TeamD Adventures

This past weekend we participated in the Rally Against Parkinson’s held by the Oregon Rally Group. The SCCA rally started with 2 regularity laps around Portland International Raceway, with the top speed limited to 75mph. Cars started every 30 seconds, and workers along the way timed cars as they went by. The goal was to match times on the second lap at each point. As with previous years, the rallymaster accepted bids for starting positions. Because no passing is allowed on the track, starting position #1 is much desired. This year, spot #1 elicited a $150 donation. We drove the Mustang on this rally. During the first regularity lap, the Mustang’s tires squealed around every curve — and there was a pretty lurid slide, too. Much to our dismay, while lining up for lap #2, we discovered that the rear passenger side wheelcover was missing. The rally had a great turnout. 34 teams participated in the rally, with 20 of the teams in the Novice class! In the end, the rally raised over $4000 for charity. Brandon Harer and Logan Rosenstiel in car #1 came in first with a score of 11. April Smith and Marcus Song came in second with a score of 15. We came in third with a 16.

The Crestline 2008 rally (formerly Coast to Coast) started out Saturday morning at Osoyoos, BC bound for Grand Forks. I should have a great shot of the small brown bear that crossed in front of us and the bull blocking the road despite my incessant honking. We are off on Day 2. We have 4 regularities and car 1 ends at 1:00pm which gives us a good chance of being home in Seattle before 10pm.

At the end of Day 1 the preliminary scores are as follows. Car #9 with 237 and card # 8 with 407. Car #6 (Glenn & R Dale) got a flat tire and ended the day with 902. Car #2 (Russ and Greg) developed mechanical issues (probably a blown head gasket) and are limping their way home.

This weekend is No Alibi 2008, brought to you buy those stand up guys at the Rainier Auto Sports Club (RASC). Starting in Ellensburg, this eastern Washington touring rally will cover 550 miles of highways, gravel roads, and dusty (if the rains stop) farm roads, overnighting in Kennewick, and returning to finish back in Ellensburg. The gravel tires are on, the rally computer is mounted and tested, the harnesses are installed, and all systems are go.