Phil began rallying in Rochester, NY in 1979 on club events put on by the COCR Rally Club. Modest success led to competition on some of the events which made up the NEPro series in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. These were generally on unpaved roads and ran at night.
After working a traffic control on the 1979 STPR, Phil was hooked on stage rallying and prepared a car, an old Volvo 142 which debuted in 1980 with Dennis Doherty as co-driver. The car lasted 3 rallies. The unfortunate demise of the Volvo provided Phil the opportunity to co-drive for Dan Thiel, a fellow Rochesterian. The association was successful and Dan and Phil competed together for the next 5 years in the US and Canada. Their best effort was a 7th O/A on the Rally of the Voyageurs in 1984.
After taking a rest from competition for a few years, Phil returned as a driver in his own car, a VW GTI. The results that followed persuaded Phil that his proper place in a rally car was the right-hand seat. Since 1993, he has co-driven exclusively. The best recent finish came on the Rally of the Tall Pines with Chris Havas in 1996, 5th O/A and 1st in Group 2.
Phil has competed in over 40 events, including 15 times at STPR. He has earned the Outstanding Co-driver award from the Finger Lakes Region in 1981 and 1982, Outstanding Driver in 1983 and the Outstanding Rally Worker award in 1997.
Phil is a research support specialist in the physics department at Cornell University.
Phil can be contacted at:
E-mail: peb3@cornell.edu