Rainier Auto Sports Club

The Wishbone Alley Gazette

Minutes of the August Meeting - Reported by Mark Nolte
Minutes of the August meeting: Jerry and Colleen Hines hosted The August meeting, at the lovely home in the heights of Kirkland. After a brief, informal Board meeting, the August business meeting was canceled, and

The informal club functions continued, however. Colleen showed off pictures of the new Hines Estate, under construction on Anderson Island. The pics showed a 3-floor structure without trees to block the view or fill up the gutters with debris. I didn't ask, but it appears that cleaning windows will be vastly easier than with the present 5 level place. Jerry's description of the garage was disappointing-only room for 3-4 cars at the most. A lower level space can contain the toys- motorcycles for instance.
We also discovered that Colleen found a good deal on an Audi, so Lucas' has stepped up from the GLC. Gordon Cady, sporting a marriage ring, said that he'll be closing down the north Seattle house next spring and moving his life to Illinois. His beloved Studebaker is on the way east as you read this.

Minutes of the September Meeting - Reported by Mark Nolte

Meeting called to order by President Vince Plancich at 7:45 PM Minutes were accepted as printed in the Wishbone Alley Gazette.  The Simons  were congratulated on their effort, and the profit. Vince thanked the Hines¹ for hosting the August meeting/Bar-b-que. September Friday Niter: Rallymaster Kirk Simons expressed relief that it went so well, with no tar-and-feathers. Gretchen Jones remarked on the confused rallyists at her Checkpoint, with rallyists going both directions and generally acting confused. This was due to the Route Instruction reading "TURN SECOND OPP R". This was discussed. Pat Biggar/ Bob Sjodin won.  A "spare" trophy was given to the pizza folks, along with a "thank you" for their help. Kirk also thanked the CP crews for their help. Two guests were introduced: Scott Koch, and Jared Swalwell. Pete Shelton invited them. Pete Shelton proposed purchase of "RASC" T-shirts with Carl Hillman¹s artwork. Since such a proposal is a Board function, the meeting was adjourned.
A short Board meeting was held.

President Vince Plancich called the meeting to order at 8:05 PM.  He reported that the Board had approved the T-shirt purchase.

Did I say T-Shirts,  YES I Did.  Rainier will have available RASC T-shirts, by our next event if not before.  If you are interested in one of them,  Please forward your request to Terry Simons.  Size arrange from Small to X-large.  Color are White and Off-Gray.  Price is still up in the air. Please contact her if interested at 425-806-1741 or email tjs9820@netscape.net

 No Alibi: (November) Roy Ward reported that it was on schedule, and he¹d be going on a run-through this weekend.

Alcan 5000 (February) Roy Ward announced that he would arrange the Checkpoints.

Elections: The President selected a Nominating committee: Kirk Simons, Mike Jones, and Roy Ward. He instructed them to present a list of "Year 2000" Board nominees at the October meeting.  For more information Please read the message from Kirk Simons

Meeting adjourned at 8:32.

Olympia Duo Have Massive Skrooups on Oregon Rally

For the past several years the Old Pup has managed to snare a ride with Dave Cammarano, noted oddball auto collector, on the Monte Shelton Northwest Classic, a rather hi-tone vintage rally held in mid-August.  This year they were again in Dave's classic 65 Corsa (as in Corvair), much to the chagrin of the real vintage weens in beautiful Alfas, Porsches, ACs, Healeys, 507s, etc.  The team was extremely uptight, facing the challenge of Anne Blyth's big Healey navigated to the extreme by the formidable S Richards.   They knew they would need lotsa Zeros.

Things were going fairly well until the last TSD on Day 1.  Dave is pretty good at holding a speed - when he has confidence in his navigator.  However, when his navigator has forced him to go back to check out the last opp before "RV PARKING" and then has him fly around a triangle like a certain legendary Healey driver, he is not quite ready to drop from 75 to 29 a few miles later when the navigator suggests that they just might be back on Time.  A 14 and a 26 early were the result.  He even questioned the calculated out time from the 6-minute pause at the fogbound scenic overlook, but the navigator was able to convince him that he had recovered his wits, and helped him blunder into a final zero for Friday.  Too little, too late, however.  Our duo ended the day with about twice as many points as the Healey crew.

Day 2 brought more disasters, and this time before, rather than after, lunch.  The best, most subtle, and perfectly clean "Toward" trap caught them totally off-guard and netted 90 seconds of lateness, removing all pressure to tighten up on the Curta.  After that, they relaxed and fell into a nasty triangle trap, observed to the great enjoyment of Satch "Sneaker" Carlson.

Our 2, 2, & 0 penalties on the final TSD (Blodgett) was the result of fortunate circumstances.  Three years ago when we were at a horse show in Salem, I had a free day and decided to go exploring.  I loaded the dog in V's red car and headed out along the Alsea River to the coast.  I came back via the Yaquina, and liked the name "Eddyville" and saw the road to "Nashville."  I thought it looked like a good future rally road.  So I proceeded along the Eddyville-Blodgett Highway in the reverse of Dan's route, making pace notes and marking CP locations as I went.  I came out at Blodgett and returned through Wren to Salem.  All I had to do Saturday was dig out my pace notes and call them in reverse.  Dave was quite pleased, but it still didn't atone for getting him off route at Satch's tent.  Earlier in the day we had noticed the Lutheran church called Shepherd of Atonement, and Dave threatened to take me back there for Sunday services.  Fortunately we were so lost by then that we couldn't retrace the route.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, and will make another futile attempt next year to topple the King of North American navigators.  Anyone with an old car and a desire to drive some great NW roads should give strong consideration to these vintage events - they let you take your car out on the beautiful 2 lane twisties and have a nice weekend of partying.  BMW Seattle sponsors a great event on the second weekend in June.  Next year they head for Harrison Hot Springs.  Check out their Web site at http://www.collegeplan.org/rally.htm.

Trivia
* Mark Hillman is looking for a Porsche 356A flywheel and some engine tin for the same. Anyone else into Porsches in RASC land? Burke Fabrications are massaging my speedster, maybe to be on the road or track next summer.
* Carl Hillman still leading his class in the "laydown" carts campaigns here in the northwest. Congratulations.
* Congratulations to Pete Shelton and Amy Wolf on their up and coming baby Amy is pregnant. (Baby due in March?)
* SCCA Rally Group (Northwest Regions) has money in the bank. This was per an e-mailed issue of meeting minutes. Conjecture is that the money will go toward emergency supplies and tools.
* Ron Barker had a hemotoma in late August. He is recovering OK.
* The Rallycross in Oregon drew 35-40 cars. RASC has been contacted to field some drivers for a "Go Cart" challenge. This would take place between other clubs, and organized by some Bellingham folks. Pete Shelton will recruit a team, possibly to include ace drivers from Hillman Bros. Racing. Such races usually cost about $15 for 15 minutes.
* Mike Jones sold his beloved Mitsubishi to Mark Simons.
 
 

NWR-SCCA is putting together a club rally weekend for November 6 & 7. The Dryad Quest starts on Saturday at 3PM and finishes at 11. Sunday's "Shitpoke" rally starts at 11 and finishes at 5. Due to hunting and stream-runoff restrictions, both are confined to the area north of the Shelton-Matlock Road probably centered on the Simpson sort yard 20 minutes west of Shelton.  Mark Nolte fought a fierce battle with Vince Plancich to decide who would be in charge of the RASC stages, and Mark lost. Call him at 425-652-3578. This is his cellular phone number, which forwards to home/answering machine if the cell phone is off. At time of printing, the number of bodies required isn't known.

More on the November Pro Rally from Mark Notle

    Latest (public) word about DQ/SHTPOKE, from Nispel.  As you can see, the stages haven't been named yet, and I won't repeat my old joke...
    So just note the 3PM until 11PM Saturday night schedule, then the 11 until 5 schedule on Sunday.
    I suppose the workers better invest in some flashlights, or at least fresh batteries As soon as I get assigned a stage, I'll let you know so's you can decide whether to get a motel for Saturday night or not. Being only 1-1/2 hours away, I don't think I'll spend the night. If you can make only one day of the schedule, let me know. Terry Simons had to leave early at the last Sunday event, then stayed later, bless her.
    Since the choice of roads is limited, placing the stages close together, I may be able to arrange for my workers to get over to another stage in-between runs, or even help out. Please send a request saying, "I also want to spectate" to me if you want me to take that into account. And, as usual, if you want to be placed at a specific position (RG, Start, or Finish) let me know. If you swing the other way (building campfire, setting up buffet or catering), let me know about that, too.
    (I was over to Goldendale for SOVREN's first-ever hillclimb for old racecars on Oct. 2/3. Part of the deal was they delivered bag lunches during the lunch break, and passed out bottled water in mid-afternoon. Our poor little
SCCA rally-group can't afford that, but if we can figure out how avoids hunger in the woods, it's a GOOD idea.)
Mark Nolte

Saturday's stage 1 will also be run on Sunday.
Saturday's stage 2 will have a different start location and will run in reverse direction on Sunday.

SATURDAY - 11/6/99 The Dryad Quest Club Rally
15:00  MTC 1  50 mins   DOWNTOWN SHELTON START
15:53    SS 1 90 mins
17:26     SS 2 20 mins
17:49    SS 3 70 mins
19:02    SS 4 90 mins
20:35    SS 5 20 mins
20:58    SS 6 90 mins
22:28  MTC 2  FINISH  Doo Wop Diner

SUNDAY -  11/7/99 Shitepoke ClubRally
11:00 MTC 1  50 mins SHELTON START
11:53 SS 1 20 mins
12:16 SS 2 60 mins
13:19 SS 3 70 mins
14:32 SS 4 20 mins
14:55 SS 5 60 mins
15:58 SS 6 60 mins
16:58 MTC 2 FINISH  - MASON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
 
 

Mountains to the Sea
  Not sure just what it is, but TSD rallies are rare, so let's run it.
  Negotiated a 6am start with Ed Storer, to arrive in Portland for the 9am registration. Despite Subaru's reluctance to install some real power in their cars, it looked like an Impreza convention with 8 or 9 of the things cluttering that parking lot. Simon Levear laid out a nice little rally for Cascade Sport Car Club's annual Mountains-to-the-Sea. Washington doesn't have roads like this- swoopy Ridge runners with little traffic. Some of the area looked suspiciously like The Road Not Taken venues, not bad considering the rarity of roads that can be fun at a 33 CAST.
   Every rally has to have its controversy, this time it was the proper place to take a Pause. Taking the Pause in front of the CP #1 Incone could be confused with balking, and indeed we did get mildly screwed later on for a dramatic slowdown in front of a CP sign. The explanation hasn't arrived yet, but this may be why Leg 1 isn't included with the scores. It was a friendly little event, with a lot of breaks. I saw idle Oregon folks all over the place, but the CP crews seemed to be few and far between. With 42 entrants, the logistics of shuffling the crews around found us at a lovely mountain top park with an hour on our hands. Ron Sorem appeared with his kid, Josh, after a decade or so of raising kids. We traded stories and niceties until the last moment of the break.
    The tour ended at Pacific City, where a great feast was laid out. After looking at the ocean, Ed and I concluded that it would be more fun to be at home on Sunday, despite the lure of the legendary rallyist beach party.
    The scores were posted on Cascade's Web Site, and fall into line very nicely, with a dramatic difference between the computer cars and the 19 novices.
    With Tabors underfoot everywhere it was refreshing to see another dynasty in evidence. Russ Kraushaar beat his Dad (and us) by 4 pts, while his brother and stepfather Dean Kokko was only 1 point behind. Bob Morseburg/Cheryl Eddy proved once again a good team in a rental car would beat the rest of us in our superbly fitted toys with a total of 13.
    Saw Ron Sorem at the Mountains to the Sea rally. He used to be rally, until the kids took over all his time. He showed up with his son, Josh, at MtoS. The kid is 24! He mentioned that Northwest Speedometer is gone. This was the shop at the corner of 4th South and Michigan that did the odometer adjustments before electrons were recruited to measure miles. Ron even went there to build "L-drives" back in the days when Haldas were the only way to measure.   - MN
 
 

Please forward any items for sale to Terry Simons, e-mail: tjs9820@gte.net. or call 425-806-1741
 

Information made available from Ben's Rally Page
 

The Wishbone Alley Gazette is published for the members and friends of the Rainier Auto Sports Club. Subscription prices $10 per year. The NEW editor is Terry Simons, phone 425-806-1741. Contribution and paid / unpaid ad eagerly received at 4029 228^th St Se Bothell, WA 98021 or e-mail to tjs9820@gte.net.
 

It's that time of year again. Starting in January membership is due.

Membership dues are:

• Single Membership $17.00
• Family Membership $20.00
• WAG Subscription $10.00

1999 Board Members: President: Vince Plancich; Vice President: Kirk Simons; Secretary: Mark Nolte; Treasurer: Terry Simons; Historian: Mike Jones; Board Members at Large: Pete Shelton and Jerry Hines

The Wishbone Alley Gazette is published for the members and friends of Rainier Auto Sports Club. Subscription price is $10 per year. The editor is Terry Simons, phone 425-806-1741. Contributions and paid/unpaid ad eagerly received at 4029 228th St SE, Bothell, WA 98021