NEXT EVENT:

United States Grand Prix

Austin, TX

Follow us during the event with our APRS tracking.

PLAN B TOMORROW

So work and life have been busy these last few weeks, and I’ve never posted a wrap-up of the High Desert Trails rally.  I’ll try to be better about that after tomorrow’s Plan B rally.  Chuck took the car for a spin after tech and broke a CV joint, so we have our mechanical failure for the weekend out of the way.  It is going to be a hot one tomorrow.  The forecasted high is in the 90s, but there are also supposed to be 30 mph winds, so at least dust shouldn’t be a problem.

Remember to follow our progress at rallydata.com (I’m talking to you, Dad).  I’ll also be tweeting updates, cell phone coverage permitting.

INTO ORBIT

I hope to have recaps of both High Desert Trails and Plan B in the next day or so.  In the meantime, here’s a crazy jump that puts ours at Idaho Rally 2009 to shame.  Funny how the co-driver almost drops the notes for a second.

MIDSEASON REPORT:

HDT and PLAN B RECAP, IDAHO PREVIEW

I’ve been a bit lax in getting the website updated, so this will be a recap of the past two events, and a preview of next week’s Idaho Rally. 

The weekend of April 17th brought the High Desert Trails Rally to Ridgecrest, CA. Being a single-venue event HDT utilizes the same section of road, run three times each direction.  With each pass the road does degrade some, becoming increasingly sandy in the tight turns and exposing rocks throughout.  As such, each pass offers new challenges and hazards.

After a tentative run at the season opener the team plan was to open it up  and look to set more competitive times. On the first stage pushing into a hairpin left-hander Chuck was on the brakes hard, and off the road we shot well before the turn.  After a second occurrence of the same behavior it became apparent that a problem with the braking system was pulling the car to the left anytime Chuck was hard on the brakes.  We ran the rest of the stage tentatively to make it to the finish, dropping 30 seconds to the leaders in the process.  Tom Laeng was able to affect a repair to the brakes and we set more competitive times.  We were unable to match the times of eventual class winners Gaylord Van Brocklin and Steve Secviar, but our subsequent runs netted us second place in Group 2.

Indio, California, served as the headquarters for the next round of the California Rally Series, the Plan B Rally.  Utilizing some of the same roads as Desert Storm the Plan B stages offered a mix of high speed desert tracks and more technical and twisty roads with elevation changes.  While the faster stages didn’t suit our car nor our “just finish” strategy mechanical woes amongst our competitors resulted in another class podium finish of 3rd place in Group 2.  Another result of our string of consistent finishes is that Chuck and I now lead the California Rally Series Group 2 points championship.  Our lead is is a tenuous 15 points over second place, 677 to 662.  Some in-car footage, incomplete and with audio issues (technical gremlins), can be seen here.

The weekend of July 15 marks the beginning of  the next CRS event, Idaho Rally.  The event website is pretty cool and is worth checking out  for the stage flyover animations alone.  Follow our progress there, check here for updates, or follow us on twitter, #jdsrally, #olddirtyracing and #crspress.

ANOTHER GOOD FINISH AT IDAHO RALLY

The weekend of July 15-17 marked this year’s running of Idaho Rally.  A move of event headquarters from Mountain Home to Boise, a side by side Super Special, and several new stages promised to bring something new to what was my favorite event of 2009.

We were never able to challenge for the class lead, but good consistent runs netted needed points for the season championship.  Our runs were relatively uneventful except for the final transit from the stages to the rally campus both Friday and Saturday, and a competitor’s Car-B-Q that Chuck played amateur firefighter with.  On Friday the brake pedal was finding its way to the floor making the narrow and twisty transit with plenty of oncoming civilian traffic more exciting than I was looking for.  On Saturday about halfway through the final forest stage the shift linkage came apart and we finished the stage and the subsequent 40+ mile transit back to service stuck in fourth gear.  This wasn’t much of a problem in the forest, but as we encountered traffic in Boise the clutch began to give out.  Fortunately we made it back and were able to repair the linkage before the final Super Special that concluded the rally.

Some photos from the event:

That’s the top of Jerry Rice’s head.  No, really.  He was on my flight from SFO to Reno on my way to the rally.  I didn’t recognize him until he disembarked.  People were asking for his autograph and taking photos with him, so I knew it must be “somebody”.  He was generous with his time.  “But why would Jerry Rice be riding in coach” you ask?  It was a Southwest flight and there is no assigned seating which means he was back with the rest of the unwashed.

The rally takes place in some truly spectacular country, and recce affords the opportunity to stop and appreciate the beauty of the landscape.  None of my photos do it justice, but here is a nice one.

August 28 marks the annual running of the Gorman Ridge Rally, in Lebec, CA.  Remember to follow our progress on twitter, our APRS page or on Facebook.  Check back here for the post rally wrap-up on Sunday.  Rally On!

GORMAN RIDGE & SEED 9 RALLIES: 2 DNFs

After a consistent start to the season the final two events brought mechanical failures that cost the team the opportunity to challenge for the season championship.

August’s Gorman Ridge Rally started out well, with very respectable times on stages one and two.  Then, at the left where Badger Pass rejoins North Boundary the car just died.  After a minute of lost time Chuck was able to get the car re-fired.  A mile into the subsequent stage the car died again, this time for good.  Rally over.

The time and expense of repairing the engine meant that we had to miss the Prescott Rally, truly a shame as it is a great event that I haven’t had the opportunity to run since 2004.  That meant our championship chances hung on a good performance at Seed 9 and some misfortune for our rivals.

The misfortune was to be ours, it turns out.  A broken axel meant the end of our run, just as a torrential downpour began.  The lightning show was quite spectacular, the smell of wet desert quite heady, and the disappointment palpable.  Nonetheless, the rally awards at the Pioneer Saloon was memorable.  The beer flowed freely, as did the water through the roof of the great old watering hole.

I’d like to thank Chuck Wilson for the great season, Tom Laeng and all the folks at Laengworks, the organizers and volunteers.  See you in 2011.

LONG TIME, NO UPDATE

2011 will mark the first time since 2003 that I did not compete in at least one rally per year.  As such, I haven’t had much reason to update the website.  I’ve kept in touch with my rallyistas through volunteering at a couple of events, but I don’t think those stories would be very interesting.  As a result I’ve decided to begin to update with news and happenings only peripherally connected to rally, racing and cars.

We took the boys to Palomar Observatory for a tour a few weeks back; a fun and informative way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  At the little general store on the way home I spotted this Ariel Atom.  Pretty cool.

I stalled getting the boys back in the car after their ice cream in the hopes the owner would show up so we could chat, but no such luck.

When I was seven or eight my father made a racetrack game I could play utilizing the multitude of Matchbox cars I had.  I must have played that game for a good six years, even after I had my first Nintendo.  I’m not sure how many children today know or would appreciate the joy that can come from homemade toys.  It was with memories of long summer days spent playing the game, both by myself and with others, that I was moved to create a similar game for my boys.

The next step was to “lay down the tarmac”.  This was accomplished with some left-over semi-gloss Rustoleum courtesy of the previous owners of our house.

Next was peeling away the grid mask.  I was pleased that there was relatively little bleed of the paint into the lines.

The next step was to “plant” the “landscaping”.  This meant yet more masking.  Ian and Kai helped with this step.  They were very detail oriented with this, which was a very nice surprise considering their ages.  

Lani also got in on the action.  I think she may have just wanted to be able to park her car in the garage again.  Some Oregano Green spray paint that was left over from Ian’s Pinewood Derby car and it was time to peel off the tape again.

The reveal begins...

... and viola!  Grab your Hotwheels, steal the dice from the Monopoly box, and let’s race boys.  Gentelmen, START, YOUR, ENGINES!

And one more sorta car related item.  If you don’t want to see something horrible happen to little fuzzy creatures, don’t scroll down.  You’ve been warned.

So I was walking out to get the mail one day this summer, and I see this on the driver’s side front wheel of my wife’s Sienna.  Strange...

I popped off the wheel cover.  Ewww.

How many Gs must he have pulled spinning around in there at freeway speeds?  It was enough force to begin to squeeze ‘em out between the wheel and the cover.  That cover is tough to pry off with a screwdriver, so the forces we’re talking about are substantial.  How long had it been in there?  A while, for sure.  I had to use a putty knife to scrape it off.  Brake heat had cooked him to the wheel.  Steelies are not teflon coated, after all.

OK, since I showed that to you I feel that I owe you a palette cleanser.  Enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

So the Circuit of the Americas website is back up and running.  The track will be hosting its inaugral Formula 1 Grand Prix on my birthday weekend this year.  I fully intend to buy tickets when they go on sale as a little gift to myself.

The last Grand Prix I attend was the 1996 Australian GP.  There were many firsts at that event as well.  It was the first event at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, the first event for Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, and the first time I realized that I was probably going to ask my wife to marry me (It was three years later that I finally did).  You see, she had (and has) little interest in motorsports.  That Australian GP was on her birthday.  She never once complained about how we spent the day.

Anyone out there planning to be in Austin?