Off
the Line
The Official
Semi-occasional Publication of
Team Harco
Motorsports Winter 1997/98
A
Quadruple Championship Season!!!!
Four
championships were claimed by Team Harco in 1997. The Autometric/ Dragon
Lady autocross Colt was driven to the Detroit SCCA and DCSCC championships,
again this year. The Talon was piloted
(and co-piloted) to the SCCA Central Division (CenDiv) road rally championship,
in class E. The fourth championship
goes to Team Harco navigator, Jim Mickle.
Jim captured the Detroit region SCCA road rally championship by virtue
of the points scored, both as a competitor and an organizer.
The Team Harco line-up of
Colts and the AWD Talon
CenDiv Road Rally Championship for 1997
The flight crew
on the Team Harco/Dragon Lady Eagle
Talon, Jim Mickle and Scott Jr, took the class (E) championship in the 1997
Central Division SCCA Road Rally Championship.
Additionally, Jim Mickle claimed the class win in the Detroit Road Rally
Series. Scott had to settle for 2nd
in the region, but was more than thrilled with the divisional championship.
Teamed-up for the first time in February of 1997, Harvey/Mickle became a force
to be reckoned with in the arena of road rally. The CenDiv series is covered in more detail in this edition.
Off the Line
The Official
Semi-occasional Publication of
Team Harco Motorsports Issue #7 -- Winter 1997/98
Contents
BIG Banner
Year ……...........................……....…....... 1
1997 Central
Division SCCA Road Rally Review ….…. 2
1997 Press On
Regardless Rally ..............….....…......
6
A Full Summer
Of Autocross Racing …........……...…..
9
Looking
Ahead
.......................................……............ 10
Thank You .........................................................……. 11
Team Harco
Results from 1997
.......................……...
12
The Team Harco Calendar ...............................…….. 13
On the Cover: Team photo of the Team
Harco vehicles. (L to R) The Team
Harco/Dragon Lady Rally Colt, the
Team Harco/Dragon Lady Talon and the
Team Harco/ Autometric/ Dragon Lady Autocross
Colt
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) 340-8146
(fax) (248) 340-4410
BIG Banner
Year
Team Harco has
wrapped-up its finest year ever. Scott Jr took the class championships in both
the Detroit Region SCCA and DCSCC autocross championship series. The team of
Harvey/Mickle put together a strong and steady season to claim the (CenDiv)
divisional road rally championship.
On the
autocross front; the fourth successive DCSCC and third consecutive Detroit SCCA
class championships were claimed by the driver of the Team Harco/ Dragon Lady/ Autometric Colt in 1997.
Gary Fulkerson
made a return toward the end of the autocross season, with his “Fastiva”, and
split the two head-to-head confrontations with the Harco Colt. (The one
victory, for the Ford, was by about 0.07 sec).
Unfortunately, for Gary, it was too little, too late.
Most of the
other regional EP competitors made little effort to show this year. The level of competition at CenDiv events,
on the other hand, was very strong.
After competing in their first ever CenDiv Solo event, the known areas
of needed improvement were strongly reinforced for the Team Harco crew. It’s nothing that a little money wouldn’t
cure, though. Some engine work, a fair
amount of suspension work and some fresh racing slicks would surely reduce the
gap enjoyed by the best cars in the division.
At the
regional level though, the little Colt embarrassed a lot of very fast cars and
their drivers. Another FTD, and several
top 5 (overall) finishes were claimed by the little Colt, with its equally
little 1600 cc engine, in 1997.
The major
highlights for 1997 are clearly the repeat championships, another FTD, the
CenDiv event at Oscoda and the events at Waterford Hills. Look for more of the same in 1998.
On the rally
front, 1997 proved to be the most active, and successful season ever, for Scott
Jr. Competing in most of the Detroit
Region road rallies and most of the CenDiv events, a PRO Rally, plus the POR;
it was a very full rally schedule.
Not only was
it full, but it was also quite successful.
The teams of Harvey/Mickle, Harvey/Murphy and Harvey/Zifilippo rallied,
and won, at several levels of rally competition.
Scott Jr and
Al Ziffilipo took the rally Colt to the Lockwood Lake PRO Rally, in Atlanta,
Michigan, and came home with the class win in U2. At the world famous Press On Regardless rally, the same car was
navigated by Bryan Murphy to a respectable 2nd place in the Vintage
class. But the big news for 1997 has to
be the road rally exploits of the team of Harvey/Mickle.
1997
Central Division SCCA Road Rally Review
Round 1: Ohio Winter Rally/ North East Ohio Region
Feb. 1-2; Kent, Ohio.
Format: Nighttime, brisk TSD.
Roads: Primarily unpaved, mostly gravel with enough icy
conditions to keep it interesting.
It was 3:30 AM
before the last of the teams made their way to the finish. Little had changed in the standings, since
the mid-point break. Laitenberger/McArthur
held on for the win with 21 points after 23 controls. A strong second was turned in by the new team of Harvey/Mickle,
just 4/100 of a minute back (25). Third
was taken by WOR region members, Coughnour/Marcus with 33. First in Limited, and 4th overall, were
Fekete/Shaffer with 35. A score of 22
on one control cost Lester/Moran their shot at the L class win, though
finishing with a credible 58 (good for 8th overall). 5th overall were Henderson and Puffenberger (4th E, 46). 6th
overall was taken by the Kentucky/Ohio team of Miller/Bruce with 47. Next was the Ohio/Kentucky team of Mark
Rinkel and Bill Secrest in a rear wheel drive Thunderbird! (If this guy didn’t have studded tires, he
deserves a medal for bravery).
The second
half of the rally had taken the competitors toward the northeast corner of the
state, where lake effect snows are typical.
An early thaw, however, had left the area with many icy patches on the
roads. This helped to make the going
very difficult, but exciting.
Round 2: Moonlight Monte/ Detroit Region
Feb. 22; Imlay City, Michigan.
Format: Afternoon, evening TSD
Roads: Rural (rough) unpaved, with late winter rains
flooding-out portions of the route.
The second
CenDiv championship road rally was run out of Imlay City on Feb. 22nd. The winter thaw had hit the area early and
some heavy rains conspired to make this an unusual rally in many regards.
The route had
been diverted to avoid a flooded river crossing. That still didn’t stop at least one rally team and the sweep vehicle
(the Harco Talon), from nearly going for an icy cold bath.
Harvey/Mickle
scored points as organizers of the rally.
The event was won by the Ohio team of Lester/Swarm from class L. Gene Henderson and Jeff Boris took first in
E and second overall. The Murphys took
the S class win and Botha/Pickett won Novice.
Round 3: A Grand Adventure/ Western Michigan
April 12; Ionia, Michigan.
Format: Afternoon, evening TSD
Roads: Rural unpaved, mix of muddy and more hard packed
dirt.
After 140
sloppy, miles of some nice, muddy roads between Grand Rapids and Lansing;
another overall win for an L class team was claimed. This time it was “The Jims”.
And this time they traded seats from their normal positions! This time Schaffer drove and Fekete
navigated.
Harvey/Mickle
took second overall, but more importantly, first in E. Interestingly, the cause of limited turbo
boost, on the Team Harco Talon, had been discovered just prior to the start of
the timed portion of the rally. The
wastegate linkage had worked its way off the turbo. After a bit of tussling,
the linkage was forced back onto its post and, the team enjoyed the rest of the
day with sufficient engine output.
The Western
Michigan Region, with a little assistance from the Detroit Region, did an
outstanding job in the execution of the rally.
Jeff Secor and Tom Inman did an outstanding job and it is hoped that “A
Grand Adventure” will become a mainstay on the schedule.
Round 4: Hot Moon Tulip/ Western Ohio Region
May 10-11; Xenia, Ohio.
Format: Brisk nighttime TSD
Roads: All paved, dry conditions lending them themselves
nicely to the very brisk speeds.
The Hot Moon
Tulip Rally was the fourth rally of the year on the CenDiv schedule. This rally would be a little different from
the other CenDiv events to date; the entire rally route would be on paved
roads. Run entirely at night in the
rural areas of west central Ohio, the rally was advertised as a brisk TSD
rally. The rally certainly lived-up to
its advance billing. The speeds were
quite brisk indeed. In the opinion of
the driver of the Team Harco/ Dragon
Lady Talon, the throttle was wide open 50% of the rally. The brakes got quite a work-out too.
As rallymaster
Dan Coughnour reported, the rally had “perfect weather and a perfect
night”. And after 160 hard driven miles
and 14 scored controls, the team of Harvey/ Mickle had emerged with an
outstanding score of 13. Hardly
believing that their score of 14 was not good enough for the win; the team of
Dick Foster and Bill Secrest had to settle with second place. Only three points back were Gene Henderson
and Rob Moran with 16.
Round 5 & 6: Chippewa Trail/ Land of Lakes Region
June 14; Illinois.
Format: Unknown
Roads:
Unknown
The Chippawa
Trail rallies were dominated by teams from the LOL region. Few competitors from outside that region
were entered. None of the championship
contenders, with the exception of Greg Lester (NeOhio Region/ L class), made
the trip.
Round 7: CAST In Stone/ Detroit Region July 26; Lansing,
Michigan. Format: Afternoon, evening TSD Roads: Primarily
unpaved, dry, well maintained dirt and gravel.
240 miles of
hilly, twisty dirt roads were to greet the teams as they ventured out from
Lansing. At the first control the team
of Harvey/Mickle arrived one minute early.
The self inflicted wound cost the team 100 points and any chance at a
good score for the rally.
At the end,
though, the team had only 124 total points.
Even without the excess baggage, the team would only have been able to
claim second. Mark Henderson and John
Puffenberger ran a trouble free rally and won going away. Their score of 22, after 30 checkpoints, is
nothing short of outstanding. As it
was, the early mistake meant the Harco crew could do no better than fifth in
class.
First in L was
taken by Parps (from Wisconsin) and Lester (from Ohio). Stock class was won by Worden and Murphy.
Round 8: Johnny Appleseed/ NeOhio Region
October 4-5; Canton, Ohio.
Format: Afternoon, evening brisk TSD
Roads:
Unpaved, dry, very hilly and twisty.
The
rural hill country of east central Ohio would be the site of some of the most
challenging roads on the CenDiv schedule.
To make it even more challenging, the speeds to be maintained were very
brisk.
The
first half of the rally was run under sunny skies and unseasonably warm
conditions. Unfortunately, the nice
weather brought out a number of friendly Ohioans. One such friendly Buckeye was out for a walk on HER road; as we
passed, she yelled to SLOW DOWN. I
glanced at the display - it registered 21 mph - the speed we had been traveling
for some time (even though it was a transit section). She issued the salute; that the “Buckeyes are number 1”. I must admit, I was duly forced to counter
with the “Wolverines are number 1” salute in response. At the
time,
both schools could, legitimately, make such claims. Let history show who was right in the end.
(Editors
note: An attempt has always been made to distance the editor/author from the
action. The thought being that it will
provide a more objective or non-biased view of events as they have
occurred. However, the last segment did
lend itself more readily to being described in the first person. In the future I will try to intersperse these first hand experiences, in limited
quantities, to help give the stories a little more life. Should the reader feel that this approach is
inappropriate, please contact the editor and let your opinions be known. – Ed.)
With
clever use of control locations and crews, as well as some of the finest roads
south of the Michigan border, Greg Lester presented an outstanding rally. It is billed as “Son of Gravelrash”, which
was a mainstay on the PRO Rally circuit in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The roads certainly lived up to the claims.
Taking
first place honors, after a well fought battle, were two teams. A tie for first was scored by Friedman and
Goldfarb from New Hampshire and Mark Henderson with John Puffenberger
(Michigan/Ohio respectively). Their
scores, after 200 miles of fun, challenging, roads and 22 controls, were equal
at 21. Only three points back were
Harvey and Mickle.
These
points were taken early, by the Harco crew.
The driver took a momentary lapse, not sure which road to proceed
on. Several roads intersected,
seemingly from all directions, in a hallow in the hills. This slight lift off the throttle cost the
team four points at the next control, which was just up the hill on the road
which went “bear right”. It only goes
to show how such a small error can mean the difference between winning and
not. The top three teams were running
neck and neck the whole rally, with the slightest mistake making the
difference.
Taking the
class win in class S, and 6th overall, were Ahrens and Nick with
106. Class L was won by Kovach and
Benham with 152. The latter team
assisted the rallymaster greatly by acting as a control crew on several
occasions throughout the rally. They
would proceed from a start location as car number -5 (or similar) and, at the
first checkpoint they encountered, they would take over duties as the crew for
that control. This system would free up
the original crew to move on to another checkpoint just up the road.
Johnny
Appleseed has become a “must run” on the CenDiv schedule. It draws many competitors from many states
and has now become one of the primary events on the Team Harco calendar.
Round 9: Crossing the Line/ Detroit Region October 11; Marshall, Michigan Format: Afternoon,
evening TSD Roads: Unpaved, dry.
Mild weather
and dry conditions greeted the crews for round 9 of the CenDiv rally
series. The rural farm roads around
Marshall, Michigan would be the site of Crossing the Line.
Along with the
normal team rivalries, were a number of students from both Michigan Tech (in
Michigan’s upper peninsula!) and GMI.
They used Crossing the Line for a little friendly competition. From the results, it would appear that the
students from MTU won this round. The
GMI students have had very strong representation all year though; at many TSD
and PRO Rallies in Michigan.
Up front
though, a huge battle waged among the regulars in class E. Shue and Townsend had put together their
usual stellar run, until something happened on the last two legs. Their score of 412 left many wondering what
might have been were it not for the 400 points they racked-up on those last two
fatal legs. The two maximum scores (200
points each) dropped them from 1st to 8th overall, at the
end. Shue and Townsend have been
regional champions in class E several times over. This year, though, they have found the sledding very tough. With at least five or six other teams
showing-up and capable of taking victory at any given rally, their onetime
stranglehold on the class has been loosened.
The
benefactors in all this turned out to be Harvey and Mickle. A good steady run was rewarded with another
victory. This one by the narrowest of
margins. The Harco crew’s score of 16
points, after 16 controls, edged out Mark Henderson and John Puffenberger by
just one point. Another single point
back, in third, were Gene Henderson and Rob Moran (18 points). The class L winners were Lester and Swarm,
from Ohio, with 24. The Novice class
winning team of Essenburg/Haveman (MTU) beat out the Stock class winning team
of Kleckner and Scott (GMI); 437 to 577.
While there is
very little elevation change in the area of this rally, Terry Palmer and his
sidekick, Art Welch did well to find some of the more interesting roads. Crossing the Line, like many other rallies
on the schedule, has become a strong event and should remain so for years to
come.
Round 10: Thumbs Up IX/ Detroit Region November 8; Imlay City,
Michigan
Format: Afternoon, evening TSD Roads: Unpaved, dry.
Many new roads
were selected for use on the ninth running of Thumbs Up. These roads were a welcome sight to the
regulars who
came to run Jim Mickle’s other rally (the first being Moonlight Monte). Mickle and Tom Woodside did another great
job of selecting good roads from the few choices available here in the
flatlands.
The Team Harco
crew of Harvey and Mickle had wrapped-up the CenDiv championship, the month
earlier, by virtue of their win at Crossing the Line. Jim Mickle had also taken the Detroit region championship at the
last event. Scott, however did not
score the same organizer points (under the Detroit region scoring scheme) which
Mickle had accumulated, so the use of the “A” box was offered up for use in the
Team Harco Talon. The thought here, was
to give Scott a chance for a tie in the regional championship with Mickle and
Mark Henderson. (A win would do just that). Alongside for the navigational duties would
be, Bryan Murphy. Bryan had only used a
rally computer one time previously, but was willing to give it a go. A win would surely be unexpected, but quite
welcome.
The rally went
well early on for the team of Harvey/Murphy as they were running in the top two
positions for the first third of the rally.
Let’s let the driver tell his story.
We came off a
transit and waited a few minutes before it was time to proceed. Bryan had entered zero for our speed during
the transit (as time is the only thing given in the instructions for a transit). The only problem was, he forgot to shift the
new CAST (average speed) into the active window on the computer before we left
to start the next leg. I watched my
display continue to show that we were late and getting later all the time. The natural instinct is to go faster, all
that did was make us even later.
I glanced over
at the computer to see what CAST was entered.
It showed “00”. We stopped,
discussed what to do and turned around to start the leg again. Unfortunately, Bryan was unable to successfully
“rebuild” the previous leg and we did not “buy” enough time when we arrived at
the next control. The max we scored
there put us right out of contention for the win.
In the end
Mark Henderson and John Puffenberger took the win with a score of 37. Without our mistake, the best we could have
scored would have been 41, as we finished with 241. This would have been good enough for second though. As it was, Jeff and Deb Secor claimed 2nd
with a score of 103. First in L were
Radabaugh and Baerkircher at 123. Up
from Ohio, and taking Vintage class honors were Jones and Ward in Eric’s
immaculate ’64 MGB (245). Stock was
taken by Worden and Pratt with 385 points.
The Novice class winners are an interesting pair, not so much for what
they did on the rally; but for their mailing addresses. Gary Evans was listed as being from San
Marcos, California and Matt Decker from Versailles, Kentucky. (Most likely they are some of the many
college students who have been coming out from GMI).
Round 11 & 12: Glacier Trails I & II/ Blackhawk Valley November 29-30; Madison, Wisconsin Format: Afternoon,
evening TSD
Roads: Primarily paved, very hilly - shrouded in fog.
The last
divisional rallies of 1997 would be run out of scenic Madison, Wisconsin. The hills and farms, of this region of the
country, are normally quite picturesque.
The only problem though, was that the hoped for snow and ice had been
displaced with dense fog. Visibility
was no greater than half a mile when the rally started a little before noon on
Saturday.
The location
for the start and tech inspection was the Zimbrick European auto dealership in
Madison. The rally cars were brought
indoors into their giant service area; where tech was performed on each of the
competitor’s vehicles. The running joke
among the competitors revolved around the fine automobiles which were sold and
serviced at Zimbrick’s. It went
something like this: “What’s wrong with this picture? We have Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Saab and …. Hyundai?”
From there,
the teams headed out to the rural roads in the dense fog. The roads were quite enjoyable and very
challenging, as the speeds were quite brisk.
Had the roads been covered in the expected snow, or ice, it would have
been nearly impossible to remain on time.
Most teams
were able to negotiate the roads and conditions with little drama. After 150 miles and 23 controls the husband
and wife team of Jeff and Deb Secor had come home with a score of 13. Their score was even better than the best
scores turned in by the national competitors who were using the two divisional
segments to make-up a national rally.
Second in E was Mark Henderson (with Rob Moran), who needed to win both divisionals
to tie Harvey and Mickle for the divisional championship. The Team Harco crew ended up third after
missing a turn and arriving 9 late at the next control.
The second
divisional was not without its problems.
Several controls were not present, when and where they should have
been. The organizers had seemingly been
a little overly ambitious in their ability to get enough control crews together
and coordinate them properly. In all
the confusion and frustration the two protagonists in the CenDiv, class E,
battle agreed to end the misery and returned to headquarters early. The record will show a tie for first in E
for the teams of Henderson/Moran and Harvey/Mickle, but there were no
ticker-tape parades after this rally.
Glacier Trails
should become an excellent addition to the CenDiv calendar. The organizers should, however, try to scale
back their plans to a more manageable level.
The roads and scenery in the Madison area are outstanding; this together
with a properly run rally will keep the competitors coming back.
1997 SCCA Central Division Road Rally Championship Final
standings (top 10 in E, top 5 in L and S):
Class E:
1)
Scott Harvey, Jr/
Detroit Region/ 50 pts
1) Jim Mickle/
Detroit Region/ 50 pts
2) Mark Henderson/
Detroit Region/ 48 pts
3) John
Puffenberger/ Detroit Region/ 46 pts
4) Rob Moran/
Detroit Region/ 40 pts
5) Gene Henderson/
Detroit Region/ 38 pts
6) Deb Secor/
Western Michigan Region/ 33 pts
6) Jeff Secor/
Western Michigan Region/ 33 pts
7) Dan Coughnour/
Western Ohio Region/ 30 pts
8) Bill Secrest/ River
Cities Region/ 27 pts
9) Rick Shue/
Detroit Region/ 18 pts
10) Mark Rinkel/ North East Ohio Region/ 14 pts
Class L:
1) Greg Lester/
North East Ohio Region/ 50 pts
2) Jim Fekete/
Detroit Region/ 48 pts
2) Jim Shaffer/
Detroit Region/ 48 pts
3) Thomas Benham/ North East Ohio Region/ 44 pts
3) Ken Swarm/
North East Ohio Region/ 44 pts
4) John Hinkle/
North East Ohio Region/ 39 pts
5) Terry Palmer/
Detroit Region/ 23 pts
5) Arthur Welch/
Detroit Region/ 23 pts
Class S:
1) Brian Scott/
Detroit Region/ 46 pts
2) Richard Worden/
Detroit Region/ 44 pts
3) Mark Kleckner/
Detroit Region/ 30 pts
4) Bryan Murphy/
Detroit Region/ 28 pts
5) Brian Mahnken/
Detroit Region/ 21 pts
5) Jeff Wernberg/
Detroit Region/ 21 pts
September 12-14,1997; Alma, Michigan
The biggest
rally of the year, the fabled Press On Regardless (POR), was again run out of
Alma, Michigan. This would mark the 48th
anniversary of the rally, and was being used as a possible model for the 50th
running in 1999. The format for 1997
would still be that of 600 miles of the dirtiest, nastiest roads Michigan’s
lower peninsula has to offer. The main
difference though would be that all driving would be done at night. Each night’s (driving) activities would begin
about 9:00 PM and go until 7:00 AM the next day.
The
competitors, from across the country, congregated in Alma for a leisurely
dinner at headquarters on Friday night. During this time, the rally vehicles
were on display at the “Parc Expose”.
This would be the last chance to see the cars and their occupants in
their clean and fresh condition.
The list of
entrants read like a “Who’s Who” of American rallyists, of recent years. Jim Shaffer (last year’s winning
navigator)and Rob Moran drew “car” #1 for their Jeep Grand Cherokee. The experienced team of Friedman/ Goldfarb
made the trip from New Hampshire and would be second on the road in their AWD
Talon. Kammer/ Adams would be back
again this year, also in a Talon; from New York (car #12). Webb and Schneider would draw car #7 for
their Galant VR-4 (from Maine). The
remainder would be made of crews from Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Kentucky and (of course) Michigan.
Conspicuous in his absence, was the well known automotive lunatic from
Alaska; one Satch Carlson. (Though he
promises to return for 1998).
The vintage
contingent was well represented as well.
Jones and Potvin were back to defend their class win, in their beautiful
’64 MGB. Harvey and Murphy brought the,
“strong as a tank”, Team Harco Colt.
Chuck Fortino and Jim Brandt would bring their trusty ’65 Plymouth
Valiant, Pierce and Koch were back with Bob’s lovely little Mini Cooper. New to the vintage (POR) ranks, were Kevin
Clemens and John Deikis in a 1960 Volvo 544 Sport. Kevin has written a very nice article on the ’97 POR which
appears in the Feb ’98 issue of European Car. (Incidentally, his column goes by the title “On The Line”).
After a nice
meal, the teams headed out of Alma in a westerly direction on the odometer
check. The vintage Halda (correctable
odometer) in the Harco Colt began to act-up after the odo run. We changed one of the gears to give us a
more correct factor for the tires we were running.
After
reassembling the Halda, the gears were not meshing properly. Thus we would tear down the road for a few
hundred feet only to have to turn around and try again. After about four tries, we finally got the
gears to mesh properly and hoped that no further problems would occur.
After about an
hour of transit time; the rally began in earnest. A couple days worth of rain did a great job of keeping the dust
down and left some nice little puddles to splash through. The moisture in the ground was also evident
in the air; in the form of fog. This
presented a problem for many teams, but not the Team Harco/ Dragon Lady Colt. With a full complement of auxiliary lighting
to choose from, the driver was able to switch on or off any combination of fog,
driving, high beam, low beam and cornering lamps. Bryan remarked that we must have looked like a Christmas tree,
with all the lights flicking on and off.
Not only did
we have the proper lighting for all conditions, but we had also made the
correct tire selection. The BFG
Mud-Terrain tires were ideal for the muddy and sandy conditions encountered
throughout both nights.
A concern that
sleepiness could become a factor with the all night, for two nights,
format. I am happy to say it was not a
problem. The roads, and the very brisk speeds were enough to keep
Rip Van Winkle awake all night. In
fact, the second night, I only consumed three cans of Coke all night. (And no
coffee).
The only thing
lost to this format was the party time.
After a hard night of rallying, the crews enjoy the time together;
telling lies, replenishing bodily fluids and watching rally films. But after a full nights drive and total
sleep deprivation, most competitors slept during the off hours to be fresh for
that which lay ahead. (Besides, beer
just doesn’t taste the same at 7:00 AM).
Out on the
roads, it was strictly business for the crews and their vehicles. By running late into the night the risk of
other, non-rally, traffic is greatly reduced.
Any vehicles coming the other way; would usually get enough warning with
the oncoming lights. Though I must say,
I don’t recall seeing more than two vehicles coming the other way, the whole
rally!
This was
primarily due to the roads selected by the rallymaster. Some of which were the kind that might not
see a vehicle for two weeks, at times.
Many of these roads, if you can call them that, were narrow, deep sand
trails with no more than a foot to spare on either side. They would be lined with little magnetic
trees, drawing you closer with each turn of the wheel.
There were
times when the surroundings became a surrealistic dreamland. There were trees and ground cover which
appeared as though they were covered with snow. The bright driving lights made the landscape appear as a frozen, winter,
wonderland. I mentioned the strange
aberrations to Bryan. He said that the
trees were aspens. Well I don’t know an
aspen from a hole in the ground, but it sure was pretty.
With all the
nature and beauty to behold, we were still on a mission. Remain on time. We were doing a great job of it early on, too. But, about two thirds of the way into the
first night we found ourselves down two minutes. It was hard to imagine how we could be so late, having just come
off a transit section. It seems the
chairman had intended the STOP signs to be considered advisory. We were unable to determine at what point we
should apply for a TA (Time Allowance) and for how long. Our lateness was carried through several
closed controls (car is timed but does not stop) and our fate was sealed when
we arrived at the next open control.
Our early lead had faded to a distant third.
Dozens of
other stories exist, for every competitor, in an event of this sort. To touch on just a couple: we came upon the
rally leaders (Freidman/Goldfarb) stuck in some deep sand on a hilly clearing. They were being pulled out by their fellow
competitors. First Mark Henderson, then
Dan Coughnour took turns pulling with their 4WD vehicles until the Talon was
free. Coughnour and Folger were 2nd
at the time, behind “Freidfarb” (as they are affectionately called), when they
gave assistance. While they could have
benefited greatly from the misfortune of the leaders, the team from Ohio showed
the true camaraderie and sportsmanship that exists among rallyists.
On the second
night of the rally Steve Novatne, navigator for Fred Cochran, complained of
chest pains and was taken to the hospital.
Fortunately, all was well for Novatne; but it was quite a scare.
The sun was
just coming up when we finished the last couple of legs of “day” 1. What a sorry looking lot we must have been -
dragging our dead asses and dirty luggage into the Wolverine Dilworth Inn, in
Boyne City. The sun was shining bright
off the blue waters of Lake Charlevoix.
A bayside condominium would be our shelter for the day. So what shall we do
while here at this vacation paradise?
Get the key in the door and find the beds!! Zzzzzzzzzzz.
Rising at the
crack of 5:00 PM; we checked over the car.
Took it for a wash and gassed-up.
The folks at the gas station had already had some rallyists stop in. We got a number of questions and we finally
all agreed that it was “Cannonball Run” (with Burt Reynolds), that best defined
what we were doing. (The movie has nothing in common with the POR except that
people and cars are involved. But
Granny, at the Boyne City Marathon, had us pegged).
Two PRO Rally prepped cars at
Boyne City layover. Harvey/Murphy Colt
needs a bath, Kovach/Rinkel Escort just got one.
Another great
meal; and the half-way awards were presented back at the Dilworth. Aside from Total Petroleum, the major
sponsor of the POR, Mac Sam Specialties supports the rally with a number of
awards. The class leaders each received
their mid-point awards and all remaining competitors were given pins,
clipboards, maps, pens and other valuable mementos.
Regrettably,
there were three crews who didn’t make it to the mid-point. The Mini of Pierce and Koch suffered from
coolant loss after rear-ending the Sonoma pick-up of Prior/Secrest. Coulthard/Vey chose POR as their
introduction to rallying. They soon
realized they were not prepared. The
third team was Fisher and Bell, from western Michigan. They had car trouble and were unable to make
the start, back in Alma.
Enough of
that! It’s time for another 300 miles
of mud and guts. We returned toward
Alma on more great roads to the east, until a break in Gaylord found us telling
lies at Blimpies. 11:00 PM on a
Saturday, at the Gaylord Blimpies. It
doesn’t get any better than this.
A restart from
the desolate lot of the Racing Hall of Fame, just past midnight, would send us
east again and then south. The night
was young and the roads were beckoning.
One road in this portion, was as steep and twisty as any I have seen in
lower Michigan. Ninety right, followed
by a ninety left, followed by another right; for what seemed like three or four
miles! It was “deja vu all over again”,
all the way up the hill. The same turns
would be followed by the same short straights.
The road was less than two lanes wide and it just kept going UP! At 3:00 AM, in the middle of nowhere, here
we are tearing up the side of this hill at speeds that would surely have had us
all in jail had anyone been there to see it. Great fun!
Then there was
a control at the top of the hill.
(Surprised?) We were early. At
least we had more fun than the guys who were late. Not long after this we had our last fuel stop. About 4:00 AM at a large Total truck stop,
the teams have another 40 minutes to kill.
Eric Jones, in
the MGB just ahead of us on the road (and even more in the score), tells of the
lack of deer on this second night. He
says they saw about a dozen deer the first night. I mention that we saw none the first night, but have seen 6 or 8
here on the second night. My theory, at
the time, was that the sun set a minute later on the second night and thus the
deer were near the road that same minute later; for us. After all, Jones and Potvin were exactly one
minute ahead of us on the road. The
only problem with this theory, is that the sun sets earlier each night between
the summer and winter solstices. So
that’s probably not it.
More stories,
of the roads traveled and the near misses, are traded. But most are too tired to tell the really
good lies. By this time I notice the
deer whistles mounted on the front bumper of the Coughnour/ Folger Cherokee. I tell the Steven Wright joke; about the
fact that if you affix the whistles in the wrong direction, the deer will come
running out of the woods and down the road after you. (Somehow it seems funnier when Steven Wright tells it).
One last
section of nice, dirty, slippery, sloppy, slimy, beautiful roads are left;
before the utterly boring 50 mile highway run into Alma. There is light now. But we are still in a haze. Tired, exhausted, but somehow content. We have faced the challenge, and we have met
it. We can be counted among the
finishers of the Press On Regardless.
The walking
dead find their way into the Alma headquarters for breakfast and awards. The workers and competitors gather together
again; but the stories are much more subdued.
The drain, on everyone involved, shows in their faces and their
actions. The animated gestures, loud
voices and general revelry are somehow missing. Food and sleep seem to be first on everyone’s mind. There also seemed to be some interest in the
scores. First though, there were,
apparently, two or three disputes about equipment irregularities in a couple of
classes. By the time everyone had
finished eating, scores are posted and awards are presented.
Freidman and
Goldfarb hold on for the win, but after 62 scored controls, their win is by
only 19 points. They edge out Coughnour
and Folger by a score of 80 to 99.
Third, and more than one hundred points back, are Webb and Schneider. Michigan residents take the next three
places. Mark Henderson and John Puffenberger
take fourth overall and fourth in class E.
Shaffer and Moran are next and take the class win in L. Sixth would go to Wittine and Talcott in the
“Police Caprice” (not the best of cars for these kinds of
roads - but it
is some testament to the skill and fortitude of this crew).
Seventh
overall and first in Vintage would be, defending class winners, Jones and
Potvin. Eric Jones’ 1964 MGB is a
replica of the Morley Brother’s factory car of the mid ‘60s. In fact, the vehicle registry is the same -
7 DBL (though it’s registered in Ohio, not Great Britain). Another replica of a car which competed in
the 1964 Monte Carlo Rallye, in
Europe, was
the Valiant of Fortino and Brandt. They
were not able to hold on to second in class and ended third behind the Colt of
Harvey/Murphy. The Team Harco Colt is
not a replica of anything, it IS the car which fought the PRO Rally wars of the
mid-‘70s; when campaigned by Scott Sr.
Winning S were
Wernberg and Mahnken, which was also good for 15th overall. Novice was won by the Alma team of Clements
and Wieferich, in their Jeep CJ-5. The
“Dead Last But Finished” award went to Camp and Haase in, “Herbie”, the love
bug (’72 VW Beetle).
Everyone
seemed to enjoy the rally and are already talking about next year. Even Kevin Clemens, in the vintage Volvo,
had enough fun to claim that he will return.
The promise of more party-time and a less intense schedule has the
competitors anxiously awaiting the 49th running of the POR. Chairman, Gene Henderson, is calling the 1998
running of the POR a “dress rehearsal” for the 50th running in
1999. He plans to spread the rally over
three days and nights, but with less early morning driving. A kinder, gentler POR?
The POR for
1997 was not the car-breaker or even the performance (PRO) rally it was in
other times. It was however, true to
the brisk endurance nature of its current format. With the promise of somewhat kinder hours, the same great roads
and brisk speeds for the next few years; this would be the ideal time to become
involved. (If you’re not already so
afflicted).
Friedman/Goldfarb attract a
crowd as competitors look for the secret to their success.
Results
of: Total POR 1997 Alma - Boyne City - Alma September 12-14 62 controls
scored
1/1E Mike
Friedman/ Marc Goldfarb - NH/NH 80 ’90 Eagle Talon #2
2/2E Dan
Coughnour/ Mike Folger - OH/OH 99 ’96 Jeep Cherokee #5
3/3E Gary Webb/
Peter Schneider - ME/NJ 204 ’91 Mitsubishi Galant
VR-4 #7
4/4E Mark
Henderson/ John Puffenberger - MI/OH 295 ’91 Subaru Legacy Turbo #3
5/1L Jim
Shaffer/ Rob Moran - MI/MI 330 ’97 Jeep Grand Cherokee #1
6/5E Randy
Wittine/ Les Talcott - MI/MI 370 ’91 Chevrolet (Police) Caprice #4
7/1V Eric Jones/
Bill Potvin - OH/OH 415 ’64 MBG #13
8/6E David
Miller/ David Bruce - KY/OH 668 ’89 Honda CRX #8
9/2L Ken
Kovach/ Mark Rinkel - OH/OH 1521 ’91 Ford Escort #11
10/7E Walt
Kammer/ Jackie Adams - NY/NY 1604 ’91 Eagle Talon #12
11/2V Scott
Harvey, Jr/ Bryan Murphy - MI/MI 1760 ’75 Dodge Colt GT #14
12/3V Chuck
Fortino/ Jim Brandt - MI/MI 2340 ’65 Plymouth Valiant #17
13/3L Herb
Spencer/ Mark Hainen - OH/MI 2525 ’88 BMW 325ix #9
14/4L Jim White/
Jerry White - IL/IL 3347 ’90 Subaru Legacy #10
15/1S Jeff
Wernberg/ Brain Mahnken - MI/MI 3356 ’87 VW Golf GTI #23
16/5L Jim Prior/
Bill Secrest - OH/KY 3591 ’94 GMC Sonoma #18
17/2S Richard
Worden/ Martin Golabek - MI/MI 3871 ’96 Saab 900SE #25
18/3S Colin
Botha/ James Quaderer MI/MI 4342 ’87 Acura Integra #21
19/4S Mark
Kleckner/ Jeff Hribar - OH/MI 4477 ’95 Ford Thunderbird #22
20/5S Jon
Rhynard/ Larry Richards - MI/MI 5201 ’86 Ford Police Car #20
21/4V Kevin
Clemens/ John Deikis - MI/MI 6428 ’60 Volvo 544 Sport #15
22/1N Terry
Clements/ Wayne Wieferich - MI/MI 7044 ‘73 Jeep CJ-5 #26
23/6S Tom Camp/
Tyler Haase - MI/MI 7115 ’72 VW Beetle #24 DNF/S Fred Cochran/ Steve Novatne - NJ/PA ’90
Eagle Talon #19 DNF/V Bob Pierce/ Becky Koch - MI/MI ’65 Mini Cooper #16 DNF/N Alan Coulthard/ Ann Vey - MI/MI ’97
Ford Explorer #27 DNS/E Bruce
Fisher/ Tom Bell - MI/MI ’89
Mazda 323 GTX #6
In the paddock at Waterford
Hills (July, 1997)
A Full Summer Of Autocross Racing