Off
the Line
The Official
Semi-occasional Publication of
Team Harco
Motorsports Winter 2000/2001
The
Biggest Year Yet
The year 2000
was another year of great accomplishments for Team Harco. Along with the repeat championships in the
CenDiv RoadRally series and in the two Detroit region autocross series there
are a number of big highlights to mention.
First there was the successful competition debut of Talon 2 at the
Sno*Drift ProRally in January. Then the
same car claimed the fastest “rubber to ice” time at the MSCC ice run a month
later. Then in March T2 won the
Moonlight Monte RoadRally. Early in the
spring of 2000 a new car joined the Team Harco corral - a 1985 Porsche
944. The summer saw a chance to compete
at one of the biggest ProRallies in the country - Susquehannock Trail
(STPR). A Vintage class win at POR,
another FTD with the autocross Colt and a trip to Wisconsin for the United
States Road Rally Challenge (USRRC) made 2000 the biggest year yet.
The Team Harco/Dragon Lady
(T2) Talon in action at the 2000 Susquehannock Trail ProRally in
Pennsylvania. Steve Nowicki paid to
drive, Scott Harvey assumes navigator duties.
Don DeRose photo.
Trade
In; Trade Up
There has been
a change afoot for the past two years at Team Harco. It has been somewhat gradual but still quite significant. It started in the summer of 1999. The old Explorer wagon was becoming too much
of a consumer of time and money. A new
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee has now taken on the duties of tow vehicle, kid-hauler
and grocery-getter with the greatest of ease.
(continued)
Off the Line
The Official
Semi-occasional Publication of
Team Harco Motorsports Issue #11 -- Winter 2000/01
Contents
Trade In;
Trade Up …….........................……....…......… 1
The Year In
Review ………………………………..…….. 1
Susquehannock
Trail ProRally..……….……………..….. 5
Press On
Regardless ………….............…..…….….…… 7
Season Ending
Autocrosses ………..…….…………..…. 7
Late Rally
Rounds …………………………………………. 9
United States
RoadRally Challenge …………………….. 10
Looking
Ahead
.....................................……........…..… 12
Thank You
.........................................…............….…… 13
The Team Harco Calendar ............…..................….…. 15
On the Cover: The Team Harco/Dragon Lady ProRally Talon (T2). At the 2000 Susquehannock ProRally, June
3. Photo by Don DeRose
Off the Line is edited and
published, time permitting, by Scott D. Harvey, Jr.
The name Off the Line, (aside
from its many connotations) is used here, without being registered and is used
without any ones permission. Any
resemblance between this newsletter and other published columns, of the same
name, is not intended to detract from their readership in any way.
Comments, Questions, Back Issues, etc.
Team
Harco Motorsports
221
Ormsby
Waterford,
MI 48327-1750
Central
Headquarters (248) 683-0207
E-mail:
TeamHarco@Juno.com
(Work
hours) (248) 393-6106
(fax) (248) 393-6435
Trade In; Trade Up
(conclusion)
Last issue
covered the early development of the T2 ProRally Talon after it arrived at the
Team Harco garage in the spring of 1999.
To make room for T2 the old Shelby Charger had to go. I rate that a fair
trade.
Then early in
2000 a chance to become a Porsche owner came along. Not a 911, that I hope to one day own, but a 944. The price was too good to pass up. And to make room for “Herbie” (after the little
lovable beetle), the old (and thoroughly rusted) Arrow had to go. Looks like another fair trade.
We didn’t do
much in the way of trade-in but I think in each case it was a move up.
The latest addition to the
Team Harco corral - a 1985 Porsche 944 - “Herbie”.
The
Year in Review
January 15, 2000 the Son of Sno*Drift RoadRally Waterford,
Michigan.
The second
running of this Detroit Region winter rally was again organized and
“rallymastered” by your humble and obedient servant. The weather cooperated more so this time, as 3 - 4 inches of snow
fell early in the week prior to the rally.
There was enough snow, ice, slop and muck on the roads to make the going
challenging and fun.
Several
mistakes and typos were made by the “rallymaster” but all was overcome by the
end. The most troublesome situation was
the fact that the course-opening car (driven by your humble scribe) faltered
and then failed due to a dead battery.
Power steering fluid was leaking onto the alternator, which fouled its
brushes. After the alternator dies, the
battery is soon to follow. With the
assistance of several control crews and an eventual tow to the mid-rally break
(by Dan Coughnour) the Team Harco/ Dragon Lady Talon (T2) was dropped in Durand
for the remainder of the night.
Bob Martin
devised the plan that would save the rally from total disaster. Not only did he chauffeur me to all the
remaining control locations, but he also helped set those that were to be
manned by the competitors (work/run) and finally Bob did the scoring. It was with great satisfaction that Bob and
I were able to overcome some very serious obstacles while trying to present a
rally that others might enjoy. This
teamwork would come in handy two weeks later as Bob Martin had agreed to
navigate for me at the Sno*Drift ProRally in Atlanta, MI. Now the two of us would be racing over the
frozen roads of northern Michigan in the same car. And that car was the same T2 that was left stranded in
Durand! Luckily lessons were learned
and the power steering leak was repaired shortly there after.
The rally
itself was fun for the competitors.
Only one competitor admitted to having trouble maintaining the speeds
and another team admitted to twice having “stuffed it”. Most everyone enjoyed the rally and after
Bob Martin saved it - I did too. Novice
class winners were Jeff and Elea Feit.
Worden and Robinette won stock class.
Limited was taken by Shaffer and Fekete. Rob Moran won first overall and Equipped (for the second year in
a row). This time Rob had Bruce Fisher
driving Bruce’s aging Datsun 510 wagon.
Every time I see this car it is lighter than the last time - not from
alternative materials but from more rust falling off!
Detroit Region SCCA Awards Banquet, Livonia, Michigan. Jan. 22, 2000
A big boost to
start the year came for Team Harco at the Detroit SCCA awards banquet. I knew about the Detroit Region Rally
Championship and I was very proud to finally take the overall rally
trophy. I also knew about the Solo II
class championship claimed from 1999.
Other trophies that needed to be hauled home that night were for 3rd
place Class E in the CenDiv rally series, 2nd in Class E in the
Detroit Region RoadRally championship and a nice director’s chair for being the
event chairman of Son of Sno*Drift.
What was not known was that I had been selected as the recipient of the
Karl Pel Memorial Trophy. The following
is the description from the awards program:
“The Detroit Region
established this memorial trophy to honor one of its most dedicated members,
Karl Pel, who passed away on November 8, 1974.
Karl will be remembered best for the time and energy he devoted to the
Club. He was not just in attendance at
most of the races, rallies and meetings, but he was there helping, whenever
needed. He seemed to have a knack of
being in the right place at the right time - hot coffee for cold registrars,
food for the hungry tech inspectors… and his car was a ready source of most
anything a worker could possibly need.
However, Karl had a way of doing all these things for people without
being obvious about it. He shied away
from the limelight and stayed in the background whenever he could. This trophy is presented each year to the
worker who has devoted an exceptional amount of time and effort toward
promoting our sport and the Detroit Region.”
Well I’m not
sure I fully deserve this honor - but I do graciously accept the acknowledgment
of my fellow club members. At the end
of the night I got to take a bunch of nice trophies home and I was able to put
them in my car without even getting cold.
For the second successive year, a Team Harco competition vehicle was on
display. This time it was T2 that got
the nod. For the banquet, the club has
tried to have a car from each of the three major types of motorsport that SCCA
is famous for; race, rally and solo.
And typically from a Detroit Region champion. I have been lucky to be asked in two consecutive years to show a
rally car. Last time it was Eagle 1
this time it was Talon 2. They actually
wanted me to bring the Colt. I had to
ask them which Colt!
The Team Harco/ Dragon Lady
T2 Talon on display at the 1999 Detroit SCCA year-end awards banquet. Note the editor explaining the right hand
rule to Pete Padden. This shot was taken one week before the 2000 Sno*Drift
ProRally. Photo by Marianne Mickle.
Sno*Drift ProRally, Atlanta, Michigan. Jan. 28-29, 2000
A year’s worth
of preparation was about to be tested.
Talon 2 was purchased just a year earlier and in the time between was
gradually built into a Production GT class ProRally car. While most any car can be used in a road
rally - ProRally places great demands on the competitors and their car. Racing as fast as one can go on some of the
roughest and slipperiest roads in the country make ProRally a very demanding
form of motorsport.
So it was that
Bob Martin and I approached the only snow rally of the ProRally series with
great anticipation. Unable to enter the
national rally, the team saved a few bucks and competed in the concurrent
ClubRallies (run over the exact same route as the national rally). After the first ClubRally the team claimed 8th
overall and 2nd in PGT.
Stage times would have been good enough for us to claim 4th
overall but on a particularly narrow downhill “trail” on the Lockwood Lake
Ranch, we got sideways in the road. We
could not move and had to wait for about 5 teams worth of helpers to push us
down the hill and straight to the road.
We lost about five minutes and held-up the cars immediately behind
us. There was simply no room for any
one to get past while we waited in a trench that was, theoretically, a road.
The second of
two ClubRallies was run after dark and the roads got even slipperier. Extra care was taken to assure a
finish. A few early mistakes led to a
cautious approach taken the rest of the way. There were absolutely no problems
with the car - it performed flawlessly.
This is not to say we stayed on the road the entire rally. I can recall at least four spins and couple
of exciting moments but those were more attributable to driving errors. Bob and I claimed 6th overall
(less than a minute out of 4th) and again claimed 2nd in
PGT. The debut for the “new ultimate
rally machine” was a resounding success.
The Team Harco/ Dragon Lady
Talon in action at the 2000 Sno*Drift ProRally. Scott Harvey and Bob Martin take 2nd place PGT in both
ClubRallies. Photo by: Jerry Winker (www.rallysport.net/comicozzie/)
MSCC Y2K Ice Follies, Loon Lake, Drayton Plains, MI. Feb.
13, 2000
It had been
four years since the last ice run on Loon Lake. This time the weather cooperated enough for us to get one ice run
in before it got warm again. Ice races,
after all, have some very special requirements - namely a minimum of 10 inches
of ice.
33 competitors
turned-up and the studded tire class was full of ProRally drivers. Jeremy Butts used motorcycle ice racing
screws in his tires to take the fastest time of day (48.72 sec). Chris Czyzio, fresh off his PGT win at
Sno*Drift, could do no better than second this day (49.55). His studded tires were not as grippy as
those used by Jeremy. W.G. Giles had
well used street studs on his Audi Quattro.
These were even less effective than the best runs of two drivers on
studless tires (56.71).
The driver of
T2 turned in the third fastest time (52.66).
This was good enough to win the 4WD class (also the fastest “rubber to
ice” time). Fourth fastest, and FWD +
winter tire class was Bill Watkins (56.52) in a Neon. The only other driver to break the one-minute barrier was Azizi
Tucker, also in a Neon (58.89). Fastest
RWD time was Phil Smith in a Miata (67.02).
The conditions
changed throughout the day. Those who
took their runs early, in general, had better grip on the snow that
lingered. Once the corners got polished
and the snow was swept away, the course got slower (slipperier).
The Team Harco/ Dragon Lady
Talon taking the fastest “rubber to ice” time at the only MSCC ice run of
2000. Photo by: “Skip” Kleckner (www.tir.com/~kleckner/)
Moonlight Monte, Imlay City, MI, March 4, 2000
The second
CenDiv (and second Detroit Region) rally of the year was Moonlight Monte. Dave Harkcom had taken over as rallymaster
on this one from Jim Mickle. This freed
Jim up to compete. And compete we did.
Eagle 1 was
out of commission that weekend because the fuel sender unit was rusted out, and
fuel was leaking from the top of the fuel tank. To me, this was just another good excuse to get more use out of
T2. The ride was a little bit stiffer than is comfortable, but the car and team
performed well enough for the win.
Second were Randy Wittine and Les Talcott in the ever-popular “Police
Caprice”. Fisher/ Moran were third and
Boris/ Boris were fourth.
The first
Stock class car was in fifth overall (Scott Radabaugh/ Mike Bennet). Sixth overall would be the Limited class
winners, Phillips and Gilbert. These
two guys have been coming up to Michigan, from their homes in Indiana, for a
number of years now. They say they like
the rallies we put on. This is the
first time (to my knowledge) they have won their class. Nice job guys.
So after four
events, in a period of just over a month, the “New Ultimate Rally Machine”
racked up two wins and two second place finishes. To say I am pleased would be a bit of an understatement.
Wildcat Rally, Friendship, OH, April 1, 2000
April Fool’s
day would find the Team Harco crew in Ohio for the closest thing to a ProRally
there is without the fire suits, helmets and roll cage. The hills in this part
of Ohio (the southernmost tip) are very steep and unforgiving. The organizers specifically state that this
is not a rally for the inexperienced competitor. They were not lying. You see, there are things that are called
“vistas”. What this really means is
that if you saw how far you would fall before hitting something - you wouldn’t be doing this! This is no doubt why they run at night. What you can’t see can’t scare you.
Well we
weren’t too scared. But when the dust
from the car ahead of you makes it difficult to see which way the road goes –
one can get a little apprehensive. The
organizers also mentioned that Hakkas (really good snow tires) are marginal, at
best, for use on this rally. What they
were really saying is that performance rally tires are what the properly
dressed car should wear. We however,
did not have the luxury of fitting the car with true rally tires. We did have nearly bald Hakkas! This made the going even more exciting. We were able to stay on the road all the way
through and by the end of the night claimed second place. It seems that local knowledge of control
locations and roads paid big dividends for the winners (Dreher/ Farmer) in a
ProRally prepared Dodge Colt. These
guys had real rally tires and prior experience going for them. We were very happy with our placement (under
the circumstances) and found the roads and speeds to be everything we had hoped
for. This is one great rally.
SAE Student Spring Autocross, University of Toledo, Toledo,
OH, April 8, 2000
This would be
my last year as chairman of the SAE Student Autocross. It had been my event since 1992. Time commitments at work and my own
rally/race program made it increasingly difficult to pull this event off
properly. My plans are to remain
involved with the Detroit Section SAE and help with this event in the future –
it’s just that it will be less of a role.
As an indicator of how much work it had become, I was unable to obtain a
speaker for the mid-day break. So the
students that turned up on this chilly day were stuck with me.
Lacking a true
authority in the field, it was left to me to speak on a subject that I, at
least, had some clue. After a little
thought, it was determined that I would give a presentation on Grassroots
Motorsport. What evolved was a more
advanced version of a subject that I presented a year earlier to the SAE
student chapter at the University of Michigan.
If I don’t have a clue about Grassroots Motorsport, then who does?
I think it was
well received and most everyone really enjoyed the ProRally film that I showed
(the 1999 Sno*Drift).
Another
highlight of the day, aside from the snow flurries was having T2 on hand for
some fast runs on the autocross course. Arick Rushing and I took turns behind
the wheel of T2 during the worker “fun-runs”.
The screaming Eagle was right at home in the snow.
When he wasn’t
blasting around the course in T2, Arick did his usual great job as the
announcer. He is the entertainment. That
wasn’t all; the Dragon Lady even showed up. Plus she got a couple of rides
before the day was done.
Wisconsin Glacier Trail/ Lead County Safari Rallies,
Dodgeville, WI, April 29-30, 2000
The end of
April found the Harco crew in Wisconsin for a pair of CenDiv RoadRallies. Wisconsin has some of the nicest roads I
have ever seen. Even their dirt roads
are wonderful. They are smoother than
paved roads in Michigan!
The Harkcoms
won the first of the two rallies. This
was young Daniel’s first big win. At
age 15, this kid has a bright future as a Rallyist. The Harco crew was back in Eagle 1 but had to settle for number
two on this day. The Harkcom’s beat us
19 to 29. Third were Dredge and Moran
(Rob came over from Michigan and teamed up with a local competitor).
The second
rally would be more kind to us. The
Harkcom’s had left for home - to get Dan back to school on time. This didn’t mean there wouldn’t be tough
competition - it just meant one less tough team. Our margin of victory was fairly large though - 35 to 83. We were again able to run one position
better than Dredge and Moran.
Detroit SCCA Solo School and Formula SAE, May 2000
Among the many
events that I take part in each year – these two are a chance for me to give
back a little to the “community”. As an
instructor at the Solo School, I help a few student drivers develop their
driving skills and learn what it takes to become a better autocross competitor. Plus it gives me a chance to sample some
nice cars. In the past I have been
allowed to drive my students’ cars, typically for one run. I have been lucky enough to get behind the
wheel of a Porsche 911, a 944, a BMW M3, an M Coupe, a Corvette and some other
nice machines. The goal is to show the
students how their car can be driven and then let them work their way toward
quicker times and smoother runs. The
Solo School gives each student a lot of timed runs and good one-on-one
instruction from an experienced driver.
The Formula
SAE competition is a very unique event.
University students design, build and then race their own single-seat
open-wheel racecar against other university teams. In 1991 I was a member of the Lawrence Tech Formula SAE team and
it was a great experience for me. Since
that time I have been involved as either a member of the tech inspection crew
or, of late, as the station captain of various safety related tests. It is really amazing to see the quality of
most of these cars. Not only are they
technically interesting but they are also very fast and agile.
It’s hard to believe it’s
been 10 years. This is what we built in
1991. A younger and slimmer guy stands
aside the Lawrence Tech entrant in the Formula SAE.
CAST In Stone, Hastings, MI, May 20, 2000
Rob Moran’s
rally has always been a good clean event.
This year’s rally would be another good example. Rob does not like to use the same roads
twice – so this event has been gradually working its way further west each
year. Once we reach Lake Michigan, I
suppose the route will start heading north.
This rally counted toward both the Detroit Region championship and the
CenDiv championship. The Team Harco
crew of Harvey/Mickle won it again. I
kid Rob about him winning my rally every year – he then reminds me that I have
had good results at his rally too. I
can’t complain.
Susquehannock Trail ProRally
STPR, Wellsboro, PA, June 2-3, 2000
STPR is the
biggest ProRally on the circuit. The
entry was limited to 80 cars. It draws
the best drivers and cars in the country.
It looked as though I would be sitting this one out and really had no
plans to be there. Then came a plea, on
rally-l (the e-mail list for rally enthusiasts), from Steve Nowicki who was
looking for a ride. He had an agreement
with a fellow from Illinois to drive his newly prepared Subaru. When its engine was damaged, the deal fell
through. Steve’s request was for a
ProRally prepared car for his use at STPR.
He would pay all expenses and he could also offer a certain amount of
instruction based on his experience.
Now aside from
the money to get me (and my car) into the biggest rally of the year, I felt I
could learn a lot from this opportunity.
Not only would I gain intimate knowledge of the roads and terrain of
this part of Pennsylvania, but I would learn even more about how to make my car
(T2) go faster. Oh, did I mention that
I would be navigating? It was quite
different to be on the other side of the car as we hurtled down the road at
breakneck speeds. The only thing I had
in front of me was the Alfa Pro rally odometer and the rest of the car.
The sight of
the 80 cars staged side-by-side, all around the “green” in Wellsboro was worth
the trip. There were the championship
Libra Racing Hyundais, 8 WRX type Subarus, 6 Mitsubishi Lancer Evos and dozens
of other awesome machines. We had a
front row spot, due to Steve’s seed 2 status.
I was rubbing elbows with Frank Sprongl (Canadian champion), Erik Commas
(former F1 driver, turned rally competitor), John Buffum (11-time U.S.
champion), Doug Shepherd and Pete Gladysz (top competitors from the Detroit
area). Henry and Cindy Krolikowski
brought out their new Subaru WRX STi.
We got off to
a good start. 12th on the
road meant we would be running with the fast guys. We were a couple of cars ahead of Tad Otake and Bob Martin (both
from the Detroit area) and shared a few laughs with them during the
breaks. A couple of cars ahead of us
were Peter Cunningham (better known for his road racing exploits) and Jim
Gill. Their rented Evo was running
rough. It was later diagnosed with a
broken valve spring. They ran the
entire rally and finished in the top five.
Quite a result when you consider the car ran on 3 cylinders for the
whole rally. On the second stage we
caught and passed George Plesek (a West Coast competitor in a very fast Audi). We later learned that a half shaft had
failed and took out their brakes. This
would be the last good thing to happen for us.
Part way into the third stage we came flying down a road that had a
little downhill grade and an off camber left bend to it. It was sunny yet the trees made the
transition from sun to shade difficult on the eyes. I could see that we were approaching a tree on my side of the car
– my immediate thought was “uh –oh”.
Steve rotated the car a little and just when I thought we might miss the
tree we caught it with the right rear corner.
The impact then spun us 270 degrees back to the right and we nosed down
a bank. We were OK, but the car was
stuck at a 45-degree angle down the bank.
We had no way of getting the car out without a lot of help.
We got out and
displayed the OK sign to the remaining 60 or so competitors and waited for the
big sweep vehicle to come along and pull us back on to the road. After what seemed like two hours our help
arrived – a Unimog. I never knew what a
Unimog was until I saw this one. I can
only describe it as a large troop transport vehicle that could carry a great
deal of armament. Luckily this one
didn’t have any weapons, but it sure pulled us out of our predicament.
We were not
the only ones to DNF – in fact nearly half the field failed to finish. The speeds were apparently higher than in
previous years due to the wet spring that had kept dust to a minimum. So when cars did go off, they were generally
traveling at a higher rate of speed.
Our damage was limited to the right rear sheet metal. Once we got back on the road we drove right
out and proceeded to find our beer cooler.
After cooling off a little, we got cleaned-up, had something to eat, and
returned to the woods to spectate. One
thing that makes this rally so great are the roads. This portion of Pennsylvania is very hilly, almost mountainous;
as such, there are numerous switchbacks and hairpins. In spite of our bad fortune I felt the trip was worthwhile. Aside from failing to finish, most of my
goals were met. I would agree to run
with Steve again, should the opportunity come up again. Though I would prefer to do the driving.
Detroit Grand Prix, Belle Isle Park, Detroit, MI, June 6
Another event
that I am not a competitor in – but take time to enjoy is the Detroit Grand
Prix. Ever since F1 started coming to
Detroit, I have tried to go to the “Free Prix Day” and take lots of
photos. The past two years we have made
it a family outing as guests of the Timken Company. John Gingrich has been our host and we have been treated to
luxury accommodations at the Team Rahal hospitality tent. We get fed and enjoy beverages from their
sponsoring beer supplier (Miller Brewing) and then we have grandstand seats on
the start/finish straight. It’s not
Formula 1, but it is still nice to see the top dogs race.
Here is a picture from the
Detroit Grand Prix, which I took a few years ago. I call it “3 Champs”. All
three of these drivers won championships in CART, F1 and the Indy 500. Leading the way is Jacques Villenuve,
followed by Emerson Fittipaldi and then Mario Andretti. Quite a rare situation I would think.
Autocross events in June, July and August
The first that
I actually competed in during 2000 was not until June 18th. MSCC held Champ series #3 at the DCX Tech
Center. The little fire-breathing Colt
was driven to 1st in EP and third fastest time of all. That’s a
pretty good start.
A week later
Detroit SCCA held an autocross at the Palace of Auburn Hills. This was a fairly large course with a lot of
challenging aspects. Again, our
favorite little red car won the EP class.
Two days of
time trials at the Waterford Hills racetrack fell on July 3rd and 4th. The first was the MSCC event and the little
Colt won EP and showed a lot of people what the little car can do. The next day the Corvette Club of Michigan
held their traditional event. The EP
class was bigger and promised stiffer competition. The toughest came from a local road racer who drove his Triumph
TR6 to victory in the class by a margin of a few hundredths of a second. This guy was no rookie and his car was well
prepared. In fact, both car and driver
qualified for the road racing “Runoffs” at Mid Ohio. One thing that I have not been able to clarify is whether he
belonged in the E “Prepared” autocross class.
He saw the “EP” on my car and it looked just like the “EP” on his
car. The big difference is that the “P”
stands for “Production” in road racing and, in general, has cars of greater
performance potential. Anyway, I felt
good about running such a close second to this guy. The third place car was also tough, but I was able to beat him by
just a few hundredths. Any slip-ups
could have changed the order completely.
A few days
later the Team Harco/ Dragon Lady Colt was in Grand Blanc for a CenDiv
autocross. These SCCA events bring out
some of the best autocross racers in the Midwest. The toughest competition in EP came from the HART Honda again. I got one clean run in on this extremely
challenging course. Luckily for me the
HART car got no clean runs and I took the class win by a very small
margin. This marked the first time I
have ever beaten the “Honda from Hell” – it could easily be the last.
Two more
Detroit council autocrosses were run; an MSCC event on August 13th
and then an AROC event on the 20th.
Both times I took the EP class win.
At the MSCC event I got even closer to an FTD by taking second overall.
On August 26th
and 27th, Detroit SCCA ran their CenDiv event at the Oscoda
airport. This is one of the fastest and
longest autocrosses we run all year.
Running high in 3rd gear and even getting into 4th
gear are not uncommon at this venue. It
rained like mad during much of the day on Saturday. It rained so hard during my first run that I hit a large puddle
and hydroplaned right off the course in a wild spin. On one of my later runs I hit another puddle and it shot water
through the floor onto the windshield on the inside of the car! Running
a car with no side windows, no wipers and no defroster does have its disadvantages
at times. Nonetheless I had a blast in
the wet and really like running on the Yokohama rain tires that I use. Sunday, the weather cleared and all heats
were run in the dry. This time there
were no miracles; the HART drivers took 1st, 2nd and 3rd. A fresh set of racing tires were purchased
(with Dragon dollars) that weekend so the remainder of the season would be run
on good [year] tires.
Press On Regardless
POR, Boyne City, MI, Sept. 8-10, 2000
The 51st
annual Press On Regardless rally was run out of Boyne City, Michigan
again. This rally has some great
history and tradition behind it. After
the big noise from two years earlier, this rally got tamed down last year. That kinder, gentler version (“POR light”)
was not really up to the tradition of a rally called Press On Regardless. For 2000 things would return to normal. Average speeds were up, rougher roads were
selected, and some sections were run at night.
One of the best things to happen was the inclusion of a section that
took the competitors into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Bryan
Murphy and I competed in the Vintage class again with the old rally Colt. We figured our chances to repeat, as winners
would be pretty good. A lot had to do
with the fact that there was only one other team entered in Vintage. Dick Foster and Bill Secrest came up from
Kentucky in Bill’s Datsun 240Z. When we
saw them on the side of the road - before we reached the first control – we
knew things would be in our favor. It
turned out they were having fuel pick-up problems. Eventually they routed a couple of 10 foot lengths of fuel hose
from the fuel filler neck (into the fuel tank) along the roofline of the car,
down the “A” pillar and eventually to the fuel pump under the hood. These two black hoses were an interesting
contrast against the pumpkin orange paint.
The silver duct tape just added to the look. But at least they were getting fuel to the carbs! About half way through the first day they
finally had to drop out. The front
shocks had turned to mush and they couldn’t take the pounding anymore.
We
cruised to an easy win in the class and took 10th overall. The winners of POR had to be decided by a
recalculation of one of the last legs of the rally. A tie existed between Parps/ Moran and Coughnour/ Andreini. After Jim Mickle rechecked that leg it was
determined that Dave Parps and Rob Moran won the rally with a score of 68
points. The second place team of
Coughnour and Andreini came home with a score of 70 points. A single point separated 3rd and 4th. Johnstonbaugh/ Hathcock edged out Mapplebeck
and VonKaenal 114 to 115. In Limited,
Shaffer and Fekete took the class win over Smiskol and Ward (175 to 196). Our Vintage class score of 215 would have
given us 3rd in Limited, but we gladly accepted the Vintage
trophies. Worden and Robinette won
stock with 386 points.
After
a mild POR in 1999 it was nice to see this rally return to its former
glory. Some of the sections run in the
Upper Peninsula included special stage roads from the old ProRally days. Among them were such names as Tin Shanty,
Conner’s Flats and BGDR. This last one
gained infamy as “Big Gosh Darn Ruts” or “Bad Gosh Darn Road” (or something
similar – I’m not too sure of the “Gosh Darn” part – this is, after all, a
family paper). These roads are very
wide today and would be too fast for inclusion in any
ProRally,
but they were excellent, nonetheless.
POR is a real gem of a rally - I hope it will continue for many years to
come.
Here is our
intrepid crew prior to the start of the 2000 POR. The three-piece band of Harvey/ Murphy and the olde Colt once
again took the Vintage class. I have
now become an “Ace”. This was the fifth
win for the Team Harco/ Dragon Lady Rally Colt in the Vintage class at
POR. Photo by John Gingrich.
Season Ending Autocrosses
CCM Champ #7, Warren, MI. Sept. 17,
2000
The autocross
season starts to wind down in September each year. The last CCM event I could run was on the 17th of that
month. The lot and course design did
not suit the little Colt. Instead of being in the top five overall, I was
outside the top ten. This did not stop
me from taking the class win though.
This continued a string of class wins that had remained unbroken, in the
DCSCC series, since the beginning of the season (and likely dates back several
years).
AROC Autocross, Southfield, MI. Sept.
24, 2000
The last AROC
autocross of the season was not a champ series event. It did, however, attract most of the usual crowd. What made this better than most other AROC
events was the fact that it was held at Lawrence Tech. The LTU lot is one of the larger lots in the
Detroit area and has hosted many autocrosses over the years. The usual tight AROC course was laid out by
John Hoard and gave me fits. I
overdrove the course, and worse, the tires, on all my runs. Luckily, I was still able to win the class,
but it was not an artistic success.
Sharing the little Colt that day was John Griffith. Not only is John a co-worker but we were
also on the same Formula SAE team at LTU in 1991.
SCCA Season Ender Solo II, Milford, MI.
Oct. 8, 2000
The SCCA Season
Ender has been a tradition in the Detroit area. In prior years it has attracted over 200 competitors. This time only 150 competitors made it out. The fact that the mercury dropped close to
the freezing mark was no doubt, a large reason for the reduced turnout. The competition was still very hot. A rather unique course was laid-out on the
large lot at the GM proving grounds and it proved to be quite fast and very
challenging. An interesting feature of
the course was a slalom that doubled back on itself. The bad news, on this weekend, was that this would likely be the
last time the season ender will be run at the Milford lot. It seems that construction will change the
size and open nature of this lot. The
good news was that the screaming little Colt took another class win and again
placed very highly overall. Another
highlight on this day was the visit from Aaron Gibson and his family. Aaron and I work together and I had invited
him to bring his son out to watch us race.
Theo got to do more than watch he rode with me on my first three
runs. I think we might have a new
competitor in a few years. Theo is in
his early teens right now.
MSCC Champ #9, Southfield, MI. Oct. 29,
2000
The last autocross
and last champ series event of the year was one to remember. Going into this last event, the MSCC Blue
team (of which I happen to be a member) trailed the FME Ford team for the Team
Championship by one point. Team members
accumulate points at each autocross they compete in based on their placement
within class. These points are then
added up for each champ event throughout the season. After 8 champ events the five Ford drivers held a 49 to 48 point
edge over the MSCC Blue team. Unable to
help my team at round #8, as I was in Wisconsin for a rally, I tried to devise
a scheme to maximize my team’s chances of taking the title.
By
putting more drivers in my car (and hence my class) I could improve my personal
point total and also my team’s. My plan
would be to invite a few friends to drive my car and help with that goal. It wasn’t too difficult finding a few
willing candidates - the hard part would be the fact that I had to beat them
all! I got “Skip” Kleckner and Kent
Young (who normally competes in a Super Stock Corvette) to join in on the
fun. I was still hoping to find one
more willing driver and Phil Smith volunteered to step out of his Miata and
into the little Colt while we were in line for tech inspection.
Now
none of these guys are slouches behind the wheel and after “Skip”, then Kent,
laid down some awesome times, I got a little worried I might not be able to
hold up my end. When Kent finished his
runs I jumped in the car and took my runs.
Everything was up to temperature (if not on the high side) and the
course was just about ripe for some quick runs. After my third run (of five) I was able to beat Kent’s best time
and on my fourth run I set a very fast time.
My last run was a little sloppy and therefore slower - but the benchmark
had been set. Now it would be up to
Phil Smith to either embarrass me or make me look like a genius. Luckily for my MSCC teammates and me, his
best was a time of 39.743. This
compared to my best time of 39.470. At
that time, the two of us were the only ones to break in under 40 seconds.
Later
in the day, Aaron Miller took his fire breathing Neon to a time of 39.553. Aaron has ranked very high in his class at
the Solo II Nationals and he can make that damn Neon do things that Corvettes
can’t do! This day, however, belonged
to the Team Harco Colt. Not only did I
take the class win but I also claimed the Fastest Time of Day (FTD)!! In fact the little Colt claimed the third
and fourth fastest times as well.
Pretty impressive when one considers that 137 drivers competed at this
autocross (likely the largest turnout for an MSCC event).
As
for the Team Championship, did my little scheme pay off? Because each team gets to drop their worst
score from the season, we needed to score 3 points more to assure our victory. It turned out we maxxed out with 10 points
and the Ford guys fell flat with only 6.
So now, on the big team trophy for 2000 the following names will appear
- Rick Bohn, John Cowall, Phil Davisson, Scott Harvey and Mark Myers. Making this especially sweet for Mark was
the fact that Mark-Tami Hotta (from the Ford team) tried to upset the cart by
running his Miata in the CSP class to go head-to-head with Mark Myers. Hotta already had the #1 plate locked-up for
next year; he was just going for a little extra icing on his cake. Unfortunately, for him, it didn’t work
out. Not only did Hotta fail to beat
Myers, but he may, quite possibly, have cost his team the valuable points they
needed to hold on to the lead in that championship.
What
a way to close out the autocross season!
We claimed the team championship, in come-from-behind fashion, and I
took another FTD!!
Here is a
picture of Kent Young (#212) at the MSCC autocross on October 29th,
2000. Kent did a great job of warming
the tires and fluids – and ultimately had the 4th fastest time of
day. Phil Smith took the 3rd
fastest time, while the lead driver of the Team Harco/ Dragon Lady Colt claimed
the Fastest Time of Day!
Herb Spencer
The rally
community lost a gentleman competitor in 2000.
About the time of POR, Herb Spencer passed away. Less than a year earlier, Herb was diagnosed
with ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease).
This is still a terminal disease with no cure.
Herb
had become a regular on the Central Division scene and was often teamed with
Mark Hainen. These two ran POR many
times together. After a few years, Herb
became semi-regular teammates with Rob Moran.
This pairing proved to be very competitive and the two began to run up
front with the best teams in the area.
Herb
was a very friendly and a very humble man.
It was always a joy to talk with him.
He will be missed.
Some good
memories of Herb Spencer - here is a shot from the 1996 POR. Left to right is Bill Potvin, Mark Hainen
(behind), Herb Spencer and Eric Jones.
The white BMW 325ix is Herb’s car.
Satch Carlson, who made the trip from Alaska, drives the black BMW (also
a 325ix).
Late Rally Rounds
Johnny Appleseed Rally, Canton, OH.
Sept. 30, 2000
Jim Mickle had
a unique opportunity to go on a lighthouse tour of Michigan with his Airstream
club. He and his wife Marianne had been
on a waiting list and didn’t expect their number to come up for another year or
two. As luck would have it, they were
in the right place at the right time when a club member had to cancel out. The Mickle’s good fortune looked like bad
fortune for me. The tour would occur
over a period of time that also included the day of the Johnny Appleseed Rally.
After
a bit of searching for a navigator willing to run with me, Joe Andreini agreed
to do the hard work. Joe is a veteran
of the ProRally wars and has several championships to his name (mostly while
teamed with
Doug
Shepherd). Recently he has been seen in
the company of guys like Gene Henderson and Dan Coughnour at some of the bigger
RoadRallies.
As
we arrived on the outskirts of Canton, Ohio - on this sunny and mild fall day -
a truly amazing sight would greet us.
Crossing directly in front of us, some one hundred feet in the air, was
a B-17 bomber on its final approach to the Canton airport! What a sight! Now you don’t have to be a historian to realize this is one rare
bird. What a sight!
Would
this be a good omen? Well maybe
yes. Johnny Appleseed has been a very
good rally for the past few years and this running would be true to that tradition. Greg Lester again used the work/run system
for many of the daytime controls. This
really helps him in this worker-starved region. By enlisting competitors to help at controls, the Rallymaster can
have many more checkpoints than would otherwise be possible.
Some
of the same great roads were called on for this running. There were also some
new roads used. The tricky control
locations - most hidden from view until the last second - made the rally more
of a driver challenge (when compared with the average RoadRally). Greg always does a great job of mixing in
some really fun sections. Often these
are known as “Free Zones”. It means
there will be no chance for a checkpoint.
Most times it is used to safely “transit” a populated region. But sometimes - yes, sometimes - it is used
in sections where no human has yet been able to build on. Not only build on, but not even able to park
a car on. So it is with some of these “Free
Zones”; there is no place to park a control vehicle! Joy to the driver.
This
was another great rally. Joe and I were
running very close to the front all along.
We found our toughest competition in Ron Johnstonbaugh and Jack
VonKaenal. After three sections we were
trailing the leaders by three or four points.
It was a close fought battle all the way through. At no time did either team enjoy a lead of
more than 4 points.
It
was this huge 4 point lead that Johnstonbaugh and VonKaenel held going into the
last three legs of the rally. After the
scores were posted we learned of our come-from-behind victory. It was not a clean, decisive victory – but
in fact, a tie for first place. After
some 22 controls we each scored a total of 23 points in penalty. A very good score when one considers the
difficulty of the route. It surely had
to be a letdown for Johnstonbaugh and VonKeanel – they scored 1, 0 and 3 on the
last three legs. Joe and I scored three
zeros to pull out the tie. In second
was the team of Parps/ Moran with 29 points.
Shaffer and Fekete were next with 44 points and 1st place in
Limited. The Harkcoms took 4th
(3rd in E) with 54 points. 1st
in Stock (5th OA) were Tom Powell and Mike Bennett with 183
points. Dick Foster and Bill Secrest
got that much-anticipated finish in their Datsun 240Z. They made it to the end and took home a
trophy for 1st in Vintage (3rd L/ 9th OA).
Thumbs Up, Imlay City, MI. Nov. 11,
2000
Thumbs
Up was the last Detroit Region and CenDiv rally on the calendar. To make it even more special, it was also
sanctioned as a National Tour rally. This
brought out some competitors that we don’t normally see in this part of the
country. There were competitors from
Washington, Oregon, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Virginia.
Jim
Mickle was the Rallymaster for this one and your humble & obedient servant
was there to help as needed. It turned
out I was needed as part of a control crew.
I was teamed up with Floyd Soo, and we worked together at three
controls. Floyd brought along a
portable HAM radio so we were able to stay in contact with other crews and the
organizers. What a great little tool
these radios are. I have to mention
that Mr. Soo is one fascinating individual too. He is into so many different pursuits.
The
weather was very nice for so late in the year.
Temperatures were quite mild and there had been no rain (or snow) for
several days leading up to the rally.
What this means is that competitors who fly in from other parts of the
country – and use rental cars – are not at a disadvantage due to car
choice. If the roads are sloppy and
slippery, the choice of vehicle becomes more of a factor. As it was the roads were firm and dry. They were also, for the most part, unpaved. A lot of the “national types” don’t like to
rally on dirt roads nor at night. Those
that came to Michigan for this rally got both.
A
lot of our local competitors fared quite well against the national crowd. Taking home 2nd overall were
Knight and Lester. 3rd was
claimed by Parps and Moran. Second in
Limited were Shaffer and Fekete (whose picture appeared in the February 2001
issue of SportsCar, courtesy of your
favorite photojournalist).
Ron
Johnstonbaugh (from Ohio) and Jack VonKaenal (Virginia) took first overall in
the National portion of Thumbs Up.
(These are the same guys we tied for first at Johnny Appleseed). First place in Limited were Fred Mapplebeck
(NH) and Rene Ruel (NJ).
Parps
and Moran took first place honors in the divisional rally and tightened the
point differential in the race for class E.
However, after Johnny Appleseed, the Team Harco crew had the
championship wrapped-up. This marks the
third such championship for the guys in the red Talon - in the past four years.
Listed
below are the top finishers in the CenDiv RoadRally Championship Series. One with a discerning eye might notice that
Bryan Murphy and I scored a few points in Limited due to our strong placement
at POR (1st Vintage/ 3rd Limited).
2000 CenDiv RoadRally
Championship Final Standings
EQUIPPED CLASS
1T Scott Harvey/ Jim Mickle Detroit 48
2T Dave Parps/ Rob Moran Detroit/ LOL 44
3T Dave/ Daniel Harkcom Detroit 42
4
Ron Johnstonbaugh NeOhio 21
5T Ken Knight/ Greg Lester NeOhio 20
6
Joe Andreini LSR 18
7
Jeff Boris Western
Mich 14
8
Dan Coughnour WOR 13
9
Ken Swarm NeOhio 10
10 Al Tolle WMR 9
LIMITED CLASS
1T Jim Fekete/ Jim Shaffer Detroit 50
2
Steve Phillips Indy 44
3T Richard Foster/ Bill Secrest River Cities 14
4
Thomas Benham Detroit 13
5T Ron Johnstonbaugh NeOhio 10
5T Paul Roshalt LOL? 10
6T Harold Hopkinson/ Kevin Kurth Detroit 8
6T Ken Kovach/ Tom Tunnell