Press Notes
Wild West ProRally/ClubRally Results
For immediate release 06 September, 2000
MEDIA ALERT
SCCA ProRally Championship Round #7 - Wild West
DENVER, CO: Seventh round (of nine) for the 2000 season. A record number
SCCA and FIA Performance Rally cars are slated to start the Wild West SCCA
ProRally; competing on fast and smooth gravel Lumber roads in southwestern
Washington State. This performance rally event is sanctioned by the Sports
Car Club of America.
When & Where:
15-16 September 2000; Olympia, WA; approximately 60 miles (80 kilometers)
southwest of Seattle, Washington
Headquarters Hotel - Friday/Saturday Press Room; Event and Media registration
Phoenix Inn Suites: 877.570.0555 415 Capitol Way, Olympia, WA
Complete Event Schedule: (subject to change)
Thursday, 14 September, 2000
3:00 PM - 7:00 PM Entrant registration at the Phoenix Inn - Olympia
3:00 AM - 7:00 PM Scrutineering - Corvette & High Performance Shop - 2840 Black Lake Blvd., Olympia
8:00 PM Auto GlasPro Welcome Party - Doo Wop Inn - 843 SE State Route 3, Shelton, Washington *
Friday, 15 September, 2000
9:00 AM- 11:00 AM Press Stage - see details below
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Entrant and Media registration at the Phoenix Inn - Olympia
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Scrutineering - Corvette & High Performance Shop - 2840 Black Lake Blvd., Olympia
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM Parc Expose - Downtown Shelton, WA *
6:00 PM Start of Wild West SCCA ProRally Leg One - Downtown Shelton
7:00 PM - 1:00 AM Press Room Open
11:00 PM (app) First car arrival - Finish of Leg One - Phoenix Inn - Olympia
Saturday, June 03, 2000
9:00 AM - 11:30 AM Press Room open, Late Press Registration
8:00 AM Parc Expose - Downtown Shelton *
8:30 AM Start of Wild West SCCA ProRally Leg Two - Downtown Shelton
6:30 PM (app) First car arrival - Finish of Leg Two - Shelton Moose Lodge
8:00 PM Post-event party and banquet - Moose Lodge - credentialed Press &
VIPs invited *
9:00 PM Prize Giving - Moose Lodge *
* Recommended time and location for media interviews.
Friday Press Stage Details
An informal opportunity for members of the working press to meet with the
stars of SCCA ProRally, and see the cars contesting the SCCA ProRally
Manufacturers' Championship. A press caravan will depart from the Phoenix
Inn at 9:00 AM Sharp for the press stage location. A press/VIP van will be
available on first come/first served basis. All attending Press must be
Credentialed prior to leaving for the stage.
This is a closed press stage for Manufacturers Championship vehicles only,
presented exclusively for registered members of the Press, Supporting
Manufacturers representatives, Series Championship and specific team sponsors
and VIP's. Rides in the rally cars are not guaranteed, and will be handled
purely on a request basis with manufacturer teams and drivers.
Selected entries (driver/co-driver):
Paul Choiniere and Jeff Becker; SCCA Open Class 2000 Hyundai Tiburon -
Multi-time overall SCCA ProRally National Champions Choiniere and Becker come
to Wild West with four overall wins in the 2000 season under their belts, but
are tied with Karl Scheible and Russ Hughes for Overall Drivers and
Co-Drivers points. The results of this event could determine the fate of the
championship.
1999 Overall Manufacturer, Driver and Co-Driver Champions Noel Lawler &
Charles Bradley; SCCA Open Class 2000 Hyundai Tiburon. With their new-car
teething problems seemingly behind them, Lawler and Bradley will be charging
hard for a win.
1999 Rim of the World overall winner Garen Shrader with 1998 overall
co-driver champion Michael Fennell; SCCA Open Class 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo IV. Shrader's new match-up with Fennell has yielded impressive top 5
finishes in the last two events.
2000 Rim of the World and Susquehannock Trail event overall winners, and
leading FIA Group N category points holders, Karl Scheible and Russ Hughes,
1998 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V. With the Group N Driver's Championship
mathematically in the bag, Scheible's Evo has been converted to the SCCA's
Open Class specification, giving the Mitsubishi a considerable horsepower
boost.
Canadian and US Production GT Performance Rally star Patrick Richard,
with Ben Bradley, 1998 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS. After a rough weekend in Maine,
Richard was back in form 2 weeks ago in Minnesota, finishing an impressive
2nd place at the turbo-friendly Ojibwe Forests event. Back on his near-home
turf in Washington, Richard will be the one to beat in Production GT.
Additional news interest:
Hyundai pulled significantly ahead last month in the Manufacturers
Overall Championship race with a convincing 1-2-3 overall podium sweep at
Ojibwe Forests, the first such open competition finish in the company's
history. Mitsubishi is still very much in the hunt, with the top independent
Open class entries of Scheible and Shrader keeping Hyundai's mirrors filled.
Subaru, with record entry numbers at the previous two events has made some
impressive gains, but will need an overall win at this event to have a shot
at the year-end title. Toyota, with its 2000 season Group 5 (2WD)
championship secure, has withdrawn from the remaining 3 events in the
Championship season.
Event Rank:
This rally is a full points SCCA ProRally Championship event. Drivers earn
points towards the national championship, and supporting manufacturers
(Hyundai, Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi) earn points towards overall and
class Manufacturers' Championships.
Press Credentials:
Event Press/Photo credentials will be available at registration on Friday.
Access to press-only photo areas, and to the post event parties will require
a press pass. Credentials are available only to members of the working
press. Identification and/or work assignment required.
Visuals, Interviews & Media information:
During the event, action photography will be possible from spectator and
select press-only viewing areas along the rally course. Drivers, co-drivers
and crew will be accessible throughout the event, including the Friday
afternoon Parc Expose. Media relations will be able to provide driver and
co-driver interviews, event results and other information via telephone and
Email.
Contact: Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Marketing and Media
Manager
Pre-event: 303.204.0375 (USA Country Code: 1)
direct inquiry Email: [email protected]
Press Room: 15-16 Sept only. Call the Hotel: 877.570.0555 and ask for
Press Room.
Time zone at event: Pacific Daylight Time (GMT - 8 hours)
SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org/
SCCA Wild West ProRally: http://www.nwr-scca.org/rally/wildwest.html
For immediate release 14 September, 2000
Start Order & Late Breaking News:
SCCA ProRally Championship Round # 7 - Wild West
Olympia, Washington: With the 2000 season entering its final three, and some
say most challenging, events of the year, 54 Sports Car Club of America
ProRally and ClubRally cars are set to start the Wild West SCCA ProRally, on
the fast and hard gravel logging roads of the Simpson Timber Company situated
in the scenic coastal mountains of Washington State. The Rally starts
tomorrow afternoon, Friday September 15 from downtown Shelton, WA (about 20
miles west of Olympia) at 6:00 PM PDT. Immediately preceding the start in
Downtown Shelton will be a Parc Expose for the entrants. The Parc Expose
starts at 4 PM.
Selected late entries, news
Nearly all of the leading SCCA ProRally Championship teams are in attendance,
including the Hyundai Tiburons of Paul Choiniere and Noel Lawler, the
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV and V of Garen Shrader and Karl Scheible
respectively, and growing herd of Subaru Imprezas, (9 of the 54 entrys)
featuring local favorites Paul Eklund, Lee Shadbolt and Patrick Richard.
With most driver's championship's undecided, good showings this weekend will0
determine the remaining season's schedule for many teams.
High on that list of decision makers are a pair of central USA teams,
from Minnesota and Ohio, that have been locked in a real scrap of a street
fight for Group 5 honors. With Ralph Kosmides' big horsepower Toyota Supra
turbo withdrawn for the balance of the season, the battle is down to Bryan
Hourt's "new school" supercharged Honda Civic, and Mark Utecht's
irrepressibly periwinkle "old school" Dodge Omni GLH turbo.
While Choiniere and Scheible battle it out at the front of the pack for
overall Drivers' Championship points, these two-wheel drive specialists are
driving so hard, they are expected to be in the top ten, right alongside cars
with considerably more sophisticated drivetrains and power.
The duo of new Impreza turbos from southern California driven by Lon
Peterson and rookie driver Jonathan Ryther have had some developmental
teething problems at earlier events, but if solved, Peterson will make a fine
show here. The long anticipated debut of Eric Eaton's new Impreza 2.5 RS
should also become a reality this weekend as well.
A light rain is in the forecast for tonight, with clearing skys and
moderate temperatures predicted for the weekend, making for great driving,
and spectating.
Contact: Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Marketing and Media Manager
direct inquiry Email: [email protected]
Time zone at-event: Pacific Daylight Time (GMT - 8 hours)
Press room phone: 360.570.0555 (hotel operator will transfer call)
Web sites:
� SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org/
� SCCA Wild West ProRally: http://www.nwr-scca.org/rally/wildwest.html
Information regarding the start order list:
Car # = number on vehicle. Car # under 200 are ProRally entries. Car # over
200 are generally ClubRally (regional) entrants. Class = Open, FIA A & N
fastest; are cars with considerable modifications; P (Production) - slowest;
are cars very near to showroom stock configuration. G5 - two wheel drive
high HP cars; G2 - two wheel drive lower horsepower cars; GT - high
horsepower production (stock) cars. Un-seeded cars are entered in the
ClubRally support events only.
Wild West SCCA ProRally Championship Round #7
15-16 September, 2000
Final Start Order (subject to revision)
start Car# Seed Class Driver Co-driver year Car
1 1 FIA Open Noel Lawler Charlie Bradley 00 Hyundai Tiburon
2 2 FIA Open Paul Choiniere Jeff Becker 00 Hyundai Tiburon
3 61 FIA Open Karl Scheible Russ Hughes 98 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V
4 4 1 Open Garen Shrader Michael Fennell 95 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
5 89 1 Gr 2 Dave White Jimmy Brandt 88 VW Golf GTI
6 160 2 Open Eric Eaton Kenny Almquist 99 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
7 32 2 Open Paul Eklund Scott Huhn 98 Subaru Impreza
8 304 2 Open Lon Peterson Bill Gutzmann 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
9 20 2 Open George Plsek Alex Gelsomino 90 Audi Quattro 90
10 35 2 Open Lee Shadbolt Robert Sherman 97 Subaru Impreza
11 162 2 GT Patrick Richard Ben Bradley 98 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
12 71 2 Gr 5 Bryan Hourt Jay Kowalik 97 Honda Civic
13 83 2 Gr 5 Mark Utecht Brenda Corneliusen 86 Dodge Omni turbo
14 39 3 Gr 5 Carl Jardevall Amity Trowbridge 83 Volvo 740 turbo
15 107 3 Open Tim Paterson Scott Ferguson 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
16 398 3 Open Kurosh Jahromi Gunda Jahromi 93 Ford Escort Cosworth
17 51 3 Gr 2 Jay Streets Bill Feyling 85 Toyota Corolla
18 55 3 P Brian Vinson Richard Beets 97 Plymouth Neon ACR
19 165 3 P Dennis Chizma Claire Chizma 73 Porsche 911
20 18 3 P Ivor Wigham John Allen 98 Acura Integra Type R
21 207 6 Gr 5 Dave Hintz Rick Hintz 85 Mazda RX-7 turbo
22 110 5 FIA-N Mark Nelson John Dillon 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
23 232 5 GT Mark Tabor John Elkin 89 Mazda 323 GTX
24 84 5 Gr 2 J.B. Niday Al Kintigh 86 VW Golf GTi
25 131 5 P Jon Tabor Kevin Poirier 92 Nissan Sentra SE-R
26 379 6 Open Jonathan Ryther Nicholas Taylor 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
27 251 6 Open Kevin Pennington Janice Damitio 84 Audi 4000 Quattro
28 245 6 Open Carey Wright Alan Wright 88 Mazda 323 GTX
29 275 6 Gr 2 Nat T-Stow Aaron Montgomery 87 VW Golf GTI
30 201 5 Gr 2 Todd Hartmann Shawn Callahan 86 VW Golf GTi
31 74 6 Open Ramana Lagemann TBA 91 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
32 250 6 Gr 2 Jeff Call Rick Meade 00 VW Golf
33 252 Open Scott Trinder Bob Trinder 88 Toyota Celica All-trac
34 248 Open Michael Mailman DJ Flagg 87 Audi quattro coupe
35 272 Gr 5 Robert Reaves Tammy Reaves 73 Mazda RX-3
36 258 Gr 2 David Schrenk Chad Little 86 SAAB 900
37 223 GT Greg Lingelbach Steve Andrews 90 Eagle Talon
38 254 GT Jack Brodhead Jim Jump 91 Eagle Talon TSi
39 299 Gr 2 Michael Leonard TBA 79 SAAB 900
40 214 Gr 5 Joe Noyes Ken Ruiz 93 Toyota Supra
41 283 Gr 2 Nate Tennis Nate Petitt 73 SAAB 99
42 288 Open Gary Cavett Mika Lepisto 85 Subaru RX turbo
43 255 Open Andy Sharples Julie Sharples 89 Subaru RX
44 256 Gr 5 Neville Green TBA 88 Merkur XR4Ti
45 274 Open Ian Drucker TBA 89 Toyota Corolla AWD
46 264 Open John Teeter Lee Sorenson 91 Mitsubishi Galant VR4
47 261 GT Ron Sorem Josh Sorem 87 Subaru RX
48 242 Gr 5 R Scott Koch Jarred Swalwell 79 Datsun 210
49 286 Gr 5 Roger Jackman John Meloy 77 Dodge Colt
50 271 Gr 2 Matt Tabor Kristen Tabor 86 Toyota Corolla
51 206 Gr 5 Peter VanBogart Matt VanBogart 79 VW Rabbit
52 208 Gr 5 Martin Ford David Weiman 82 Alfa-Romeo GTV-6
53 263 Gr 2 Daniel Garber Troy Grabtree 86 Toyota Corolla
54 287 P Andrew Jacobs Scott Morgan 88 Honda Civic DX
For immediate release 15 September, 2000
SCCA ProRally Championship - Round #7 - Wild West
Leg One Results
Hyundai & Mitsubishi split the top 3, Lawler builds big lead
Olympia, Washington; -- A final tally of 52 cars - a largest field for this
late season event in many years - started the Wild West SCCA ProRally this
evening, for six short and fast stages on the Simpson Lumber Company's
logging trails skirting the eastern sides of the Olympic National Forest.
Clear skies and comfortable temperatures gave the rallyists a rare break in
what has thus far been a season of weather extremes.
As expected, the top four entries - the two Hyundai Tiburon's plus Karl
Scheible's newly re-fitted Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V (modified from FIA Group N
to SCCA higher-horsepower Open Class specifications) and Garen Shrader's
Lancer Evo IV began their top-honors battle immediately, but overheating woes
beset Paul Choiniere's Tiburon almost immediately. Repaired at the service
following SS3, (a failed hose) the team ultimately made up the time, passing
Scheible, but remaining just over 2 minutes behind the high-flying Lawler.
Karl Scheible was not without his share of minor troubles, but this had
more to do with him adapting to a substantial boost in horsepower rather than
mechanical problems - he spun the car twice on the first stage, allowing Noel
Lawler a nearly 30 second lead. Dust, despite occasional rain showers in the
foothills, became a major factor, with Lawler, running in clean air steadily
building a lead.
For a while it seemed the Group 5 championship battle may have been over
as quickly as it started, with Bryan Hourt nerfing a berm with his Honda in
SS3, puncturing a tire and bending a lower control arm on the rear
suspension. While he continued on, the time lost changing out the tire, and
the less than ideal suspension alignment remaining appeared to be more than
could be made up on the seemingly unstoppable Mark Utecht. However, Utecht's
fortunes changed slightly later in the evening, when the Minnesotan wound up
stuck in a ditch for at least a minute in SS4.
Leg two of the Wild West SCCA ProRally begins at 10:00 AM, with a 2-hour
Parc Expose and opening RallyCross spectator stage in downtown Shelton. Also
featured in tommorow's leg are two RallyCross stages to be run at the "ORV"
(Off-Road Vehicle) sports park just west of Olympia, the state's capital.
Wild West SCCA ProRally Championship Round #7
15-16 September, 2000
Leg One Finish Order (unofficial)
times are in hours:minutes:seconds
St Fin
Pos Pos Car# Time Seed Class Driver Co-driver Marque
1 1 1 49:57 FIA Open Noel Lawler Charlie Bradley 00 Hyundai Tiburon
2 2 2 52:06 FIA Open Paul Choiniere Jeff Becker 00 Hyundai Tiburon
3 3 61 52:14 FIA Open Karl Scheible Russ Hughes 98 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V
4 4 4 52:38 1 Open Garen Shrader Michael Fennell 95 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
13 5 39 53:54 3 Gr 5 Carl Jardevall Amity Trowbridge 83 Volvo 740 turbo
14 6 107 54:33 3 Open Tim Paterson Scott Ferguson 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
10 7 162 55:19 2 GT Patrick Richard Ben Bradley 98 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
6 8 32 55:42 2 Open Paul Eklund Scott Huhn 95 Subaru Impreza
8 9 20 55:51 2 Open George Plsek Alex Gelsomino 90 Audi Quattro 90
33 10 272 56:03 Gr 5 Robert Reaves Tammy Reaves 73 Mazda RX-3
12 11 83 56:11 2 Gr 5 Mark Utecht Brenda Corneliusen 86 Dodge Omni turbo
5 12 89 56:38 1 Gr 2 Dave White Jimmy Brandt 88 VW Golf GTI
16 13 201 57:18 5 Gr 2 Todd Hartmann Shawn Callahan 86 VW Golf GTi
42 14 288 57:34 Open Gary Cavett Mika Lepisto 85 Subaru RX turbo
17 15 51 57:46 3 Gr 2 Jay Streets Bill Feyling 85 Toyota Corolla
18 16 165 58:34 3 P Dennis Chizma Claire Chizma 73 Porsche 911
37 17 299 58:58 Gr 2 Michael Leonard Leon Owens 79 SAAB 900
40 18 214 58:59 Gr 5 Joe Noyes Ken Ruiz 93 Toyota Supra
15 19 398 59:01 3 Open Kurosh Jahromi Gunda Jahromi 93 Ford Escort Cosworth
26 20 379 59:36 6 Open Jonathan Ryther Nicholas Taylor 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
24 21 84 59:52 5 Gr 2 J.B. Niday Al Kintigh 86 VW Golf GTi
9 22 35 1:00:09 2 Open Lee Shadbolt Robert Sherman 97 Subaru Impreza
48 23 206 1:00:30 Gr 5 Peter VanBogart Matt VanBogart 79 VW Rabbit
11 24 71 1:00:36 2 Gr 5 Bryan Hourt Jay Kowalik 97 Honda Civic
19 25 55 1:01:26 3 P Brian Vinson Richard Beels 97 Plymouth Neon ACR
40 26 255 1:02:06 Open Andy Sharples Julie Sharples 89 Subaru RX
47 27 271 1:02:45 Gr 2 Matt Tabor Kristen Tabor 86 Toyota Corolla
23 28 232 1:03:30 5 GT Mark Tabor John Elkin 89 Mazda 323 GTX
29 29 275 1:04:00 6 Gr 2 Nat T-Stow Aaron Montgomery 87 VW Golf GTI
25 30 131 1:04:02 5 P Jon Tabor Kevin Poirier 92 Nissan Sentra SE-R
46 31 286 1:04:38 Gr 5 Roger Jackman John Meloy 77 Dodge Colt
41 32 256 1:05:08 Gr 5 Neville Green James Pattton 88 Merkur XR4Ti
50 33 263 1:05:38 Gr 2 Daniel Garber Troy Grabtree 86 Toyota Corolla
49 34 208 1:05:53 Gr 5 Martyn Ford David Weiman 82 Alfa-Romeo GTV-6
31 35 250 1:06:53 6 Gr 2 Jeff Call Rick Meade 00 VW Golf
43 36 264 1:12:32 Open John Teeter Lee Sorenson 91 Mitsubishi Galant VR4
42 37 274 1:48:55 Open Ian Drucker Robert Mahoney 89 Toyota Corolla AWD
Leg One Retirements - unofficial
Car Driver Co-Driver Class Make
160 Eric Eaton Kenny Almquist Open 99 Subaru DNS Engine electronics
252 Scott Trinder Bob Trinder Open 88 Toyota DNS unknown
283 Nate Tennis Nate Petitt Gr 2 73 SAAB SS1 Accident
254 Jack Brodhead Jim Jump GT 91 Eagle SS1 Mechanical
110 Mark Nelson John Dillon FIA-N 97 Mitsubishi SS2 Accident
223 Greg Lingelbach Steve Andrews GT 90 Eagle SS2 mechanical
242 R Scott Koch Jarred Swalwell Gr 5 79 Datsun SS2 Mechanical
261 Ron Sorem Josh Sorem GT 87 Subaru SS3 Accident, roll-over
287 Andrew Jacobs Scott D Morgan P 88 Honda N/A Mechanical (retired at service after SS3)
248 Mike Mailman DJ Flagg Open 84 Audi N/A Mechanical (retired at service after SS3)
304 Lon Peterson Bill Gutzmann Open 00 Subaru N/A Fuel pickup, gearbox, (retired at service after SS3)
245 Carey Wright Alan Wright Open 88 Mazda SS4 Accident
74 Ramana Lagemann John Allen Open 91 Mitsubishi SS4 Accident
207 Dave Hintz Rick Hintz Gr 5 87 Mazda SS6 Off-road, stuck
251 Kevin Pennington Janice Damitio Open 84 Audi SS6 Accident 2Gr 5
The SCCA name and logo is a registered trademark of the Sports Car Club of
America, Inc. ProRally, ClubRally and RallyCross are service marks of the SCCA.
*complete results will be posted on the Wild West website:
http://www.nwr-scca.org/rally/wildwest.html
For immediate release 16 September, 2000
SCCA� ProRallysm Championship - Round #7 - Wild West
Noel Lawler returns to Top Podium Finish
Olympia, Washington: The SCCA Wild West ProRally came to a triumphant finish
this evening for a victory starved Noel Lawler, and podium starved Garen
Shrader. The second leg of competition, after a relatively sedate Leg One
last night, was full of upsets, the final result being a lot of teams
completely re-thinking their final, last quarter of the season strategies.
Noel Lawler and Charles Bradley, the 1999 Overall Driver and Co-Driver
Champions have had a tough, 'character building' season, failing to finish
three of the first four events, and not visiting the podium until late July,
with a 2nd place finish at the Maine Forest SCCA ProRally. Even that was
hard fought, Noel having a brilliant drive of desperation, running on only 3
cylinders for much of the event. A fresh motor brought good luck at Ojibwe,
with another 2nd place finish, and a lucky 1st car on the road seeded draw
for the start of this weekend's event turned out to be a good omen. From the
start, Lawler and Bradley ran off and hid, using the clear roads to good
advantage, and letting his prodigious amounts of dust slow down teammate Paul
Choiniere and early challenger Karl Scheible. In the end, Lawler, posted
fastest times of the event in 11 of 16 stages, and nailed down one of the
largest margins of victory of the 2000 season.
Garen Shrader, who's 3-event old partnership with 1998 Co-Driver Champion
Michael Fennell immediately showed strong signs of validity at the Maine and
Ojibwe events, was irrefutably confirmed with an impressive 3rd place finish,
his first podium in the 2000 season. The finish moves Garen up the Overall
Drivers Championship ladder significantly, from (unofficially) 6th to 4th
position.
Karl Scheible, coming to this event with the Group N championship secure,
had his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V converted from FIA specification to the
higher horsepower SCCA Open Class spec, with his eyes on a dual championship
for the season - Overall and Group N. Those hopes may now be dashed, with
Scheible high-centering his car on a berm in the first stage of Leg 2. This
is the second time Karl has had troubles this season with west coast logging
roads, befalling the same fate at April's Oregon Trail event.
British Columbia's Patrick Richard - "the hardest working man in North
American Performance Rally," - the only driver running both full US and
Canadian Championship series - had an extraordinary day today, muscling his
normally-aspirated Production GT class 98 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS, to two
fastest overall stage times of the event. Finishing 6th place overall, and
missing 5th place by a mere 13 seconds over Paul Eklund's turbocharged
Impreza today's performance virtually locks Richard into the Production GT
Championship here in the US.
Paul Eklund, who's season has been even more traumatic than Noel
Lawler's, earning a mere 6 Championship points with 3 starts and only one
finish, and that one being a demoralizing dead last at Ojibwe with a blown
turbo, finally got the finish he has been searching for, right in his own
backyard. The Tigard, Oregon resident also tied for fastest time on a stage
with Eric Eaton's new Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS, making its debut in today's
ClubRally support event.
Perhaps the most dramatic story of the weekend was in Group 5. Mark
Utecht and Bryan Hourt have been in a constantly evolving championship story,
which got seriously twisted, literally, today. Coming into this event, Mark
Utecht, with 3 consecutive class podium finishes held an 8-point lead over
the now withdrawn Ralph Kosmides and a 20-point lead over Hourt. With
Kosmides out of the way, Hourt seized the opportunity to gain points, not
fully expecting the Minnesota residing Utecht to make the trip out west.
Utecht made the trip, and was effectively keeping Hourt at bay, holding a
comfortable lead over the Honda driver at the conclusion of Leg One. (Local
favorite Carl Jardevall was leading Group 5 overall, and was the classes
ultimate winner) Discouraged by his off in SS3 yesterday, Hourt was nearly 4
minutes behind Utecht, and was doing his best to catch up. Utecht got in
trouble in today's first stage, running wide in a turn and getting in the
marbles, flipping his Dodge Omni GLH turbo, totaling the car. Both he and
co-driver emerged unscathed, but with this DNF, the Group 5 points battle has
been narrowed to just 5 points between Utecht and Hourt. By the end of the
day, Utecht had already secured two offers for rental rides at Prescott and
Lakes Superior, and Hourt confimed that he would be at both events as well.
In the Manufacturers Championship, with a growing string of strong
finishes by Hyundai, the Korean manufacturer now has a solid 22 point lead
over Mitsubishi, with the unofficial overall standings now at: Hyundai 122,
Mitsubishi 100, Subaru 88, and Toyota 57. In an earnest effort to assist the
independent teams that have pushed Mitsubishi to second place in the overall
championship, the Japanese manufacturers US arm, Mitsubishi Motor Sales
America, announced at Friday's press stage a contingency program for all
entrants in Mitsubishi product, from Evo 6 all the way back to first
generation Eclipses and trucks. The program went into effect with this
event, and is similar to a support program that Subaru of America has had in
place for the past two seasons.
The penultimate round of the 2000 SCCA ProRally Championship will be in
just two weeks, in Prescott Arizona, on September 28 - 29. The final round
of the Championship, the Lake Superior SCCA ProRally, on Michigan's Upper
Peninsula, will be held in mid-October.
Wild West SCCA ProRally Championship Round #7
15-16 September, 2000
Leg Two Finish Order (unofficial)
times are in hours:minutes:seconds
St. Fin.
Pos Pos Car# Time Seed Class Driver Co-driver Marque
1 1 1 2:10:58 FIA Open Noel Lawler Charlie Bradley 00 Hyundai Tiburon
2 2 2 2:15:20 FIA Open Paul Choiniere Jeff Becker 00 Hyundai Tiburon
4 3 4 2:17:42 1 Open Garen Shrader Michael Fennell 95 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
13 4 39 2:19:20 3 Gr 5 Carl Jardevall Amity Trowbridge 83 Volvo 740 turbo
6 5 32 2:21:31 2 Open Paul Eklund Scott Huhn 95 Subaru Impreza
10 6 162 2:21:44 2 GT Patrick Richard Ben Bradley 98 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
8 7 20 2:23:58 2 Open George Plsek Alex Gelsomino 90 Audi Quattro 90
16 8 201 2:25:14 5 Gr 2 Todd Hartmann Shawn Callahan 86 VW Golf GTi
5 9 89 2:25:33 1 Gr 2 Dave White Jimmy Brandt 88 VW Golf GTI
17 10 51 2:26:30 3 Gr 2 Jay Streets Bill Feyling 85 Toyota Corolla
11 11 71 2:28:18 2 Gr 5 Bryan Hourt Jay Kowalik 97 Honda Civic
9 12 35 2:31:32 2 Open Lee Shadbolt Robert Sherman 97 Subaru Impreza
19 13 55 2:33:11 3 P Brian Vinson Richard Beels 97 Plymouth Neon ACR
29 14 275 2:35:40 6 Gr 2 Nat T-Stow Aaron Montgomery 87 VW Golf GTI
48 15 206 2:38:55 Gr 5 Peter VanBogart Matt VanBogart 79 VW Rabbit
31 16 250 2:39:51 6 Gr 2 Jeff Call Rick Meade 00 VW Golf
26 17 379 2:40:43 6 Open Jonathan Ryther Nicholas Taylor 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
25 18 131 2:40:44 5 P Jon Tabor Kevin Poirier 92 Nissan Sentra SE-R
23 19 232 2:45:16 5 GT Mark Tabor John Elkin 89 Mazda 323 GTX
47 20 271 2:46:33 Gr 2 Matt Tabor Kristen Tabor 86 Toyota Corolla
50 21 263 2:50:35 Gr 2 Daniel Garber Troy Grabtree 86 Toyota Corolla
49 22 208 3:08:14 Gr 5 Martyn Ford David Weiman 82 Alfa-Romeo GTV-6
42 23 288 3:18:35 Open Gary Cavett Mika Lepisto 85 Subaru RX turbo
40 24 214 3:22:21 Gr 5 Joe Noyes Ken Ruiz 93 Toyota Supra
41 25 287 3:51:52 P Andrew Jacobs Scott D Morgan 89 Honda Civic DX
*complete results will be posted on the Wild West website:
http://www.nwr-scca.org/rally/wildwest.html
entries shown above with no seeding are ClubRally (support event) entries.
Wild West SCCA ProRally Championship Round #7 15-16 September,
2000
Leg One Retirements - unofficial
Car # Drivers Name Co-Drivers Name Class Year Make stage Retirement cause (unofficial)
160* Eric Eaton Kenny Almquist Open 99 Subaru DNS Engine electronics
252 Scott Trinder Bob Trinder Open 88 Toyota DNS unknown
283* Nate Tennis Nate Petitt Gr 2 73 SAAB SS1 Accident
254* Jack Brodhead Jim Jump GT 91 Eagle SS1 Mechanical
110 Mark Nelson John Dillon FIA-N 97 Mitsubishi SS2 Accident
223* Greg Lingelbach Steve Andrews GT 90 Eagle SS2 Mechanical
242* R Scott Koch Jarred Swalwell Gr 5 79 Datsun SS2 Mechanical
261* Ron Sorem Josh Sorem GT 87 Subaru SS3 Accident, roll-over
248* Mike Mailman DJ Flagg Open 84 Audi N/A Mechanical (retired at service after SS3)
304* Lon Peterson Bill Gutzmann Open 00 Subaru N/A Fuel pickup, gearbox, (retired at service after SS3)
245* Carey Wright Alan Wright Open 88 Mazda SS4 Accident
74* Ramana Lagemann John Allen Open 91 Mitsubishi SS4 High-centered on berm, time barred
207* Dave Hintz Rick Hintz Gr 5 87 Mazda SS6 Off-road, stuck, time barred
251* Kevin Pennington Janice Damitio Open 84 Audi SS6 Mechanical
* indicates entries that will be allowed to re-start Day Two.
Leg Two Retirements - unofficial
Car # Drivers Name Co-Drivers Name Class Year Make stage Retirement cause (unofficial)
272 Robert Reaves Tammy Reaves Gr 5 73 Mazda SS7 Accident
107 Tim Paterson Scott Ferguson Open 97 Mitsubishi SS7 Accident
61 Karl Scheible Russ Hughes Open 98 Mitsubishi SS7 High-centered on berm
83 Mark Utecht Brenda Corneliusen Gr 5 86 Dodge SS7 Accident
255 Andy Sharples Julie Sharples Open 89 Subaru SS7 Mechanical
398 Kurosh Jahromi Gunda Jahromi Open 93 Ford SS9 Rear suspension, front axle
256 Neville Green James Patton Gr 5 88 Merkur SS9 Mechanical
264 John Teeter Lee Sorenson 91 Mitsubishi SS9 Accident
165 Dennis Chizma Claire Chizma P 73 Porsche SS10 Engine
274 Ian Drucker Robert Mahoney Open 89 Toyota SS11 mechanical
84 J.B. Niday Al Kintigh Gr 2 86 VW SS13 Fuel pump
299 Michael Leonard Leon Owens Gr 2 79 SAAB SS15 Mechanical
286 Roger Jackman John Meloy Gr 5 77 Dodge SS16 Steering rack
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