The Wishbone Alley Gazette
June, 2001
Rally News
- The SCCA
Nationals Road rallys in Oregon, collectively known as the Rose City Challenge,
were successful. The Course rally (Beaver Cleaver) in Saturday had 13 cars; the
Touring rally on Sunday (Barlow Trail) had 17.
- No Alibi, by Kirk Simons
I'd like to thank all the competitors for coming out to play.� 26 teams!
I especially want to thank all of the workers who took part in the event performing various functions: working checkpoints, scoring, registration and those who helped set up the rally. It was quite the undertaking for our small club.
The weather itself proved to be typical Washington weather with rain off and on throughout the weekend and much cooler than last year's heat wave. It was surprising to see wet snow at the pass this late in the year, but it just goes to show that you can't count on the weather.
The road surfaces of Eastern Washington remained smooth from the prior year, with a couple recent graveled sections.
The field of 26 cars was great, especially all of the Subies coming out and the number of classic cars we had. Wow.
The Saturday lunch proved to be a bit soggy with the rain coming down, but the beauty of the park and the falls made up for the wetness.
Dinner worked out really well on Saturday night, even though we tried to get the Bayou to put us outside, but due to the weather, they decided to keep us inside.
Thanks Satch, for the entertainment during dinner, you really heated up the room with your stories. I would also like to congratulate Satch and Russ on remaining the Top Dogs of No Alibi for the 2nd year in a row.
Rainier will be looking over the critiques from the rally to see what we can improve on for next year. Rainier is looking forward to doing No Alibi again next year. Hope to see you there and at future rallies.
- If you didn't do NO Alibi, here's some of what you missed, by Mark Nolte
- Emerging from wet and misty Western Washington into�less-wet Central Washington.
- Those huge skies. Not a great description, but it fits.
- Satch donned his cream-colored three-piece suit and shared some rally stories with us at dinner. He limited them to the company in attendance, and managed to point out foibles.
- His description of 1500 cc's of power had me wondering why he abuses himself so much.
- Hearing Kirk (KD7NAD) botch his new call sign, but communicating anyway.
- Rallyists muttering about mileage's, slick surfaces, and some interesting instructions. Also a new way to do a pause.
- Quietly waiting for the rally cars to arrive at the CP, and having quail walk by the car, ignoring us.
- Trying a shortcut to a CP, and finding that it is a long way from being paved. Nice on a dry day, might still be there if it were just a bit muddier.
- Gary Reid looking very hard at the underside of the MGB. Pinched fuel line? Then popping the distributor cap and having Bob Chandler agree with him that the points were not only shut, but also not opening!
- The car numbers are on the right side of the cars. Some CP's are best worked from the left side of the road. So cars 15,17, & 18 are dark blue Impreza RS's. They probably came by in correct order..
- Remember when most rallyists drove Datsun 510's? There were 10 Subaru's on the rally, and 6 Impreza RS's.
- You missed the stream crossing. No one considered this a dull moment.
- Moses Coulee does a dramatic 200-foot plunge to the Billingsley Ranch. Mr. Billingsley came up the hill to the CP to make sure all was well. He says hardly a weekend goes by that some group doesn't come through the area.
- I had a CP at the top of Monument Hill. Besides the long view, We could watch the rain cloud approach, see us, and come over to wet down the road.� Sounds unlikely, but clouds usually go around hills, and we could see blue sky on either side of us!
- Shitepoke/ Dryad Quest (June 9/10)
The RASC stage is back to our usual haunts- up the road from the Matlock Store. My pre-drive was brief, even for a 7 mile stage. A new, twitchy road has been found!� It'll be much, much more interesting than the "straightaway stuff" of last year.
While details aren't known yet, Simpson has made "runoff" a condition of road use-the rally can't fill the salmon streams with silt. It depends on the weather.
The HAM assignment list came along with a surprise- Chris Hale is one of the three Stage Captains (along with Diane Duran and Mark Nolte).
Nolte is organizing the picnic aspect.
Trivia
- Vince Plancich is back in town. He finally did the "retiree thing" and took a long road trip- 9000 miles. Flat towed the Cherokee.�
To unlock the steering, the key has to be in the Cherokee's ignition, turned to the "unlock" position.� Turn the key a little too far�drive a long, long ways�then wonder how to recharge the battery. Oh yeah, the motorhome has battery power- 30 feet ahead!
- Ken Lingbloom had surgery on his hand, and will have to recoup at home for a few weeks.
- Three months after they took possession of their home, Pete and Amy Shelton finally spent a night there this week.� Still a lot of little things to do, but they moved out of Mom's house.
- Kirk and Terry Simons, as if they didn't have enough to do with No Alibi, had 6 month old Tabatha move in.� Three year old Daniel joined them last Monday. They've been working on this foster parent "deal" for months.
Roster
The latest "list" is attached.� While the membership list would be about 11 names, the Club has many close friends who deserve listing (so you don't call Nolte for their numbers). For some reason, Rod Chelgren's old address showed up, and was whited out.
For Sale
- Ed Millman got a '97 Taurus, wants to sell the '91 white Taurus wagon. 150K mi. $2000 (206) 361-7389
- Mike Jones still has the collection of parts in his garage that could make somebody a dandy Fire Arrow. Make an offer. (425) 823-8329
- '87 Audi 4000 Quattro needs a home.� It's gold, with 4 new tires and 140,000 miles.� Runs great, got 27.5 mpg on a recent trip.� Has the usual Audi gremlins (electrics and door latches), fair body & paint, and a pretty good interior.� Not perfect, but you won't find a better one for $1500!� (Or I can fix it up and charge you more...).� Call Jerry at (206) 227-6343 or (425) 823-6343.
- Subaru Impreza Wheels and tires: 15" rims don't fit over WRX brakes.� Hakka H1 studs on 4 (gold) American Racing wheels.� Only one season left on 3 tires, one nearly new: $650
- Four 15" Legacy wheels. No tires� $440 for all 4. mnolte@qwest.net
RASC Calendar
� Call the NWRC Hotline (206) 256-9627 for latest info on Puget Sound TSD events.
- 6/9-10 - Shitepoke/Dryad Quest (ClubRally)
- 6/16/17 - Mt. Trails stage, B.C.
- 6/23 -(SCCA Nat�l TSD) Cast In Stone,(Tour) Michigan
- 6/24 - Litter Clean-up (MP 99-101)
- 7/13 � Friday Niter by NWRC, Bellevue, WA
- July 21st "Into the Sunset" (Monte Carlo-style rally)� Bellingham. Registration will open by 5:00 p.m., and FCO will be 6:00 p.m. at the Alaska Ferry Terminal in the historic Fairhaven District of Bellingham.
- 8/4-5 - ORV Rally Sprints (ClubRally)
- 8/10 � Friday Niter by ORCA, Bellevue, WA
- 8/18, (SCCA Nat�l TSD)Dawn�� To Dust, (Tour), Silverthorn, CO
- 8/18, (SCCA Nat�l TSD)�� TBA, (tour) Silverthorn, CO
- 9/7-8 - Olympus Performance Rally weekend- 2Club rallys and Wild West National.
- 9/14- Friday Niter by RASC
- �9/15-16 � Pacific Forest stage, B.C.
- 10/6 � Nite on Bald Mountain (TSD) by ORCA
- 10/5-6 - Prescott Forest (PRORally)
- 10/12 � Friday Niter by ORCA, Bellevue, WA
- 10/27 � Ghoul�s Gambol (TSD)
- 10/28 -� Litter Clean-up (MP 99-101)
- 11/ 3-4 � Totem TSD (B.C.)
Rainier Auto Sports Club will meet this coming Monday,
June 11, 2001, at 7:30 PM at CoCo's in Bellevue, (520 112th Ave.,
between the "NE 8" and "NE 4th" Exits of 405 on the west
side of the Hwy.) We have a meeting room set aside in the back. Monthly meetings
are the second Monday of each month. Past Members, visitors, and spectators are
welcomed.
2001 Board Members:
President: Kirk Simons- 425-806-1741; Vice-President: Gretchen Jones (425)
823-8329 Secretary: Pete Shelton- 206-365-4173; Treasurer: Ed Millman
(206)361-7389
Members at Large: Terry Simons (425)806-1741, Eric Horst (206)363-9752
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 Mark Nolte, ph. 425-226-3155. Contributions and paid/unpaid ad
eagerly received at
2108 NE 12Th. St., Renton, WA 98056 or e-mail: mnolte@qwest.net
Rainier Auto Sports Club, P.O. Box 852, Kirkland, WA 98134