Pavement Ends, the season-ender rally for the 2019 season held on Saturday, November 23, saw an excellent field of 25 teams come out to finish the rally season. A couple of things distinguished this running of Pavement Ends from the typical Detroit Region Road Rally.

First, and most significant, was the introduction to the region’s rallyists of a new technology solution for time controls (checkpoints). Instead of physically located and staffed ‘open’ controls – the usual approach for Detroit Region rallies – competitors loaded an app onto their smartphone or tablet that was then loaded with the locations and timing of the control locations. When a competitor passed through one of the downloaded control locations, as determined by the device’s GPS receiver, the competitor’s passage time was observed and recorded. The device emitted a beep signifying control passage, and the resultant score was immediately displayed on the device screen. In addition, when the app had cell data or wireless access, it transmitted the competitor’s control passage information to a server hosting a real-time scoreboard, which was then accessible via a scoreboard application. When the rally contestants stopped at one of the section breaks, current scores were immediately available and displayed. Very cool!

Big tip o’ the hat to software developer (and Detroit native) Rich Bireta; he envisioned and created this remarkable approach to TSD rally timing controls. And a nod to current SCCA RoadRally Board Chairman Jim Crittenden, who came to Pavement Ends to help the rally contestants learn about using the app. Finally, an acknowledgement to current Detroit Region Rally Director and Pavement Ends Co-Rallymaster Piotr Roszczenko, who sparked the effort to use this new checkpoint technology for Pavement Ends. Well done all!

The second unusual aspect of Pavement Ends was a pitched battle for the SCCA National Championship for tour road rallies. Coming into the rally were three competitors who were locked into an incredibly close contest to win the national championship. Bruce Gezon, of Murrysville PA, and Bob Morseburg, of Seattle WA, came to Pavement Ends with 93 points in the series standings, while Detroit’s own Rob Moran showed up with 94 points. Pavement Ends was the last national championship qualifying event on the calendar, so this battle would be resolved by the results from Pavement Ends. This final 2019 championship confrontation was not without its drama.

Gezon and Morseburg needed a third or better to win the championship, but a third would not be enough if Moran won. If Moran won, then Gezon and Morseburg needed to finish second to tie, but if they won, then they would finish alone in first place. Up to the end, it appeared that Gezon and Morseburg had their victory well in hand, but on the penultimate leg, they lost their wheel drive. They did recover nicely from that, but then made errors on the last leg that cost them the win. A classic case of “it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings”! When the smoke cleared at the end, 2019 saw a three-way tie for the Tour National Championship with Gezon, Morseburg and Moran all finishing the series at 96 points!

Equipped Class saw Moran and Driver David Stone winning with 30.9 points, stealing the victory from Gezon and Morseburg, with 35.4 points. John Fishbeck and Laura Dawson rounded out third in equipped and third overall with 52.4 points.

Limited Class saw the always fearsome team of Dave Harkcom and Greg Lester steal the class win with 98.9 points.

The Stock Class win went to the team of Sawyer Stone and Alison Lee with an outstanding Stock Class score of 119.1. Sawyer, while relatively new to Detroit Region rallies, is no stranger to rallying. He has competed successfully in the Great Race vintage car rally, navigating for his grandfather – they won the event overall in 2006 in a 1916 Hudson! Keegan Helwig and Blattner Dakota took second in class, followed by Detroit Region regulars Chandra Koganti and Chris Weinig .

Novice Class was taken by Jon Famurewa and John Houghton with a very respectable 177.2, followed by Patrick Burke and Joseph Kenney in second and Chris Zimmerman and Raven Rotsaert in third.

As always, thanks to the rally organizers for putting in the time and effort to present another fine Detroit Region Road Rally – Chairman John Kytasty and Co-Rallymasters Piotr Roszczenko and Adam Spieszny.

The standings can be seen here.

This well done piece was from the Detroit Region website.

On November 10, 2019, the Northern New Jersey Region of the Porsche Club of America hosted its sixth Pine Barrens ‘Off-Road’ Excursion . This year’s event motto was “ FORGOTTEN ROADS .”

The event is designed to provide PCA members with Cayennes, Macans, and other four-wheel-drive vehicles, a small sample of ‘life on the wild side,’ without putting the occupants at risk. That is not to say you will not get a little dirty, but nothing that a good car wash won’t correct.

The ‘three-hour tour’ utilizes the back roads of The Pinelands National Reserve, which is over 1.1 million acres and the largest open space on the eastern seaboard between Boston, MA and Richmond VA. It is part of the nearly 2 million acres of sensitive Pine Barrens across Long Island, New Jersey, and Cape Cod. These ecosystems are all connected, due to their shared species, including more than two hundred bird and nearly fifty mammal species, and similar soil conditions that have encouraged the abundant growth of pitch pines, dwarf pine forests and scrub oak. These areas were all formed by the retreating “Labrador Ice Sheet” that was part of the Wisconsin Glacier during the last ice age. The glacier’s retreat was much different from earlier glaciers. As a result, the glacier distributed porous, sandy soil to these areas that laid the foundation for the creation of Pine Barrens ecosystems. Through this geological history, the Pine Barrens of Long Island, New Jersey, and Cape Cod are forever connected as ecological siblings.

Due to the growth in popularly of this unique trek (possibly the only event of its kind hosted by the Porsche Club of America), which combines social activities (a live five-piece Jug Band at lunch), a little bit of history (Whitesbog Village – birthplace of the Blueberry Industry) and an off-road experience (sand trails and sandpits). Since inception, the event has grown from 22 teams and 50 individuals in 2013 to 72 vehicles and 180 attendees in 2019, including ten children under five years old — fun for the whole family.

Due to the generosity of the event sponsor Paul Miller Porsche , individuals received chocolate-colored T-Shirts, with the event logo printed on the back, and an array of door prizes. The door prizes were provided each entry and volunteer with Pine Barren specific items. These items included Pine Barren Native Fruits products, Valenzano Wines (Blueberry, Cranberry and Jersey Devil Port and Jersey Devil Mead), Jersey Devil Moonshine, Blueberry Beer by Pinelands Brewing Company and CD’s by the Accidental Jug Band and signed copies of Paul Evans Pedersen, Jr. book ‘Legendary Pine Barrens’ and his CD ‘Lines On the Pines’. Paul was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, which included a segment on the New Jersey Pinelands.

This year’s route visited the Cranberry bogs and forest trails of Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and the private ‘sand storage area’ of a local cranberry and blueberry farmer. The trails selected had to be approved by the State Forest Service via a lengthy permit process.

Each of the 72 vehicles were provided with a bound set of route instructions with turn-by-turn instructions for the 73-mile course. The 109 route instructions provided overall mileage to the hundredth, delta mileage (distance between instructions), notification of the official speed limits, Tulip Diagrams (like those use on Pro-rallies) and a written description of each turn intended to make sure everyone stayed on-course and did not wander off and get lost. Afterall, there are no street signs in the forest. The 56 page Route Book also included a history of the area and facts about the New Jersey Devil, a mysterious figure that has haunted the area for over 250 years, and not the hockey team. Each vehicle received a ‘goodie bag’ that contained light snacks and water for the morning trek and brochures of Historic Whitesbogs Village, Brendan T. Byrne the State Forest, and New Jersey Pinelands.

A ‘sweep vehicle’ followed the pack, ‘just in case’. But with such a large field of vehicles, individuals were always willing to help those out that were a little too adventurous along the deep ‘sugar sand’ trails or in the sandpits that we visited. 

The mid-morning break included a stop at the Whitesbog General Store.  The store was the heart of the Joseph J. White Cranberry/Blueberry business, which started in 1857 as part of the Hanover Furnace ironworks. In addition, it was the home of Elizabeth White, who in 1916, introduced the first commercially cultivated blueberries (wild “swamp huckleberries”) to the world. She would go on to make history in marketing, business, agriculture, and women’s heritage. The Whitesbog General Store/Post Office shipped out blueberry plants all over the world. ‘Pine Barrens Native Fruits’ is owned and operated by the fifth generations of decedents of the White family and has been in continuous operations for 162 years.

This year we featured two sandpits, the first occurred just before lunch after vehicles traversed a relatively narrow one and a half mile trail at a speed of 5 mph due to bumps and deep ruts. The first sandpit was designed as a 15-minute photo op but took longer as most participants chose to take advantage of the hills and rugged terrain. This sandpit included a small pond that some teams could not resist testing their luck, trying to ham it up and make a big splash.

After lunch, we headed over to what I call the ‘Sand Storage Area’ for about 45 minutes of free formatted playtime. Since the main pit is relatively flat, vehicles can get up to speed and maneuver in such a way to produce rooster tails of sand, at times obscuring the vehicles from view, make sure your windows are up!

Once again, we would like to thank Paul Miller Porsche for their support and sponsorship, which has made the event possible in 2019, and the prior five outings possible. The 2020 event is tentatively scheduled for November 8, 2020, hope to see you there.

Rallymaster Peter Schneider

Soon, the new year begins and I can say that I have what is trendy to call a "woke" moment regarding Road Rally eNews. We have heard from many of you who enjoy the stories found within, the how-tos passed along, the history in Smuncher's Attic surfacing and revisited, news of upcoming events, and those My First Road Rally or My First Time as a Rallymaster tales shared by fellow rallyists. We are back on track, and we will not allow a former stumbling block to stall us any longer.

This edition was a bit jumbled with news as we sent out all that was collected this last quarter — wonderful event wrap-ups, the video from Johnstonbaugh, the "quattro" of winter rally events leading us off (there should have been a "run all" Championship and winners got tickets to Alaska or Hawaii). Remember, our pages are about you and your events - promotion months out and a share about it after! And as each of you are a "library" of stories and anecdotes, we hope you open your doors and share them in 2020!

Thank you to members of the Cascade Sports Car Club, Greg Lester and the SCCA Great Lakes Division, and fellow rally enthusiasts Bruce Gezon , Rich Bireta, and Peter Schneider for their continued support this past season. Jeanne English has kept us supplied with SCCA matters, as well as Bruce keeping the points most timely! And Bill Demming for his efforts, depending on work schedules and timezones, to do a bit of proofreading for us.

Thank you for your time.

Here is to a Healthy New Year for All of Us!

Safe travels,

Cheryl Lynn and the RReNews Clan

#comeroadrally #wefoundtheroads

RReNews

Are you navigating around RReNews okay? We don't want to presume that all of you know that a red/green links ( send your event listing to us ) mean "click" to open a document, website, or email. Did you give the event listing link a click?

A reminder to all that while we have produced RReNews in association with the Sports Car Club of America since 2013, our effort is to provide a community for all Road Rally on North America — independent car clubs, community events, and marque clubs — which SCCA has supported as it brings awareness to the sport for all.

To those of you receiving this edition as your first Road Rally eNews , welcome to our motorsports family! We are a collaborative effort. Should you be a Rallymaster, please send in your information months out (as soon as you have the details 'n date), send photos 'n standings 'n post-event write-ups! Rallyists write your experiences, write of a method or style of rallying, contribute to our There is an App for That, My First Road Rally (as competitor or Rallymaster). Join us and be a part of this road rally community!

Rumor is we may have a new column in 2020, which may be called Starr Maps ? Stay tuned.