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ROAD RALLY eNews — May 2020
Your Road Rally Roundup of News, Views, and How-Tos
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Under the Hood of the May 2020
Road Rally eNews
!
Our masthead photo this month was taken during the recce for the 2017
United States Road Rally Challenge. While the scenic route on Skilak Lake Road made it into the final route instructions, it was only explored on this earlier outing about a half-mile down the road! Skilak Road will forever bring fond memories of
Philip Royle, our beloved Editor at
SportsCar too! Yet, that sign? Telling rallyists to "Travel at your own RIs(k)" was priceless and had to be captured! Given the current restrictions on rallying — travel, sanctions and waivers — it seemed a worthy photo for the May edition banner.
I don't think any of us can recall such a year of canceled and postponed road rally events — The New Scotland in Nova Scotia, Ohio Milk Run Rally, Spring Scamper, Driftless Challenge Rally Weekend, Badger Burrow, Get the Dust Off, Roads Scamper and Roads Scholar, Lobster Traps Silver Anniversary, Hoosier Crossroads, Mini Takes the States, Twilight Tour, Children's Book Run, Thunder Road, and the Hagerty Tour Series to name a few! The worst part is that they are not canceled due to procrastination of a Rallymaster or low registration numbers. Some thought they had
shifted far enough back in the calendar, yet as
hunker down and interstate travel restrictions continue — no one is sure when we can all be together at the end of a rally and enjoy that camaraderie once again.
Nominations for the Sports Car Club of America Hall of Fame are being accepted through June 15th for the 2021 Class of Inductees. Cheryl Lynn and
Howard Duncan share why it is important for
you to consider those in our sport of road rally, and encourage you to send in your candidates.
We continue to post between editions of
RReNews on our
Road Rally eNews Facebook page with updates, shared motorsport stories and news. For those of you who are not on Facebook, our fledgling webpage does have a feed in its left column where you can view those Facebook posts.
From our Columns —
•
Smuncher's Attic
— Heart of Dixie and Rally Philosophy
•
There's an App for That!
—
Richta GPS Checkpoint App Updates
•
Friday Night Run of the Month
—
Cornfield Classic
•
Upcoming Events
—
We've lost many scheduled dates, yet we've a few to share...we can hope for more next month as the country opens for travel!
•
Rally Wrap-Ups
—
CSCC Yanked on Yankton
•
Words from the Wheel
—
SCCA eWaivers, Championship Standings, Lifetime Points and NEC News, Planning Calendar and the April RRB Minutes
• My First SCCA Rally
— Garry Deaton
•
Promoting Your Rally
—
Tips for Rallyists
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Road Rally eNews on Facebook – Check it out between Editions
We had heard rumors, yet it appears "its time has come." New Product: A GPS based sending unit for the absolute easiest installation and use. Compatible with most brands of rally odometers and computers. As a bonus, it can sync the clock on your...
Read more
www.facebook.com
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Come Road Rally With Us Webpage
For those not on Facebook, we do maintain a feed in the left column on our fledgling webpage.
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SCCA Hall of Fame Nominations
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I have had the honor of serving a four-year term on the SCCA Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, during which time we saw
Gene Henderson
and
Wayne Zitkus
inducted from the Rally ranks of SCCA. I also served the remainder of
Dave Teter's
term, to represent road rally, upon his passing.
I will promise you that all submissions are read and that carbon-copy campaigns are not the way to go! The Hall of Fame Committee members need to hear from
you
and read of
your
experiences with the individual you are nominating. Bring them to life and help those who may not know the individual learn of their contributions to SCCA's past and/or present! Write what they brought to our beloved sport of road rally, brought to the SCCA on a National level - through service, awards, or for bringing positive publicity to our Club, and be sure to write of your Region memories of them.
During my tenures, I invested much time reading submissions and doing research on the internet. I learned much about those who were instrumental in Club Racing, Solo, and Rally from days past. As well, I learned much about those who served with me on the Committees!
And be assured, the names submitted each year are not discarded — they are reviewed each year along with new submissions as they come in! When your nomination comes in this year, perhaps, it will help round-out a prior submission and it brings the name forward for the discussion once again. Please, given the passing of many in our sport these past six years and those who are still with us, I am imploring you to think over your years in rally. Should there be rally members who meet the criteria, please send in your nomination by June 15, 2020.
In 2013, I asked my friend and fellow SCCA member
Howard Duncan
to write a piece for me about the Hall of Fame. At that time, he served as the Rally/Solo Vice President in the National Office in Topeka, he is now working with the SCCA Solo Tour and Nationals program, based out of Florida. He wrote a great piece on the why it is important for our Rally Community to participate in this worthy effort. He did good, and I am pleased to run it again.
Cheryl Lynn
,
RReNews
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SCCA Hall of Fame Committees Seek YOUR Input
Hi Folks -
The time is here for Sports Car Club of America members to begin submitting nominations for fellow members to be inducted into the SCCA National Hall of Fame for their impactful contributions to the development of the SCCA. Some of you may ask what the SCCA Hall of Fame is; why is this important to me or my sport of Road Rally and how can I have any role in this?
The Why
-The "why" can be partially answered by reviewing the list of Inductees as there are several folks that come from the SCCA Rally Community —
Handley
,
Gervais
,
Henderson
,
Bradshaw
, and
Zitkus
to name a few. As a foundational element of SCCA from the beginning of the Club to now, recognizing and acknowledging those from the Community that were key in shaping the SCCA is an important way to assure the continuation of the sport by reminding everyone of the role Rally, and its most devoted advocates, have played in the development of our Club. While the list of Rally members in the Hall of Fame is impressive, it is by no means complete, so that is where the collective memory of the Rally Community comes into play.
The How
- Please note that I began this note by writing that members submit those nominations, as there is sometimes the belief that "they" handle this and make the final decisions on the Inductees. I am not exactly sure who comes to mind when referring to "them" or "they," but the process that leads to the Induction of SCCA members into the Hall of Fame begins and ends with your fellow members and You. This is the "how" you can have a role in the process.
Nominations are received from members, and then two committees comprised of SCCA members, the Nomination and Selection Committee, whittle those initial nominations down to the final Inductees for that year. While the National Office has a small role in this process, it is insignificant compared to the role that the membership has in deciding which SCCA members are to be inducted.
Therefore, I would implore each of you to stroll through your Rally memories and think of those members that have had a significant impact on the sport and the Club through long term service of note, the development and implementation of an important concept or program, their outstanding competition accomplishments that brought some notoriety to the Club, or some combination of these. Not only will you enjoy the trip down memory lane, but you may also be able to play a part in the SCCA National Hall of Fame properly recognizing the place Rally has in our Club's heritage.
We look forward to seeing your Road Rally submissions by June 15th. You may mail them to SCCA Hall of Fame, PO Box 19400, Topeka, KS 66619. You may also
submit your nominations
electronically, directly from the SCCA website.
Thanks for being involved in this important Club project.
Howard Duncan
,
SCCA National Solo Field Operations
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Promoted as an opportunity to get out and go for a fun drive in the country, while maintaining social distancing, the
Yanked on Yanton, Saturday, April 18th, was the Cascade Sports Car Clubs' second TSsD (Time Speed social Distance) road rally. “You stay in your car; we’ll stay in ours.”
Actually, we stayed home. We managed registration and check-in online. The Richta GPS Checkpoints app did all timing and scoring, so there were no manned checkpoints. We monitored each car’s progress using real-time data from the GPS app, which adds a whole new level of Rallymaster fun. First, we get to drive around the countryside on roads less traveled, developing the rally course. Then we get to watch on a map as rally teams progress along those same roads in real-time. Amazing.
Seventeen teams ran the rally - matching a record set in April 2019 of 17 cars at a Saturday rally. Eight of Saturday’s teams had never run a Cascade rally before. We hope this great new bunch of Cascade ralliers will enjoy the game of road rally and want to come back and do it again and again.
SCCA National Road Rally Lifetime Points Holder
Bob Morseburg drove down from Seattle Saturday morning to run the rally with his navigator,
Cheri Eddy. We are honored they ran the rally (even though we didn’t see them).
And there were winners —
Congratulations to first Overall and first Unlimited Bob Morseburg and Cheri Eddy, running as Car #30 after driving to the start from Seattle on the morning of the rally. Nicely done!
Two veteran rally teams tied for second Overall and first SOP (Seat of Pants),
Bill and
Kelly Ferber and
Marcus Gattman and
Kerrie Steffenson. Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to fourth Overall and first Novice
Brian and
Jamie Anderson. This team is moving up fast in this their first season of road rally. They are the team to watch!
Congratulations to
Andrew and
Coralee Brewer for finishing first in the GPS class. The GPS class was introduced last season in the Equipped category of road rally competition classes. This class allows the use of GPS-sourced odometers. Few competitors have entered this class to date. Congratulations to the Brewers!
The next CSCC TSsD Road Rally will be on Saturday, May 16th. Registration information can be found on
motorsportreg.com!
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Promoting Your Road Rally - New Rallyists
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First in the Series: Why YOU must use MotorsportReg for your Events!
Second in the Series: Setting Up your Rally on MSR
Third in the Series: Guides for New Rallyists
Sure, we all know this — every rally is different! There are no set "this is how we do it" guidelines, yet there are few websites and downloads we know about, and we are hoping that you can add to those for an upcoming piece.
Many of you have downloaded Gary Starr's
Tips for Novice TSD Rallyists
through
RReNews. You can
click here
to get the latest version.
The SCCA website, on their page devoted to Road Rally has a starting page that begins with
"What is RoadRally?"
and has links for further info, as well as a list of events.
What resources do you have within your club that you can share with fellow rallyists? Please, send us the files or the links, and we'll share them out to the rally community!
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• Nervous or Novice Tips
• 2020 Rally School Handout
• Richta App Handout
• TSD Road Rally Rallymaster Guide
• Wheels Rally Team
Gimmick rallies with a breakdown of the various types under "What is a Road Rally?," as well as a Road Rally Guide!
Checkout their page!
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Friday Night Run of the Month
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I have always enjoyed teaching those new to our sport the concepts of road rallying both Course and Tour. Perhaps you have seen my
Tips for Novice TSD Rallyists
in these pages? I am hoping to do the same teaching with these
Armchair Rallies
in each edition of
RReNews
. I would love to see more people try Course rallying. But it often is too hard to understand for people who have never done it (and there's no way to learn and practice doing traps before running the actual event), so they get frustrated and never return. And Rallymasters don't help by far too often making the traps too hard. These Armchair Rallies are an excellent tool to introduce the concepts and show how to do them without even getting in your car. And believe me, the traps in these mimic the actual traps on the real events. After doing many of these, you will be ready to compete.
Remember on a Course rally with a Main Road: In the absence of an instruction you follow the main road. Where an instruction without official mileage (none or x.x) can be executed at an intersection on the same road as the main road, you follow the main road and defer the instruction until later. That is called a trap, meaning you executed the instruction when you should have just followed the main road. Where an instruction has official mileage (x.xx or x.xxx) you execute the instruction at that mileage regardless of the main road.
This time, I offer the
Cornfield Classic
armchair rally, which is from the Iowa “Cornfield Classic” National in late 1970’s or early 1980’s. It has some Lettered Instructions and the Main Road Rule Priorities changing at each checkpoint. You can certainly do this from your screen, yet I encourage you to print it out and head to the “START” line with pencil. Depart on Route Instruction #1 and enjoy the adventure!
Click on the map image to open the file and the route instructions.
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Gary Starr, circa 1981, was featured in Contact, the Control Data employee magazine. The RReNews Clan thought it was a great photo, as it clearly sets the era of the Armchair Rally! We hope some of you will take on the challenge to build some new ones!
For those of you who may have missed a "history" of Armchair Rallies,
click here
for that article.
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My First SCCA Road Rally by Garry Deaton
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Yes, Garry has passed. No, he did not submit this piece for a
My First Road Rally
or
My Time as a Rallymaster
column, yet promised us he was “going to get around to it.” He promised.
When we learned of his passing and the tribute rally to him by friend
Mike Halley
and the
SCCA NEOkla Region
, we reviewed our emails with him and found some going back to 2013.
Born Sept 12, 1952, he found his way to his first rally while in High School. In his words, the story goes like this.
When did you get started in rallying?
I started rallying in High School. The “circle of life” is strange. I was born in Wichita, where my Dad worked as a civilian for the Department of Defense. He was stationed at Forbes Field in Topeka (where the SCCA National offices are now based). He was one of three inspectors that oversaw the construction of the ICBM missile sites surrounding Forbes Field.
During the summer months, one of the corrals at the Osage County Fairgrounds in Lyndon, KS, was converted to a dirt track. Anyone that had the money could ride a dirt quarter-midget for a few laps. I had my FIRST driving experience there as a third-grader.
We moved to Wichita next, where he was stationed out of McConnell Air Force Base, initially working with the ICBM program. My mother said that he worked with a fellow named Mears and that we used to go over to their house, and I would play with their two boys; ever hear of Rick and Roger Mears?
My first road rally had been in 1969. It was a motorcycle poker rally. I had won my class on the motorcycle; it turned out that I was the only one to have entered that particular class.
My first automobile road rally was a poker rally in 1970. It started and finished at Toyota of Tulsa. My navigator and I were car twenty-“something.” As we finished, we got to see car number 103 start the rally! It was my second ever road rally. This time we were second OVERALL. I thought to myself, "maybe I can do this."
As a Rallymaster, do you have any favorite events?
My favorite has to do with a rally that I co-mastered. It was a limerick rally that was run somewhat like the AMAZING RACE. You received an envelope when it was time for you to leave. A limerick was inside the envelope with clues as to where the next envelope was. In the immediate area of the next envelope was a checkpoint. Your time STARTED when you entered the checkpoint at the entrance to a parking lot. You parked and began searching the area for the hidden envelope. Once you have found it, you had to be careful
not
to give the hidden location away to your fellow competitors. Your time STOPPED when you passed the checkpoint to search for the next envelope. The NEW envelope had another set limerick clues. The team, with the shortest SEARCHING time, was the winner.
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Words from a former rally partner and co-Rallymaster:
John Hansford
reached out to Mike Halley upon hearing about Garry's passing and sent that photo of Garry (on the right) and
John Ransom
celebrating their first rally victory. He wrote about Garry’s rallying…
Just saw that Garry Deaton passed away; I am so far out of the loop that “I know “nothing,” to quote Sgt Schultz of Hogan’s Heros.
I haven’t spoken to Mr. Deaton for several years; in the 80s and early 90s, I talked to Garry all the time. We put on rallies together and on our own, ofttimes with the others' help and input. Still have many of the route books. Garry was unique.
The first rally I was ever on in my life was one Garry was putting together; it was an SCCA Divisional TSD. I had NO idea what a TSD was, and certainly didn’t “get” (understand) the 8-inch thick instructions. I had a rough idea of what a rally was from reading and knew folks that had been on rallies, but at the time, I didn’t know they weren’t all timed gimmick rallies.
My Dad and I showed up in my Plymouth Roadrunner. We made the odo run, and that was about it, we never found the first checkpoint! Did get acquainted with some girls in a Fiat tho that were as lost as we. And we mightily pissed off a couple of snooty jerks in a Porsche, so all was not lost. I called Deaton and raised hell; entry was something like twenty bucks, and twenty bucks were significant in 1976 to a 16-year old kid. He eventually relented and returned my money.
Garry put on the
Oklahoma Outlaw Rallye Series
for three seasons. We did well, and even though there wasn’t technically a “season championship” as there wasn’t a separate trophy, we won the Season Championship. I still have the trophies and route books. Garry helped me with the
Cholesterol Free World Rally Championship Series
a couple of times too. I worked some Pro rallies with him up at Grove and did some Corvette Club stuff with him too. Gary was a unique fellow that will be missed.
Last Rally to serve as Rallymaster?
R
ecent Rallymaster duties for Garry included the second running of the
Area 51
Road Rally
, which
RReNews
covered in the July 2018 issue; it delighted him greatly. While working with him on the submission, we jokingly asked: "Where are the aliens?" Garry replied, "If you have been to Wal-Mart or other such retailers, you may have noticed that in the sporting goods section there are extensive state maps. I bought the 1996 version of THE ROADS OF OKLAHOMA. It is about 120 pages with about 100 pages of 25 X 30 mile maps from east to west and north to south. Page 51 just happened to cover MOST of the rally route." Ah, the mind of a Rallymaster!
In closing, these thoughts from an email from Mike Halley:
Across the decades that I have known Garry, he has largely kept to himself and seldom came out of his shell. Rally, however, was his Kryptonite. He couldn't quit loving rally, stop setting up routes, or (I'm guessing here) dreaming about rally.
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RReNews
Reader Feedback — Mar/Apr Edition
From
William Demming
, from the Drivers side of the car
It
could
have been the writing style of Rallymaster
Paul McGaffey
, yet I want a copy of
The Inaugural
Route Instructions for my next trek to California. It sure read like it was a scenic route, as well as one I would enjoy driving purely for the joy of the open roads!
From
Jim Jurgenson
, Driver, Organizer and a ProRally Competitor
Another great issue. Did you ever expect it to take off like it has? Keep up the excellent work.
From
Anonymous
, SCCA Member
I can assure that I opened it. But to be 100% honest with you I tuned out after about two minutes. The overwhelming amount of content contained was not formatted well, and was simply too much to digest.
I don't know if that is the normal format, or just due to a backlog of information, but I don't believe many people would have taken the time to finish that massive data dump.
Just my two cents.
From
David Head
, Rally Driver and Navigator
Very nice, Cheryl.
Not a big fan of reading things like this on the phone or in my email client, Eudora (as good as it is otherwise), I now express much praise for the link "View as Web Page." Click that, it comes up in Microsoft Edge, I click "Print" and "Bullzip Printer" (which prints to a PDF file), and save it in Dropbox in rally/RReNEws folder and... I now have it forever in a maximally readable form, much better than my phone or my email client.
And was surprised to get 24 pages!!! Wow oh Wow.
SportsCar
itself is usually only around 100 pages and is full of ads to boot, so this is a monumental publication, and ALL rally!!! Who needs "On Rallying" in
SportsCar
? Nobody (not to say that
Rick Beattie's
writings without the column label of "On Rallying" don't have value, they are also
exquisite
, and he's a helluva rally writer). But this is exquisite, too.
Anyway, thanks for all the hard work here. We are so lucky you are doing this.
Dave Head
From
Rich Bireta
, Navigator, Rallymaster, and App Developer
My! That was a very content-rich edition of the newsletter. Thank you!
We have been asked repeatedly to have a section for reader comments. The above are those received. The Anonymous was tied to an email confirming readership on one of the lists. I did share with them that unlike other publications, reporting shows that 75% of our readers view the editions on computer vs. a device, and that had they viewed the edition on a handheld I was sure it was sensory overload and not laid out in two columns as intended. Much like Racer, NASCAR, and even the recent Up to Speed by SCCA National, all which have short intros and a "click for more," most articles are panned by the majority of readers — they only go to what interests them. Our poll this Spring yielded over 50% wish to remain with the current "all articles in full" vs. links taking them to webpages. While we will continue in this fashion for the time being, we are always seeking better delivery means.
Thank you to all who sent in comments after our last edition. I did hear from three of the contributors who received emails in follow-up to their writings, and they were pleased to get direct feedback from readers!
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"There's an App for That"
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Richta GPS Checkpoints Update — May 2020
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New releases of the
Richta GPS Checkpoints
apps, both
Rallymaster
and
Competitor
, will be released the week of May 18. All events should be run with these new releases. In this update, I'll provide an overview of the major new features and also share other news related to the apps.
Release Notes:
The primary new feature in this release is the ability of the Rallymaster to set (optional) opening and closing times on checkpoints. This feature has been widely requested and will come in handy when the rally route returns along its path over a previously used road with checkpoint locations. The Rallymaster can specify that the afternoon checkpoints, for example, are not to be considered passed until after the post-lunch restart. The closing time on a CP likewise renders the CP ineligible to be timed after its closing time.
The other major change in this release centers around setting checkpoint locations. In locations where the data signal was weak or non-existent, the Rallymaster app would hang when the location was set. This process has been rewritten to no longer require a data connection.
At least 15 other, minor corrections and enhancements are included, though most do not merit mention. One exception to this is the Scoreboard, which now includes a Total column in the spreadsheet.
One hidden feature in these releases is the movement of the timeslips within the database. Doing this will allow me to rewrite the Scoreboard app and do away with the Refresh button. You'll be able to start the app, and the scores will be updated with no user intervention.
Not visible to users of the Rallymaster app is another new feature. Again, based on requests from users, I have the ability to delete legs from the database and renumber checkpoints. Contact me directly to perform this maintenance on your events.
Reminder:
Last fall's release added Drop Leg and Re-score Leg features. This feature came about after I had the pleasure of scoring a National event. There were several legs with calculation errors, and they required our scoring team to manually re-score the affected legs. Upon returning home, I quickly coded and released these new features, which significantly reduce the time required to re-score or drop a leg.
Usability Note:
There is a free app called Blue Stacks, which allows you to run Android apps on a Windows or MacOS personal computer. I am happy to report that Rallymaster runs on Blue Stacks with no changes. You merely have to download and install Blue Stacks, use the Play Store app to install Rallymaster and away you go. Note: While you are in the Play Store, you should install Gmail or another email client on your virtual Android device to allow the use of all the Rallymaster features of exporting scores and mailing timeslips.
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Running Rallymaster on a desktop computer offers several advantages. First, the window can be resized to the full size of the display, giving me a 27-inch map of the course. I've "watched" several rallies from the comfort of Richta HQ in Larryville, Kansas, with the map shown on Blue Stacks and the Scoreboard app running in another emulator.
Blue Stacks is also useful in entering critique slip information into Rallymaster. One National-level rally master reported writing the critiques in Word, running Rallymaster on Blue Stacks, then cutting and pasting text for the critique slips, saving much typing on a tiny keyboard.
Communications Note:
At the suggestion of a Richta user, I created a Facebook group dedicated to connecting the community of users of the timing and scoring system. The group Richta GPS Checkpoints is meant to be a forum for comments and questions within this community of event organizers. This is in addition to the web site at
www.richtarally.com
and the Twitter feed @richtarally.
Usage Stats:
2020 started strong, with 12 events conducted through March 31. One hundred eighty cars were timed through 408 checkpoints generating 6,973 timeslips. Since the lockdown, there are only two clubs running contact-less events to my knowledge.
Until I see you at the next CZT Restart, stay home and stay safe.
~
Rich Bireta
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Upcoming Road Rally Events for YOU!
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CSCC 2020 May Saturday Series Rally
Road Rally w/ Cascade Sports Car Club - Road Rally on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at Milwaukie Lowe's, Milwaukie, OR - Cascade Sports Car Club's Saturday Road Rally Series offers beginner-friendly time-speed-distance road rallies, lasting from three...
Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
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CSCC 2020 Mountains to the Sea
Road Rally w/ Cascade Sports Car Club - Road Rally on Saturday, September 19, 2020 at Dealers Supply, Portland, OR - Join us for the 55th anniversary of Cascade Sports Car Club's classic Mountains to the Sea road rally. This year's rally offers...
Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
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Press on Regardless
Join us for the oldest continuously run rally (72nd running) in North America. First run in 1949 - The Press On Regardless® has a history like no other rally. Counts toward the National RoadRally Tour Championship, the Great Lakes Division and...
Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
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Post Your Upcoming Rally Dates and Invites HERE?
After the middle of March, we have seen almost all road rally events placed on hold — some Rallymasters have shifted to later dates on the calendar and others have been forced to cancel their rallies and schools.
The
Cascade Sports Car Club
, in the Pacific Northwest, wilil be holding their third "Time Speed "Social" Distance" a TSsD-rally this Saturday, May 16th.
Click here
to read their "CSCC Corona Virus Message."
Please send us news of your upcoming event dates and promotional materials to share, so as to make fellow road rally enthusiasts
aware of your events
. And post event — send your write-ups and photos to share news of the adventure! You can send information to Cheryl Lynn
by
clicking here
!
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The Great American Mountain Rally Revival
Road Rally w/ New England Vintage Road Rally on Friday, Oct 23 - Monday, Oct 26, 2020 at Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, VT - History of the Original Great American Mountain Rallye The flag dropped on the very first GAMR on Thanksgiving Day of 1953...
Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
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Rally Against Leukemia 2020
Road Rally w/ SCCA - New England Region - RoadRally on Saturday, August 8, 2020 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH - The Rally Against Leukemia is a Game-Tour-Adventure (GTA) Rally. After a short odometer check, contestants will receive...
Read more
www.motorsportreg.com
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Smuncher's Attic by Bruce Gezon
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Heart of Dixie
The HOD Philosophy came from their 1975 flyer and are excellent ground rules to be considered for course layouts in the present era as well.
It is the adherence to these rules that made
Heart Of Dixie famous and the rally that people wanted to emulate but seldom did with success.
Click the image to read the two page philosophy!
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Rally Integrity –
A Look Back to 45 Years Ago!
Bob Hourihan's
Rallye Magazine published my editorial about rally integrity in 1975, during the heyday of TSD rallying.
Rallies were plagued by numerous claims, appeals, and lack of sportsmanship by both committee and contestants alike. We have come a long way toward dampening down the negativity that these issues created. I still think we have a way to go and my beliefs still remain as printed forty-five years ago.
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From Road Rally eNews — All of us here at the home office enjoy the history of
Smuncher's Attic
, as well as studying the photos — habits, styles of dress and haircuts! We hope you do too! Drop Bruce a line and let him know you are enjoying the pieces he sends in via
[email protected]
!
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2020 SCCA RoadRally Championships
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The
SCCA RoadRally
competition season is based on a calendar year – January to December. As promised,
RReNews
publishes the standings for the SCCA National Road Rally Championships from
Bruce Gezon
, Points Keeper.
We want to thank Bruce for being faithful to
RReNews
and for providing the Standings so timely each month! Have questions about the SCCA Championship Standings? Send Bruce an email by
clicking here
.
For 2020, we have the 2019 Course Standings. These will remain until the first Course Rally of 2020. The Manufacturer Championship may be viewed
here
.
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2020 SCCA Course Championship
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2020 SCCA Tour Championship
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2020 SCCA GTA Championship
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SCCA RoadRally Lifetime Points
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This month we are posting the
SCCA Lifetime Points for TSD and GTA Road Rally programs. Names such as
Harry M Handley,
Robert V. Ridges,
Russell K. Brown, and
Victor T. Wallder were involved in their start and their maintenance over the years, with the reigns going to
W. David Teter in 1997, until his passing in 2014. Now maintained by
R. Bruce Gezon, you can view the full listing of those who took the first six Overall Finishes in this two programs. The TSD points go back to 1958 and GTA to 2007. For those who have earned more than 25 points, you can find their names listed in the back of the
Road Rally Rules, which are published as an Appendix.
This month, these are presented in the original format, as done by Russ Brown in 1991. And speaking of Russ, we are including a piece he wrote about the National Points and the players at the time.
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SCCA Matters — Words from the Wheel: NEC Committee, 2020 Insurance Waiver Update, Rally Planning Calendar, RRB Minutes, SCCA Natl News
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Words from the Wheel
• News from the RoadRally Department
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While it is true that the SCCA National office does not have the full crew given the COVID-19 restrictions in place, they are available via phone messages and emails.
Please, be sure to reach out to them if you are needing to cancel or postpone your sanctioned SCCA RoadRally so they can update their records with our insurance company. And should you utilize motorsportreg for your registration and promotional listings, don't forget to let them know; they have options for noting postpone and canceled as well!
A reminder that SCCA Waivers
must
be printed in black and red (which is easily handled by requesting the current form from your Region or the National Office prior to your events), and they must have the proper header information filled-in
before participants sign them.
Rallymasters and Organizers may download the latest Sanction and Audit forms for their 2020 events from the SCCA website. Much time has been put in to updating the pdf-forms so that they are fillable-forms for easy electronic submission and processing at the National Office. Please be aware of the minimum sanctioning lead times to avoid filing penalties or perhaps even a date shift of your event.
We have received notice of the new 2020 Insurance information and Sanctioning Fees from SCCA National. You may download them below for the
Participant Accident Coverage,
Program Event Fees, and
General Liability Summary for your upcoming events.
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Participant Accident Coverage
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General Liability Summary
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eWaivers, We're Working on Them!
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From
Rick Myers
, SCCA Regional Development Manager
E-Waivers have been front and center on the minds of event managers throughout our SCCA programs. Paper waivers are one of the primary touch points in a world where we are trying our best to develop and maintain social distancing while still enjoying motorsports. As of this writing, we have been actively engaged in conversations with motorsportreg and our underwriters and legal team to move forward with event e-waivers. We aren’t quite there, but I believe that it will happen sooner than later. Until then, I believe there are creative solutions to accommodate getting the signatures we need to ensure risk management compliance.
While we realize this solution is not ideal, when travel restrictions are lifted in your area and you are able to return to road rally events, you could appoint a single person to be equipped with appropriate PPE (mask, face shield, etc), the waivers, a pen and bottle of hand sanitizer. They work their way through grid, a line of cars, etc. and it goes something like this: Waiver person, cleans their hands and equipment thoroughly before starting; goes to first person, dispenses hand sanitizer, hands over pen and waiver for signature; moves on down the line, cleaning their hands if they come in contact with another surface or person. This prevents individuals from handling the sanitizer and limits exposure. Not ideal, but fairly effective.
Click here
to view ideas in our SCCA Covid-19 Event Guidelines.
We welcome your ideas on how you are handling the Waiver matter. These are unique times for all of us. Please feel welcome to write me at
[email protected]
.
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National Events Committee
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Here we sit anxiously waiting for the 2020 National
RoadRally
Championship to kick in.
Yes, we have a few events, but the COVID crisis has certainly put a damper on things. I wish I could be the bearer of good news and announce that things will get underway TOMORROW. But I can't.
On the other hand, I'm not the bearer of bad news either. The NEC did receive a suggestion that we scrap the 2020 Championship. The NEC feels that, at this point, that would be premature. So I guess that makes me the bearer of no news. All's I can say is to STAY TUNED. Things are in such a state of flux; we just DON'T KNOW.
The NEC did discuss reducing the number of rallies counting toward the Championship. We will be working with the RRB on this issue. Since that discussion, we have received additional cancellations for two NCR events, one DCR event, and one NTR event.
We are also looking at some changes to Article 18, F which describes how and when a leg should be discarded. With the advent of multiple timing controls between restart times, some clarification is needed. As with all rule changes, they will be posted well before their implementation, and you will be able to offer your suggestions.
Let the 2020 National Road Rally Championship season begin…eventually!
That’s AZICIT on May 6th 2020
Mike Thompson
, Co-Chair
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Road Rally Planning Calendar from Jeanne English
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Straight from the West Coast, we have the most current
Road Rally Planning Calendar
produced by Jeanne English and is built with formally sanctioned SCCA RoadRally events, calendared events and even a few in the "maybe" category! Click
here
to download your copy.
Contact information for English can be found on the calendar.
As you can visually see, our 'ol rally calendar has lots of red this month for events that have been postponed and sadly, for some, canceled for 2020.
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SCCA RoadRally Board Minutes
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From the Home Office in Jewel Lake...
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Hagerty Live — Automotive 101: Driving Tours and Rallies
During this time of self-isolating, hunkering down and restricted travel, many have turned to binge-watching Netflix and other television programs.
From Hagerty — With over 100,000 driving miles logged,
Brad Phillips
is our resident expert in tours, rallies, and other shenanigans using your vintage car. Join Brad and a special guest as they discuss the joys, trials, and tribulations that they’ve experienced on the road, plus get tips on how you can get in on the fun.
I encourage you to checkout this Facebook Live feed from Hagerty about our sport - just click the episode image above!
Anything you would like to share with fellow motorsport enthusiasts to put on their watchlists?
Share and we'll post them up on our Facebook page!
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Book Lover? History Lover?
Motorsport Enthusiast?
A believer in the good works of the SCCA Foundation and the Preservation of the SCCA Archives at the International Motor Racing Research Center?
Well, then this will new book will be right up your alley — no matter your interest chosen above. Cheryl, our perpetual fundraiser for the
Rallying to Preserve our Historic SCCA Rally Archives campaign, saw the due date drawing closer for the books release. She reached out to author
Andrew Layton to purchase two-hundred signed books,
John Buffum agreed to sign as author of the book's Forward, and $30 for these copies would go to the SCCA Foundation as a dedicated donation. She saw it as a wonderful means to give back to the archives preservation and conservation.
While there were many twists, turns, and challenges than the SCCA Detroit Region rally itself, the bottom line is that you can order today to get the dual-signed copy of the book for $74.99, with $30 going to the continued preservation of the rally archives for SCCA and when those archives are completed, the funds will be used for fellow sanctioning body rally archives. All details are now being handled by the author; this remains a wonderful opportunity to support our past — for future generations to come!
The press on our
RReNews
Facebook page received over 1300 views via the 11 shares. As was written in our second post, "
The publication of
POR: Press on Regardless
has been a monumental undertaking by Layton to personally underwrite such a project — a 70-year history book with a perceived limited audience, no guaranteed sales when it was finished, and many unpaid hours for interviews, research and writing."
Sales opened May 2nd, via Square; we reached out to the author last week to see how many were snapped up for the fundraiser to date. We certainly hope that you will choose to order one of the Limited Edition books for $74.99, which are to be numbered and signed by both Layton and Buffum, and will raise funds for
the SCCA Foundation and the International Motor Racing Research Center--a facility that was invaluable in bringing this book to print.
And if not that edition, you MUST get yourself a copy for $44.99, to support the good works done by Layton at recording the history of the
Press on Regardless
— The Story of America’s longest, oldest, and meanest road rally, for generations to come. Well done Andrew Layton!!
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RReNews
Are you navigating around
RReNews
okay? We don't want to presume that all of you know that the 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!
Simply
click here
and send us your event data or your contribution to a column
today
.
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Stirling Moss' finest drive: 1,000 miles of pleasure and ...
Apr 12, 2020, Laurence Edmondson • An FIA accredited F1 journalist since 2011 "I can remember going along a fast straight and overtaking a twin-engined aircraft that was flat-out at 140 mph. I was doing roughly ...
Read more
www.espn.com
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It's Here, so Let's Use It!
We encouraged all of you to start using the #comeroadrally hashtag in your posts about rallying. One reader wrote to ask what that meant and how it could help! It is a means to easily find information on the internet for common causes. Perhaps you have attended a seminar, wedding, or motorsport event where they have asked you to use a hashtag in your posts? Hashtag is # for those unfamiliar. So should you enter #comeroadrally into your browser, you may find a similar page such as this where you can find articles, images and more about road rally (and a few oddities beyond)!
Does it REALLY Matter?
We wondered too, so we pulled the hashtag to see what was there! Trust us when we say we did some searches before selecting #comeroadrally years back, learning not all links for road rally took roads we wanted to travel, ha!
By simply putting in #comeroadrally in our search window on our web browser, we found a page in Twitter, Instagram, links for www.comeroadrallywith.us, and google had these images which have links for road rally too:
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Road Rally eNews,
produced in association with the Sports Car Club of America, since 2013
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