Big Bend Bash 1978

DENVER, Colorado -- John Smiskol and Walt Krafft took advantage of the absence
of 1977 Sports Car Club of America Professional Rally champion John Buffum to
cruise to victory in the Big Bend Bash last weekend near Alpine, Tex.

Buffum, winner of the first two events on the 1978 SCCA Professional
Rally trail, skipped Big Bend. So Smiskol, of Glen Elyn, Ill., and co-driver
Krafft, of Hinsdale, Ill., guided their Datsun 260Z to just 9,541 penalty
points to win on the 12-stage, 294-mile course on the Terlingua Ranch.

In second were John and Molly Chalmers of Findley, Ohio in a Dodge Colt
with 10,034 penalty points and Eric Jones and Roger Sieling of Columbus,
Ohio drove their Datsun 510 to third with 10,450 penalty points.

Smiskol and Krafft, fifth-place finishers in the 100 Acre Wood Pro Rally
March 4-5, won five stages and were second on a pair. They trailed California-
based entry George Beavis and Eric Hauge until Stage Four but took over the
lead for good on Stage Five when Beavis-Hauge flipped their Porsche 911S.

Los Angeles entry Hendrik Blok, a former SCCA National Professional Rally
champion, ran well, winning Stage Six and coming in second on Stage Seven
before electrical problems on Stage Eight knocked his Plymouth Arrow to the
back of the pack and an eventual sixth-place finish.

The 1978 Big Bend Bash, traditionally one of the roughest of SCCA's
10-event Pro Rally series, was unusually kind to entries this year. Of 20
starters, 11 finished under perfect weather and road conditions.