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Lake Superior ProRally Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship |
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Press NotesMEDIA ALERT Event: When & where: Headquarters hotel: Schedule: Friday, October 22 Saturday, October 23 Format: Selected entries (driver/co-driver): Additional news interest: Event rank: Interviews: Visuals: Media car rides: Media information: Contact: Ed Jacobs - Michelin SCCA Pro Rally Championship Web sites:
Start Car Seed Class Car Driver/Co-driver 2 3 FIA Open Hyundai Paul Choinere 3 37 FIA Open Mitsubishi Henry Joy IV (Petosky, MI) 4 8 FIA Open Hyundai John Buffum 5 80 1 Open Audi quattro Jon Kemp (Attica, NY) 6 6 1 Open Eagle Talon Steve Gingras (Elk River, MN) 7 14 1 Open Mitsubishi Garen Shrader (Memphis, TN) 8 61 3 Open Mitsubishi Karl Scheible (Spencerport, NY) 9 16 1 PGT Mazda 323 GTX Gail Truess (Brooklyn, MI) 10 44 1 G5 Dodge Henry Krolikowski (Wyandotte, MI) 11 7 1 G5 Toyota Ralph Kosmides (Newport Beach, CA) 12 10 1 G2 Volvo 240 Bill Malik (Burbank, CA) 13 94 2 PGT Eagle Bryan Pepp (Marquette, MI) 14 21 2 PGT Mitsubishi Chris Czyzio (Flushing, MI) 15 111 2 G5 Honda Jim Anderson (Dublin, OH) 16 83 2 G5 Dodge Mark Utecht (Stacy, MN) 17 82 2 G5 Mazda Rx-7 Mike Hurst (Indianapolis, IN) 18 71 2 G2 Honda Bryan Hourt (Hilliard, OH) 19 66 5 G2 Volkswagen Richard Pilczuk (Canton, GA) 20 119 2 P Daewoo Nubira Peter Malaszuk 21 33 3 Open Audi Jim Warren (Linwood, MI) 22 175 3 Open Audi Alex Erisoty 23 162 3 PGT Subaru Patrick Richard (Vancouver, BC) 24 38 3 G5 Dodge Lesley Suddard (Wilmington, DE) 25 124 4 Open Eagle Carl Kieranen (Toivola, MI) 26 126 4 Open Mitsubishi Arthur Wojcik (Middle Village, NY) 27 64 4 G5 Ford Don Rathgeber (Livonia, MI) 28 158 4 G5 Mazda Ted Grzelak (Marquette, MI) 29 166 4 G5 Chevy John Davbenmier (Dexter, MI) 30 98 4 G2 Volkswagen Bob Nielsen (St. Paul, MN) 31 36 4 P Plymouth Evan Moen (Clarkson, MI) 32 59 5 Open Audi quattro John Rek (Chicago, IL) 33 147 5 Open Toyota Miroslan Babinski 34 70 5 PGT Dodge Kendall Russell (Knoxville, TN) 35 19 5 PGT Plymouth Rod Dean (Holly, MI) 36 97 5 PGT Eagle Paul Dubinsky (Fort Mill, SC) 37 555 5 G5 Mercury Merkur Colin McCleery (Zeeland, MI) 38 56 5 G2 Volkswagen Douglas Davenport (Minneapolis, MN) 39 137 5 G2 MG Phillip Smith (Upper Sandusky, OH) 40 42 5 G2 Volkswagen Eric Burmeister (Dearborn Hts, MI) 41 55 5 P Volkswagen Brian Vinson (Ferndale, MI) 42 167 6 Open Eagle David Green (Fairfax Station, VA) 43 152 6 Open Plymouth Wojciech Hajduczyk (Linden, NJ) 44 192 6 PGT Eagle Brian Scott (Lake Orion, MI) 45 194 6 G5 Mitsubishi Biegalski Wiktor (Milwaukee, WI) 46 41 6 G2 Volkswagen Art Burmeister (Sterling, MI) 47 69 6 G2 Honda Charles Sherrill (Hickory, NC) 48 913 3 PGT Subaru Janusz Jastrzebski
Start Car Seed Class Car Driver/Co-driver 2 67 2 G2 Honda Jay Kowalik (London, OH) 3 501 3 Open Mitsubishi Todd Jarvey (Maple Grove, MN) 4 575 3 G5 Plymouth Jeremy Butts (Dearborn Hts, MI) 5 522 3 G2 Dodge Jonathon Butts (Dearborn, MI) 6 550 3 G2 Volkswagen Aaron Hatz (St. Paul, MN) 7 531 3 G2 Volkswagen J.B. Niday (Richfield, MN) 8 538 3 G2 Ford James Buchwitz 9 535 3 G2 Dodge Jason Anderson 10 545 3 P Nissan Eric Seppanen (Brooklyn Center, MN) 11 548 4 G5 Dodge John Zoerner (Warrenville, IL) 12 591 4 G2 Suzuki Peter Beaupre (Houghton, MI) 13 TBA 4 G2 Pontiac Kurt Winkelmann (Houghton, MI) 14 546 4 G2 Toyota Chris Gilligan (Hartford, WI) 15 574 4 G2 Dodge Mark Kleckner (Lake Orion, MI) 16 507 5 G2 Saturn Micah Wiitala (Minneapolis, MN) 17 502 TBA Open Toyota Paul Dunn (Oakley, IL) 18 544 TBA Open Eagle Dan Malott (Otter Lake, MI) 19 505 6 G2 Volkswagen Jon Hamilton (Marysville, OH) 20 524 TBA P Dodge Nathan Koukkari (Maple Grove, MN)
1.) Good afternoon and welcome to the D&N Bank Lake Superior ProRally, the ninth and final round of the Michelin SCCA ProRally series. A big field of 68 cars is set to challenge the rally long known as the oldest, meanest and toughest on the circuit. True to that reputation, Mother Nature is ready and waiting for them -- and she definitely is having a "bad hair" day. 2.) When teams got up this morning they were greeted by gray, sullen skies, driving rain threatening to change to snow, temperatures in the 30s and very strong winds. In fact, at about 2:00 a.m. today the winds were so strong that they were noticeably shaking the upper stories of the headquarters hotel, where the press room is located. 3.) In recent years, the weather for this event has been comparatively mild to downright warm. However, the Weather Channel's forecast makes it sound as though we will have the sort of conditions that old-timers always expected -– and generally got -- from this rally. Temperatures are supposed to be in the 30s, with angry, relentless winds gusting to well over 50 mph, and rain changing over to snow this evening. Accumulations of one or two inches are expected, all south of Houghton -– where virtually everything takes place today. 4.) The "s" word in the forecast has several teams pretty concerned, either because they feel that they don't have the right tires with them or because they feel that their cars will be at a distinct disadvantage in the snowy conditions predicted. 5.) We will be getting reports from several sources in the field today and tomorrow. These include Kevin Ericson, the rally's press director; Jeff Burmeister, who helped us so well at Prescott; and SCCA Rally/Solo marketing manager Kurt Spitzner. 6.) Also out and about and scouting for us is former series media relations rep Dr. Tim Cline, who sort of got the itch to come back and see everyone. He figures that it has been eight or nine years since he's been able to get to a ProRally. It's good to see him back on the scene. 7.) Before we move away from the weather altogether, Kevin Ericson has pointed out that the weather we are experiencing today is very much like the stormy conditions that destroyed the Edmund Fitzgerald. The huge, ill-fated ore boat was the subject of a popular Gordon Lightfoot song. She sank without warning not that far from here -- in sight of another ship, virtually in the blink of an eye -- taking all hands with her. 8.) This year's edition of LSPR will have 18 stages, 10 today and the remainder tomorrow. The total stage miles will be 141.06, and the total event distance will be 441.70 miles. The ceremonial start is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. adjacent to Dee Stadium. Tomorrow's start will be at 10:00 a.m., from the D&N Bank branch in nearby Calumet. The finish will be at the D&N Bank's headquarters, across the river from here in Hancock. 9.) There will be a powerful contingent of Open Class cars headlining the field here this weekend. We have three factory Hyundais and three powerful Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, plus several other fast-runners. 10.) The Hyundais will be driven by newly crowned overall driver and co-driver champions Noel Lawler and Charlie Bradley (Tiburon), Paul Choiniere and Jeff Becker (Tiburon), and John Buffum and Lance Smith (Elantra). The Mitsubishis will be piloted by Garen and Doc Shrader (Evo IV), Henry Joy and Chris Griffin (Evo II), and 1999 Production driver and co-driver champions Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire (Evo V). 11.) There is a navigator change on Jim Anderson's Group 2 Honda Prelude. Regular co-driver Martin Dapot will not be able to compete in this event, due to a sudden illness in the family. Mark Williams will be taking his place. 12.) It will be interesting to see if Williams tweaks Anderson the same way he did John Buffum a couple of months ago. Prior to that event, Williams had navigated for the Mexican national champion in Susquehannock Trail, where he had to give all instructions in Spanish. So, just to have a little fun with Buffum, he gave the first few instructions in Spanish. 13.) The drawing for FIA drivers was held here in the press room and, for the fourth time this year, Noel Lawler will be first-on-the-road. That won't count for much, though, as there isn't a prayer of a chance of any dust. There has been way too much rain. Teammate Paul Choiniere will start second, followed by Henry Joy, who won here in 1995, and then John Buffum. 14.) There has been a bit of drama here the past couple of days, as company executives and team personnel kept waiting for the factory Daewoo Nubira to arrive -- or even be located. Late yesterday afternoon, they finally made cell-phone contact with the transporter, which was in Michigan but several hundred miles away. Just three hours before today's start the Prescott Production Class winner still had not arrived. However, it did pull in shortly after that, and got through registration and tech in time. 15.) In addition to the representatives from Daewoo, we also have Doug Matthews and another representative of Pirelli here observing the event. Pirelli is Noel Lawler's tire supplier. 16.) Lynn Nelson, the Regional Executive of SCCA's Lake Superior Region and chairperson of last year's Rally of the Year-winning Lake Superior ProRally, has sent everyone wishes for a safe and happy event. Obviously with an eye toward the Weather Channel, she wished everyone a "shiveringly good time." 17.) Houghton is home to Michigan Technological University, and the MTU Future Car Team led cars away at the 4:00 p.m. ceremonial start today. This volunteer, non-credit student program is part a presidential initiative aimed at tripling the fuel economy of a typical mid-size car without losing any of the comfort and desirable traits of a normal mid-size vehicle. The MTU car is Dodge Intrepid diesel-electric series hybrid, using a 1.8-liter Peugeot non-direct-injection diesel engine, a large alternator and a modest battery bank. The engine and alternator provide the motive power most of the time, with the battery pack providing a boost for acceleration, hill-climbing, etc. The MTU car was selected to be among 13 finalists this past June, and ultimately finished third in the competition. Testing included both dynamic and static tests, as well as manufacturing feasibility studies. In addition to everything else, the students published an SAE paper on the project. 18.) Although he probably won't be selling many units at this event, Al Kintigh of White Knuckle Rallysports is the newest distributor of Chill Factor cool suits. The units include a water-cooled shirt, cooler unit, pump, mounting tray and hold-down straps. He will have a complete unit installed and available for inspection in car 531, which will be competing in the upcoming ClubRallies in Paris, Texas. 19.) Jim Konkler has dropped by the press room with news of several early retirements. Car 192, the Production GT Eagle Talon of Brian Scott and David Watts rolled about six miles into Stage 1. They got a bit sideways on a particularly slick turn and tagged a log with the left-front corner. The car immediately snapped around and hit a bank on the opposite side of the road with the right-rear corner. It then did a slow roll. Witnesses told them that they were three feet clear of the ground at one point. 20.) ClubRally entry 170, the Group 5 Volkswagen Beetle of Reny and Mike Villemure is on the trailer, out with a blown engine. 21.) ClubRally entry 538, the Group 2 Ford Escort of James Buchwitz and C.O. Rudstrom is out of today's action with a blown head gasket. According to Rudstrom, the car was running roughly almost from the start. It got progressively worse until they could huge clouds of smoke trailing them on a stage. They realized the problem and limped along until oil pressure fell off. They got oil from some fellow competitors and limped on back to Houghton. They have the parts to fix the car and will attempt to run tomorrow's ClubRally. 22.) Jim Warren and Chuck Binder have retired their Open Class Audi quattro following what they described as a freak tie-rod failure two miles into Stage 1. 23.) Just as we began writing up Tim Cline's informative report about the incident that put them out of the rally, Noel Lawler and Charlie Bradley walked into the press room. Bradley has a big bandage, 26 stitches and a fair amount of swelling under his chin, as well as some body bruises. Lawler has a sore neck and some bruises from the crash. Otherwise, they are okay. The rally had been going well through the first four stages, and they had about 30-60 seconds on the competition. Following the finish of Stage 5 the road suddenly became exceptionally slick. Nothing Lawler did to slow down for an upcoming curve did any good. They went pretty much straight off and hit a tree. There was a brief fire, but it was of no consequence. Somehow -- he isn't sure when or how -- Bradley received a big gash on his chin. He wasn't even aware of it at first. When Paul Choiniere came along he stopped and took Bradley on to receive medical assistance. 24.) Lawler wasn't the only frontrunner caught out by the sudden slickness. Henry Joy went off the same way and slid up to within inches of Lawler and Bradley's crunched Tiburon. 25.) What may come to be known as Noel's Corner has bitten another fast team. Gail Truess and Pattie Hughes crashed heavily following the finish of Stage 5. Approaching the finish control, they said that they could see the warning triangles ahead and immediately began slowing down. However, they went off the road trying to avoid another car and hit a tree. They are okay but their rented Mazda 323 GTX is pretty well crunched. 26.) The one bright point to the evening for Truess is that she apparently has won the PGT driver's championship, despite the crash. She needed only to start the event to clinch the title. Unfortunately for Hughes, the accident eliminated her from the co-driver's championship race. 27.) Stage 5 was halted due to the crashes, and remaining cars transited the stage. There is no word yet on how scoring will treat this situation. 28.) At the service following Stage 5, Tim Cline reports that John Buffum had one flat earlier in the event, and that the car showed some damage to the right-front quarter. He was not able to get a reason for the damage. 29.) Jeff Burmeister reports that Buffum says the roads are becoming very, very slippery, but that visibility is becoming the real issue. (It is snowing heavily in the area where tonight's stages are being run.) Buffum told Burmeister that although Paul Choiniere had switched to snow tires, he was going to stay on gravel tires. However, just before their time in service was up, Buffum made a mad dash to switch to snows. 30.) Choiniere said that his car was "running great," and echoed Buffum's sentiments about conditions. "Tires are not the factor for us. Visibility is the real factor." 31.) Henry Joy also commented on the roads being very slippery, and added that the ruts make it hard to keep the car under control in places. The weather doesn't seem to bother him a bit, though. "I love the weather," he said, "this is something you come to expect." 32.) Steve Gingras says that he is driving conservatively and aiming for a finish. On Stage 5, he says that he let the car behind him go by, so that he could use the other driver's brake lights as cues to conditions ahead, hoping to pick up some time that way. At the service, his crew was fitting fog lights to deal with the snowy conditions. 33.) Team Daewoo is having serious electrical problems. The Peter Malaszuk/Darek Szerejko Production Class Nubira is suffering a recurrence of something that plagued them at Prescott three weeks ago. Whenever revs fall off to idle the engine stalls and won't restart for two or three minutes. They have replaced the engine computer in hopes that will cure the problem, which already has cost them a lot of road penalties. 34.) Eric Burmeister and Mark Buskirk had a bit of excitement on Stage 4. Burmeister got their Group 2 Volkswagen Golf GTi way up on two wheels and almost rolled. Somehow, they slid out and saved it; but the car now has some ProRally style Darlington stripes from brushing along something. 35.) Group 2 points leader Bryan Hourt and Pete Cardimen (Honda Civic) have had their share of excitement this evening, but most of their troubles came before the start. They damaged a CV joint on yesterday's press stage, and discovered that they did not have the correct replacement with them, due to a recent drivetrain change. So teammate Jay Kowalik went to Honda's largest US parts warehouse, in Troy, Ohio, and got what was needed. He then got on a plane and flew up here. When he arrived, the team discovered that the box did not have everything they needed in it, despite the picture showing a complete assembly. None of the area parts stores had the missing pieces. However, they borrowed a similar -– but slightly larger -- part from Jim Anderson's Prelude. So far, it seems to be working fine. 36.) Following Stage 1, 1999 Production champions Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire lost the odometer in their rented Mitsubishi Evo V. So McGuire, who probably has years more navigating experience than anyone else here, is resorting to a lot of looking out the windows and TSD-type time-based calculations to keep them on he road. 37.) Brian Pepp and Jerry Stang are enjoying themselves, but lost the alternator in their PGT Eagle Talon at the end of Stage 5. They followed another competitor to the service area. While they were handing in their time card the engine died. They pushed the car from there to their service point. 38.) Stage 7 has been cancelled due to time and worker considerations. In addition to getting the rally back on schedule, this also prevents keeping workers out in the miserable conditions longer than reasonable. 39.) Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire are having a ball in the Evo V, despite having no odometer and making a poor tire choice. McGuire said that more than once they commented on the fact that in their Production Class car they'd still be "way back there," instead of being way up front as they are in the Evo. 40.) When asked if they would be in an Evo next year, Scheible said that he still is hoping to do something with Volkswagen. He then added that he could not do an Evo next season without an infusion of OPM –- Other People's Money. (In case anyone wondered, they do have rental insurance on the Evo.) 41.) Jeff Burmeister has nominated ClubRallyists J.B. Niday and J.B. Lewis (Volkswagen Golf GTi) for his new Most Unusual Damage to the Car Award. They broke a right-side control arm and got the car way up on two wheels. Somehow, they tagged a tree while bicycling and still came back down without any visible body or wheel-and-tire damage. Due to a lack of parts, they may not be able to run tomorrow's Club event. 42.) Mary Jo Bender called in some interesting tidbits about Chris Czyzio and Eric Carlson (PGT Mitsubishi Eclipse). They have 10 consecutive finishes in this event, under both the Press on Regardless and Lake Superior ProRally names. That may be more than anyone else. They also have 15 consecutive finishes in national-level events. That, too, could be the best of any active drivers. 43.) Tim Winker, who is here shooting video for the Speedvision show, found a copy of the February 1974 issue of Popular Mechanics in a shop down the street yesterday. In it was an interesting shot of Walter Boyce and Doug Wood en route to winning this event in 1974 in a 1600-cc Toyota Corolla. Second went to a Volvo 142S. A Datsun 240Z was third. The event was 1700 miles long that year. 44.) It's nearly 6:00 a.m. The snow has stopped, the wind has died down to a "modest" 35 knots most of the time and it's a chilly 36 degrees. The Weather Channel says that Saturday will be about the same as Friday. We'll be back in operation when the cars head out for Parc Expose in Calumet. Until then, good night. 45.) Good morning, and welcome to the second day of the D&N Bank Lake Superior ProRally. The cars currently are in Parc Expose at the D&N Bank branch in Calumet, about 15 miles from Houghton, further out the Keweenaw Peninsula. They will spend the day out there, running eight stages. According to the schedule, the first car should finish the event shortly before 5:00 p.m. this afternoon, across the river in Hancock at the D&N Bank's headquarters. 46.) The day's activities will include running the well-known Brockway Mountain stage twice (in the same direction both times). This fast, all-tarmac stage runs along a ridgeline near Copper Harbor, and offers spectacular views, as well as hairpins and a series of big undulations where anyone who is going fast will bottom-out. In the wet, windy -– possibly snowy conditions –- it could be very tricky. 47.) Mother Nature's bad-hair day from yesterday hasn't ended; and the Weather Channel is still starting most of its bad-weather segments by pointing right to this part of the world. The forecast is for continued very high winds (gusting to 40+ mph), rain or snow showers and temperatures in the lower 30s. 48.) Lesley Suddard and Marc Goldfarb stopped by the press room this morning to confirm that they are out of the rally. After suffering through sporadic ignition problems all day yesterday, they finally lost the turbo on their Group 5 Shelby Charger. The car then ran so poorly that their service crew decided to needle them a bit on the drive back by trying to pass the rally car with the service vehicle. Once back in Houghton, at about 2:00 a.m., they began searching for a turbo. Mark Utecht (Group 5 Omni GLH Turbo) offered one, but it was not compatible with the Charger. So Suddard and Goldfarb will be spectating today. 49.) ClubRally entry 544, the Eagle Talon of Dan and Matthew Malott, has been withdrawn due to shock failure and a lack of suitable spares. Rather than risk damaging the car due to ill handling, they have withdrawn. Another factor is that Malott has to drive the car to work on Monday. 50.) ClubRally entry 505, the Volkswagen Golf GTi of Jon Hamilton and Josh Westhoven, is out with control-arm failure. They encountered some slush in a downhill right-hander, went off and broke the control arm. They have been unsuccessful in finding a replacement. 51.) Here is today's restart order: 1 Buffum/Smith, 71.71; 52.) Garen and Doc Shrader (Open Class Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV) did not restart this morning, due to head-gasket failure. They are spectating today. 53.) Henry and Cindy Krolikowski (Dodge Shadow GT), who started the day leading Group 5 comfortably, had an off on today's first stage (Stage 11). They told radio reporters that they got back on the road quickly and lost little time. 54.) Paul Choiniere and Jeff Becker (Open Class Hyundai Tiburon) also had problems on that stage, but they were far longer-lasting than the Krolikowskis. They broke a halfshaft and had to hobble along through two and a half stages before they could get to service for repairs. 55.) The weather out on the stages is typically Upper Peninsula changeable. On the first stage it was rainy and sleeting. The next stage started out beautiful, but a squall came in and changed all that. The wind is still strong, estimated at 30-40 knots, and the waves on Lake Superior are estimated to be 15 feet. There were no surfers. However, reformed lake-surfer Jeff Burmeister spoke fondly of the big, steep waves with their beautiful right-to-left break and the long, open beach. 56.) After the first pass through the Brockway Mountain stage, teams are calling it their favorite of the event. The Daewoo boys, Peter Malaszuk and Darek Szerejko were particularly vocal about how much they liked it. 57.) Really small world department: Last night, while he was out scouting around, Tim Cline was standing in the dark near a group of spectators talking about rallying, old times, etc. After a while he happened to hear someone say, "What ever happened to Tim Cline?" When Cline asked who was inquiring the speaker stepped out and identified himself. It turned out to the driver with whom he navigated this event 26 years ago, Bent Pahl. 58.) The Production GT Plymouth Laser RS of Rod and Nichole Dean clearly is out of the event. The car just passed by the press room on the trailer, with the nosed bashed in. 59.) It looks as though Prescott, Arizona, isn't the only rally town that demonstrably supports its high school. A little while ago a parade of cheering high-schoolers led by a fire engine passed by our window on the world, loudly spreading their enthusiasm. 60.) Eileen Deehan and Andy Wos of Rallysport, Inc., tell us that Jim Anderson and Mark Williams (Group 5 Honda Prelude) were the clear winners of the unofficial "big-air" contest on the second running of Brockway Mountain. When they landed they hit so hard, out of sight of the spectators, that many people thought that they had crashed and began running to them. However, Anderson and Williams continued, leaving only a long set of tracks on the right side of the road –- about as far as possible far from the cliff on the left side. 61.) Our crew at the finish reports that John Buffum and Lance Smith are our unofficial overall winners in the Hyundai Elantra. Henry Joy and Chris Griffin are second in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II. Jon Kemp and Rod Hendricksen are reported to be third in their Audi quattro. Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire think that they are fifth in the Evo V. 62.) At the start of the day today, Buffum was concerned about the 1.75 minutes he lost on last night's final stage changing a flat. At the time, he was far more concerned about visibility in the snowy conditions than tire issues or slipperiness. However, today he made up the time. He says that Hyundai is, understandably, very happy about winning a fourth-consecutive manufacturers' title. 63.) Buffum hopes to be running a two-car team again next year, and is consulting with Hyundai. He also is investigating the possibilities for involvement in the future FIA event, which will hinge on car eligibility. Lake Superior ProRally Pos. Car Class Event* Seed Driver/Co-Driver Hometown Car/Tires Score 1 8 Open N FIA John Buffum Colchester, VT Hyundai 71.71 2 37 Open N FIA Henry Joy IV Petosky, MI Mitsubishi 74.31 3 3 Open N FIA Paul Choiniere Shelburne, VT Hyundai 75.39 4 61 Open N 1 Karl Scheible Spencerport, NY Mitsubishi 77.76 5 82 G5 N 2 Mike Hurst Indianapolis, IN Mazda 79.42 6 6 Open N 1 Steve Gingras Elk River, MN Eagle 81.76 7 94 PGT N 2 Bryan Pepp Marquette, MI Eagle 82.16 8 44 G5 N/C 1 Henry Krolikowski Wyandotte, MI Dodge 82.31 9 71 G2 N 2 Bryan Hourt Hilliard, OH Honda 83.20 10 166 G5 N 4 John Daubenmier Dexter, MI Chevrolet 83.74 11 10 G2 N 1 Bill Malik Burbank, CA Volvo 83.96 12 21 PGT N/C 2 Chris Czyzio Flushing, MI Mitsubishi 83.96 13 66 G2 N 2 Richard Pilczuk Canton, GA VW 83.98 14 162 PGT N/C 3 Patrick Richard Vancouver, BC Subaru 85.31 15 119 P 2 Peter Malaszuk Stamford, CT Daewoo 85.86 16 111 G5 N 2 Jim Anderson Dublin, OH Honda 86.61 17 83 G5 N/C 2 Mark Utecht Stacy, MN Dodge 87.40 18 42 G2 N/C 5 Eric Burmeister Dearborn Heights, MI VW 88.98 19 124 Open N/C 4 Carl Kieranen Toivola, MI Eagle 89.14 20 7 G5 N 1 Ralph Kosmides Newport Beach, CA Toyota 89.26 21 55 P N 5 Brian Vinson Ferndale, MI VW 90.18 22 36 P N 4 Evan Moen Clarkson, MI Plymouth 90.25 23 59 Open N 5 John Rek Chicago, IL Audi 91.34 24 147 Open 5 Miroslaw Babinski Prospect Hts, IL Toyota 91.65 25 158 G5 N 4 Ted Grzelak Marquette, MI Mazda 92.00 26 56 G2 N/C 5 Douglas Davenport Minneapolis, MN VW 92.07 27 152 Open N 6 Wojciech Hajduczyk Linden, NJ Plymouth 92.95 28 137 G2 N/C** 5 Phillip Smith Upper Sandusky, OH MG 94.86 29 80 Open N 1 Jon Kemp Attica, NY Audi 95.16 30 98 G2 N/C 4 Bob Nielsen St. Paul, MN VW 96.22 31 555 G5 N 5 Colin McCleery Zeeland, MI Mercury 99.11 32 175 Open 3 Alex Erisoty New York, NY Audi 99.23 33 65 G5 N 4 Don Rathgeber Livonia, MI Ford 99.89 34 913 PGT 6 Janusz Jastrzebski Dyer, IN Subaru 100.35 35 126 Open N/C 4 Arthur Wojcik Middle Village, NY Mitsubishi
100.44 36 41 G2 N 6 Art Burmeister Sterling, MI VW 102.21 37 97 PGT N 5 Paul Dubinsky Fort Mill, SC Eagle 103.39 38 69 G2 N 6 Charles Sherrill Hickory, NC Honda 107.66 192 PGT N 6 Brian Scott Lake Orion, MI Eagle 2 Open N FIA Noel Lawler Manchester Village, VT Hyundai 16 PGT N/C 1 Gail Truess Brooklyn, MI Mazda 33 Open N/C 3 Jim Warren Linwood, MI Audi 38 G5 N/C 3 Lesley Suddard Wilmington, DE Dodge 14 Open N 1 Garen Shrader Memphis, TN Mitsubishi 70 PGT N 5 Kendall Russell Knoxville, TN Dodge 19 PGT N 5 Rod Dean Holly, MI Plymouth 167 Open N 6 David Green Fairfax Station, VA Eagle 194 G5 6 Wiktor Biegalski Milwaukee, WI Mitsubishi * N=Nat ProRally, C=ClubRally 64.) Sure. Sure. Now that the rally is over the wind dies down and the sun comes out. As the final few teams come back into town, we have a gorgeous sunset rather like those that you'd see in Arizona Highways magazine, with silvers and bright, flaming reds. It's only temporary, though, really just a momentary break in the clouds, but it is a nice way to end the rally. 65.) Henry Joy, who finished second overall, had a ball and didn't seem at all disappointed to be runner-up. "Any time that I finish second to John Buffum," he said, "I feel that I have won the rally." He and Chris Griffin finished less than two minutes behind Buffum in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II. 66.) According to Karl Scheible, he and Gail McGuire "had an absolute ball" in the Evo V, enroute to fifth overall. "We worked very hard to win the hillclimb (Brockway Mountain). I was able to beat John (Buffum) both times, but Paul (Choiniere) took a few seconds off me." 67.) Scheible and McGuire have taken a little good-natured kidding about the fact that their ride this weekend, the Evo V, does not have a bud vase. Bud vases are standard on the Volkswagen New Beetle, the car in which they won the 1999 Production driver and co-driver championships. 68.) Mike Hurst and Rob Bohn were the Group 5 winners in their Mazda Rx-7. Hurst felt that they had a distinct advantage over the other two-wheel-drive cars in yesterday's sloppy conditions. The cushion they built up from that advantage allowed them to play it safe today. 69.) What Hurst didn't mention initially was that the advantage came from the Bridgestone R-39s that they ran yesterday. Later on, he volunteered (and Cindy Krolikowski confirmed) that it was the Krolikowskis, his team's chief rivals, who had sold them the tires that they used to beat them. On top of that bit of help, the Krolikowskis also helped to organize a service crew for Hurst and Bohn. 70.) Steve Gingras and Bill Westrick finished sixth overall and in Open in their Eagle Talon. Gingras said that they had a fun day and were able to make up some of the time lost yesterday. At the finish, they were unable to back the car into its assigned slot, due to a broken part somewhere in he brake system. So the car had to sit just about where they stopped it in impound. 71.) Gingras said that he and Westrick had an "awesome time" today. He also served advance notice that he will not run STPR next year. That's because he and his wife are expecting their second child just about then. So he'll be staying close to home during that time frame. Congratulations to the expanding Gingras family. 72.) While we're in a congratulatory mode, happy birthday to Karl Scheible and Art Burmeister. 73.) And happy anniversary to Bryan Hourt parents, Joe and Moni, who are celebrating their 30th here this weekend -- instead of going to Hawaii. 74.) The Daewoo boys are all smiles at the finish. According
to navigator Darek Szerejko, they found the cause of their nagging electrical
problem, a defective knock sensor, and set the fastest time of any Production
car on every stage. They also made Daewoo very happy by bringing home the manufacturers'
championship in the class. 76.) Richard has found some OPM (Other People's Money)and will run both the SCCA ProRally and Canadian CARS series next year. 77.) For the third ProRally in a row, Eric Burmeister's co-driver, Mark Buskirk, has put a bit of masking tape on the speedometer. On it is written "finish." It worked. They got fourth in Group 2. 78.) Over the winter, John Rek (Open Class Audi quattro) plans to spend a week in Finland at a snow-and-ice driving school. Then he plans to come home and run in Sno*Drift. 79.) After three years with Al Kintigh as his navigator, next year Doug Davenport (Group 2 Volkswagen Golf GTi) will have a new co-driver –- our own press-room scout and reformed lake-surfer -- Jeff Burmeister. Davenport and Kintigh finished second in PGT in today's ClubRally. 80.) Production came down to a father-and-son battle. Maine winners Evan Moen and Tom Young, in a Plymouth Neon ACR, were challenged by Brian Vinson and Moen's dad, Ron, in a Volkswagen Golf GTi. They ended up just 0.02 minutes apart, with the son victorious. A minor error bought Vinson/Moen some road penalties that widened the gap, and prompted Vinson to joke that the elder Moen was a "plant" from his son's team. They still got second in the class. 81.) The 1999 Michelin SCCA ProRally Champions were announced
at the 82.) The 2000 ProRally schedule also was announced: 83.) One of the best lines of the banquet came while emcee Henry
Joy 84.) In one of several gestures of sportsmanship during
the proceedings, Production GT co-driver champion John Dillon handed the trophy
to runner-up Claire Chizma and requested a review of the scoring, because he thought
that she actually had won. However, the rules are different this year and it appears
that he is the champion.
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