn to secrecy about Heath's and my adventures at 100AW. We consider ourselves spanked and ready to proceed. Heath DID, however, with one small exception, drive an excellent event significantly improving his speed factor, and I DID, however, with one small exception co-drive fairly well. I give the weekend a B+....next on the list for us will be STPR.

But this weekend I'm headed to beautiful downtown Pomeroy, WA to take part in my first Olympus (as a competitor). I last attended this event in 1987 when it was a full works championship event, and it was on the west side of the state near Seattle and Tacoma then (and is now, except for this year). This year it's based out of the Pomeroy on the east side of the state where the locals hold Regional events because road-use permits were not clearing fast enough. It's been REAL WET over on the coast. We're expecting very fast smooth gravel based roads and we have one pass recce with Jemba notes, so "courage" will be the by-word of the day



Since Heath is mired in schoolwork for the next month, I'm at Olympus with Dmitri Kishkarev in his Mitsu Evo. I've watched Dmitri in this car at a few events in the past, and we pal'd around at 100AW a little but he could not find a co-driver for that event. Evos are cool. Dennis Martin and I do well in one and Dmitri doesn't seem to crash much, so I'm looking for a really fun weekend.



I'll have a full report upon my return!!!! Maybe even during if there's any wi-fi in Eastern Washington!

Off to the races!!!

Heath (my driver of the year) arrives at St. Louis International Airport at 9:00 tomorrow night. From then on we're on "Rally Time."

The car should be in pristine condition, and will have new seats with side head restraints on them. I became a believer in those at Oregon last year with Justin as we smacked a bank with MY SIDE so hard I watched the side window just 'pop' out. The amazing part was using a combination of the HANS device and the side movement protection of the seat, I never had even the slightest twinge of neck pain. I'm a fan! So that was one of my provisos in getting into Heath's car this season. We would both have that protection.

Heath's car is well equipped with a Coralba C-Giant Rally Computer. This thing has more computing power than computers the State Department used during the Cold War. The manual which I downloaded from the web is about 1/4" thick. Matthew Johnson had it's little brother, so I'm somewhat familiar, but this mother can get complicated. It will start a clock at the start line when your wheel first moves (thus eliminating your need to remember to start a watch). At the finish it will give you Time, Distance, Average Speed, Top Speed, and probably current status of the Dow Jones Industrials! If we've stopped to fix a flat (no, no, no, no, no!!!!) it will tell us what speed we need to travel in order to avoid road points (I thought that was MY job!). Anyway, I've been studying up on it and I'm ready!

Heath's been reviewing in-car videos of Matthew Johnson and me and Dennis Martin and me just to get used to the cadences I use. They are different for both those drivers, so i hope Heath has an idea what he WANTS. Matthew could hold 3+ actions in advance...so could Dennis mostly. Justin would have to be hearing the action he's just about to enter. So pacing is totally different with different drivers. We'll be working that out.

Strategy? Well Heath's youth has him a little frustrated at his starting position (32 out of 56; 10th PGT car out of 13), but that's of no concern to me. This season is going to be a process. Placements will fall into place when they fall into place. A couple of things will happen at 100AW. First, we'll get a benchmark to build on. Between 100AW and our next event, Oregon Trails, Heath has finals (at Michigan Tech in Houghton, MI) and NO TIME to rebuild a wrecked car. So we're certainly hoping that will not happen. We'll end up with a lot of in-car to analyze. I remember after Oregon '06 (first event with Johnson) I spent hours and hours pouring over the tapes and talking with Matthew and it made a world of difference for STPR. Heath and I will be doing the same thing.

Heath and I do get to run recce (see all the racing stages before actually racing them) on Thursday...it's legal....a couple of the national events are starting to allow this. that will give us time to sort out a little about how he wants to hear things, as well as how he actually sees things. The co-driver sits on the passenger side and basically makes changes to the notes that the driver dictates. Neither of us have much experience with recce, so I'm pretty sure we'll mostly just benefit from a day behind the wheel and a good look at the roads. I remember being totally worn out after recce last year with Justin, but we were attempting to do some major eticing to the notes (that didn't work so well!).

So off we go for the '06 season. New driver. New Crew. Lots of old friends in PGT to go chase! And starting on my home turf. Can't wait!