Wild West ProRally
Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship
June 18-19, 1999
* Wild West ProRally Results *
Sou'Wester ClubRally Results *
* Wild West ClubRally Results *
Wild West Flyer *
Press Notes
by Ed Jacobs
MEDIA ALERT
Event:
Wild West ProRally; Round 5 of the 1999 Michelin SCCA Pro Rally
Championship. ProRally cars from across North America will race on the
demanding forest roads of Washington - both in daylight and at night.
When:
June 18-19, 1999
Where:
Shelton, Washington
Headquarters:
Shelton Inn; Railroad Ave.; Shelton, Washington
Sanction:
Wild West ProRally is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America
(SCCA)
Schedule:
Thursday, June 17
3:00-6:00 p.m. Registration; South Puget Sound Community
College;
Mottman Rd. SW; Olympia, Washington
7:30 p.m. Entry closes
8:00 p.m. Welcome party (participants, workers,
media); Doo Wop Inn; SE State St.;
Shelton, Washington; sponsored by
Auto GLASPRO of Olympia
Friday, June 18
9:00 a.m. Press stage; meet at Shelton Inn; Shelton,
Washington
11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Registration and tech inspection; South
Puget Sound Community College;
Mottman Rd. SW; Olympia, Washington
4:30 p.m. Parc Expose - ProRally cars on display;
downtown Shelton, Washington
6:00 p.m. First car starts Wild West ProRally;
downtown Shelton, Washington
11:30 p.m. First car finishes first day of Wild West
ProRally; downtown Shelton, Washington
Saturday, June 19
8:00 a.m. Parc Expose - ProRally cars on display;
downtown Shelton, Washington
8:30 a.m. First car starts second day of Wild West
ProRally; downtown Shelton, Washington
6:45 p.m. First car finishes Wild West ProRally;
downtown Shelton, Washington
8:00 p.m. Awards banquet
8:45 p.m. Awards presentation
Format:
Events in the Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship consist of
flat-out racing, in any weather, on challenging forest, mountain or
desert roads. No practice is allowed. Competitors generally see the
course for the first time as they race it. Racing takes place only on
"stages," demanding roads closed by local authorities for the event.
"Transits" connect racing sections and are driven at normal highway
speeds, with teams fully subject to all traffic laws.
ProRally vehicles are production-based cars (and some trucks)
from manufacturers around the world. They compete both for the overall
victory and wins within a class structure that groups together
vehicles with similar performance. Each vehicle carries a driver and a
co-driver/navigator. Using a detailed route book and a sophisticated
rally computer, the co-driver keeps the team on-course and advises the
driver of any hazards ahead. This role is as critical as the driver's
skill, since the team is traveling at full racing speeds over roads
they have never before seen, in any type of weather.
Selected entries (driver/co-driver):
* 11-time series champion John Buffum (substituting for seven-time
series champion Paul Choiniere) and multi-time co-driver champion Jeff
Becker, in an Open Class Hyundai Tiburon
* Noel Lawler and Charlie Bradley; second overall at Susquehannock
Trail, in the second Libra Racing Open Class Hyundai Tiburon
* Rim of the World winners Garen and Doc Shrader; in an Open Class
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV World Rally Championship-type supercar
* Pete Lahm and Matt Chester, in another Open Class Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo IV
* Doo Wop winners Lauchlin and Farina O'Sullivan, in an Open Class
Audi 4000 quattro
* Janice Damitio and Amity Trowbridge, in an Open Class Toyota Celica
All-Trac
* Tony Chavez and Ken Cassidy, in an Open Class Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
* Paul Eklund and John Allen, in an Open Class Subaru Impreza
* Defending Group 5 champions Ralph Kosmides and Joe Noyes, in a Group
5 Toyota Supra
* Doo Wop Production GT winner Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowski, in a
Mazda 323 GTX
* Bill Malik and Christian Edstrom, in a Group 2 Volvo 240
* Todd Hartmann and Shawn Callahan in a Group 2 Volkswagen Golf GTi
* Susquehannock Trail and Sno*Drift Production winners Karl Scheible
and Gail McGuire, in Volkswagen New Beetle
Additional news interest:
Wild West was originally scheduled for April 9-10. It was voluntarily
rescheduled to June 18-19 in consideration of possible impact on the
annual salmon migration from using area roads heavily so soon after a
record-severe winter.
Event rank:
Wild West is a full-points round of the Michelin SCCA ProRally
Championship.
Interviews:
Drivers, co-drivers and crewmembers will be accessible throughout much
of the event, especially Friday, June 18, in conjunction with the
press stage.
Visuals:
Prior to the event, media will have the opportunity for exciting video
and photographic action of rally cars at speed during the press stage,
Friday, June 18. During the event, action photography and video will
be possible from special viewing areas set up along the rally course,
as well as other sites.
Media rally-car rides:
Media will be given the opportunity to experience the intense
excitement of ProRally cars at speed during the press stage, Friday,
June 18.
Media info:
Media relations will be able to provide driver and co-driver
interviews, event results and other information via telephone, fax and
Email.
Contact: Ed Jacobs - Michelin SCCA Pro Rally Championship
330.644.7774; 330.645.2045 Fax (USA Country Code: 1)
Event press room (afternoon Thursday, June 17 until
early Sunday,June 20): 360.432.0329
Email: windrivr@ix.netcom.com
Time zone: Pacific Daylight Time
Web sites:
SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org/
Wild West ProRally:
http://www.scca.org/amateur/michpro/1999/wildwest/index.html
MEDIA ADVISORY REVISED LOCATIONS AND TIMES
Event:
Wild West ProRally; Round 5 of the 1999 Michelin SCCA Pro Rally Championship. ProRally cars from across North America will race on the demanding forest roads of Washington - both in daylight and at night.
When:
June 18-19, 1999
Where:
Shelton, Washington
Headquarters:
Shelton Inn; Railroad Ave.; Shelton, Washington
Sanction:
Wild West ProRally is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)
Schedule:
Thursday, June 17
3:00-6:00 p.m. Registration; Shelton Inn; Shelton, Washington
3:00-7:00 p.m. Tech inspection; Wagenwerks; Shelton, Washington
7:30 p.m. Entry closes
8:00 p.m. Welcome party (participants, workers, media); Doo Wop
Inn; SE State St.; Shelton, Washington; sponsored by
Auto GLASPRO of Olympia
Friday, June 18
9:00 a.m. Press stage; meet at Shelton Inn; Shelton, Washington
11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Registration; Shelton Inn; Shelton, Washington
11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Tech inspection; Wagenwerks; Shelton, Washington
4:30 p.m. Parc Expose - ProRally cars on display; downtown
Shelton, Washington
6:00 p.m. First car starts Wild West ProRally; downtown
Shelton, Washington
11:30 p.m. First car finishes first day of Wild West ProRally;
downtown Shelton, Washington
Saturday, June 19
7:30 a.m. Parc Expose - ProRally cars on display; downtown
Shelton, Washington
8:00 a.m. First car starts second day of Wild West ProRally;
downtown Shelton, Washington
6:30 p.m. First car finishes Wild West ProRally; downtown
Shelton, Washington
8:00 p.m. Awards banquet
8:45 p.m. Awards presentation
Wild West Pro Rally
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19, 1999
Start Order
Start Driver/Hometown Class
Co-Driver/Hometown
1 2 Noel Lawler/Manchester, VT Open
Charles Bradley, Ardmore, PA
2 8 John Buffum Open
Mark Williams
3 7 Ralph Kosmides/Newport Beach, CA Group 5
Joe Noyes/Seattle, WA
4 10 Bill Malik/Burbank, CA Group 2
Christian Edstrom
5 90 Lauchlin O'Sullivan/San Francisco, CA Open
Jon Oxford/San Francisco, CA
6 95 Tony Chavez/Santa Fe Springs, CA Open
Ken Cassidy/Tempe, AZ
7 14 Garen Shrader/Memphis, TN Open
Floyd "Doc" Shrader/Memphis, TN
8 16 Gail Truess/Brooklyn, MI Prod GT
Cindy Krolikowski/Wyndotte, MI
9 35 Lee Shadbolt/Tigard, OR Prod GT
Claire Chizma/Newhall, CA
10 20 George Pisck/Del Mar, CA Open
Renn Phillips/Solana Beach, CA
11 32 Paul Eklund/Tigard, OR Open
John Allen/Bainbridge Island, WA
12 25 Gerry Valentini/Sacramento, CA Group 5
Lee Sorenson/Fair Oaks, CA
13 61 Karl Scheible/Spencerport, NY Production
Gail McGuire/Avon, NY
14 127 Chad Dykes/San Diego, CA Group 2
Deborah Fuller/El Cajon, CA
15 201 Todd Hartmann/Issaquah, WA Group 2
Shawn Callahan/Seattle, WA
16 134 John Forespring/Olympia, WA Group 5
Tony Lemon/Olympia, WA
17 70 Kendall Russell/Knoxville, TN Prod GT
John Dillon/Thousand Oaks, CA
18 198 John Lane/Bellevue, WA Group 5
Scott Huhn/Seattle, WA
19 172 Doug Schrenk/Lynnwood, WA Group 5
Rob Walden/Shoreline, WA
20 141 Rob Hansen/Seattle, WA Prod GT
Ed Hill/Renton, WA
21 45 Jake Dekovic/Lynnwood, WA Open
Dave McFarland/Lynnwood,WA
22 444 Robert Trinder/Vancover, BC Open
Paul Westwick/Vancover, BC
23 272 Robert Reaves/North Bend, WA Group 5
Tammy Reaves/North Bend, WA
24 207 Dave Hintz/Olympia, WA Group 5
Doug Chase/Everett, WA
25 243 Chris Kouba/Milwaukie, OR Group 5
Gary Bockman/Portland, OR
26 240 Rick Hintz/El Cajon, CA Group 5
Mark Swalley/Gig Harbor, WA
27 250 Jeff Call/Redmond, WA Group 2
Brent Dille/Tacoma, WA
28 248 Mike Mailman/Arlington, WA Group 2
Shelly Kruse/Arlington, WA
29 253 Noah Third/Milwaukie, OR Group 2
Jason Lane
30 299 Michael Leonerd/Bothell, WA Group 2
Leon Owens/Tacoma, WA
31 232 Mark Tabor/West Linn, OR Prod GT
Kristen Tabor/Tigard, OR
32 555 Pat Richard/Vancover, BC Prod. GT
Ian McCurrdy/Whistler, BC
33 202 Nao Hirata/Shorline, WA Prod GT
Don Swier/Longview, WA
34 222 Jon Tabor/West Linn, OR Production
Kevin Poirier/Rainier, OR
35 245 Carey Wright/Snoqualmie, WA Group 5
Alan Wright/North Bend, WA
36 244 Marc Thielke/Seattle, WA Group 2
Catherine Roso
37 223 Greg Lingelbach/Portland, OR Group 5
Steve Andrews/Battle Ground, WA
38 271 Matt Tabor/West Linn, OR Group 2
Chris Hale/Tualatin, OR
39 284 Christopher Sayers/Vancover, BC Group 5
Brad Harron/Redmond, OR
40 246 Gordon Gaude/Hillsboro, OR Group 2
Tim Maple/Beaverton, OR
41 556 Dave Schrenk/Lynnwood, WA Group 2
Chad Little/Arlington, WA
42 260 Eric Eaton/Tacoma, WA Open
Kenny Almquist/Graham, WA
Wild West ProRally
Round 5
1999 Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19, 1999
Press Notes #1
Good morning and welcome to a lovely, cool, clear Pacific Northwest day.
It’s been both cloudy and clear here, and probably will continue to
change back and forth throughout the day. We’re about to get underway
for Round 5 of the 1999 Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship.
1.) This event originally was scheduled to be Round 3 in the series,
roughly two months ago. However, due to the combined environmental
effects of record heavy snowfall and a record number of consecutive days
of rainfall, the organizers decided to postpone the event until now. It
had been thought that the rally traffic might add to the already heavy
runoff in area streams, and might further interfere with the annual
salmon migration that is so important to this region.
2.) As was the case two weeks ago at Susquehannock Trail the entry has
changed almost by the hour, with the size of the field see-sawing right
into the last hour. The final count will be 42 starters.
3.) Paul Choiniere will not be driving here this weekend. He has a
commitment that predates the rescheduling of this event. So team chief
and 11-time national champion John Buffum will take his place in Libra
Racing’s number 3 Hyundai Tiburon.
4.) Choiniere’s regular navigator, Jeff Becker, had been scheduled to do
this event. However, Wednesday his wife, Tess, passed away. She had been
a familiar sight around the events throughout Jeff's 23-year ProRally
career. For the past nine months, she had been suffering from a rare
condition called primary pulmonary hypertension, which makes breathing
very difficult. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday morning on Long
Island.
5.) In lieu of flowers, the Becker family has asked that donations be
made in the name of Tess Becker to the organization that is seeking a
cure for the relatively unknown killer that struck her down: PPH Cure
Foundation; 1826 R Street NW; Washington, DC 20009.
Everyone here, as well as everyone within the ProRally family, has the
Becker family in their thoughts and prayers today.
Wild West ProRally
Press notes
Page 2
7.) Helping us gather press notes at this event is John Jeppesen, a
public relations pro from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Among other
projects, he has handled PR for Menard’s at the Indy 500 and Dauer
Racing at the Daytona 24 Hours.
8.) While we're on the subject of help, we'd belatedly like to thank
Bowie Gray and Matt Johnson, who helped out at STPR two weeks ago.
9.) Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire gave the Volkswagen New Beetle its
first ProRally win two weeks ago at STPR. Crew Chief Guy Light points
out that the strength of the car made it really difficult to turn the
New Beetle into the Production-class point-leader. "The Bug is
unbelievably strong, but it is not an organic car. It was designed by a
computer," he said. He couldn't find any way to attach the skid plate to
the bottom of the chassis, so he was forced to use 16 feet of tubing to
create a subframe for it.
10.) Ralph Kosmides (Group 5 Toyota Supra Turbo) feels like he's back
home again. "I love the roads here. I started rallying here, so it's
like my home track," he said. "This course has good grip, but it's very
abrasive on tires. I think it's going to be very dusty, so I wouldn't be
surprised if they went to two minute start windows."
11.) John Buffum is making his first start of the season here, driving
an Open Class Hyundai Elantra. The 11-time SCCA ProRally Champion and
Mark Williams will be starting Wild West second on the road, behind
teammmates Noel Lawler and Charlie Bradley, in a Hyundai Tiburon. Like
everyone else, Buffum expects that this will be a very dusty event, due
to the dry conditions here. He thinks that starting second will be okay,
even though there is a lot of loose gravel on the roads that will keep
traction down until the first few cars sweep it away. "The dust will be
a bigger problem than the loose rocks on the top of the road," he said.
12.) Phil Mellor, an SCCA Director from Southeast Division, is here at
Wild West as an observer, getting thoroughly acquainted with performance
rallying. His day started with a ride in Garen Shrader's Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo IV, which he called "the biggest adrenaline rush I've had in
a long time." An hour later he still had a huge grin on his face.
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 3
13.) Mellor is finding that the Pro Rally series is a vital part of SCCA
racing programs. "It's an awesome experience that the club should get
more involved in," he concluded. "It's overdue."
14.) Doc Shrader (co-Driver, Open Class Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV)
describes this event as deceptive. "It's a lot like a low-key
ClubRally," he says. "So the adrenaline doesn't start building until
Parc Expose -- instead of building all day." The stylish doctor is
sporting a unique pair of rainbow reading glasses, a gift from his son
Garen's girlfriend. "So my son won't have any trouble seeing me, even at
night," he chuckles.
15.) Shrader feels that this event is well-grouped. "We will be fighting
hard with Tony (Chavez) and Lauchlin (O'Sullivan). The roads have not
favored fast cars. They are tricky and a bit more of an equalizer." If
the dust isn't too bad, he feels that Garen, Tony and Lauchlin all could
take time off of Noel Lawler and John Buffum -- who will be sweeping the
loose gravel off of the stages and making traction better for those
behind them.
16.) All drivers agree that the rally can't be won tonight, but it
certainly can be lost. Shrader's strategy is simple, "We'll be fast but
cautious. The battle starts tomorrow."
17.) Tony Chavez (Open Class Mitsubishi Galant VR-4) agrees with
Shrader. "We've just got to get through tonight. We'll dance with
Lauchlin and Garen tomorrow."
18.) Noel Lawler is happy about starting first-on-the-road in his Open
Class Hyundai Tiburon. "It's an honor," he said, "but I don't know that
the first starting position will make that much of a difference. If
John Buffum and I switched positions, I don't think I could drive in his
tracks. However, because Paul Choiniere isnt here, this is my chance to
move up in series points."
19.) The prediction made by John Buffum and many others that this would
be a "dust" rally has come true. After just one of tonight's six stages,
the organizers have switched to two-minute intervals. This was foreseen
in the planning, so complications should be relatively few.
20.) At the first service, Murray Thomas, crew chief for the
Shraders'Mitsubishi Lancer Evo reports that Garen says that the car is
running just fine, but the course was very dusty.
Wild West ProRally
Press notes
Page 4
21.) Karl Scheible is in a conservative mode in the Production Class
Volkswagen New Beetle "I'm taking it easy. There are lots of holes in
the course. I'm going to keep down the middle of the road. I'm in the
points lead and want to keep it. I'll drive fast and take chances at the
next event in Maine."
22.) According to Paul Truess, crew chief of the Production GT Mazda 323
GTX driven by his wife, Gail, their car is good. "We made some changes
and put softer tires on the car. She hasn't run Simpson roads before, so
she's learning how to drive them and learn the rhythms of the course."
23.) Things are drastically different on opposite sides of the Libra
Racing camp. Mechanic Brian Oldfield says that Noel Lawler is happy with
his Hyundai Tiburon. "It's running very well. No problems." However,
John Buffum's Elantra is overheating. Oldfield says that the car is
blowing water, so Buffum is taking it easy.
24.) Buffum's troubles apparently started very early, as Ralph Kosmides
and Joe Noyes (Group5 Toyota Supra)caught him on the first stage and had
to struggle with his dust.
25.) The roads seem to suit Lawler just fine. After three stages, he is
leading the event by 94 seconds over Doo Wop winner Lauchlin O'Sullivan
(Audi quattro), 110 seconds over Buffum and 111 over the Shraders.
26.) In Group 5, Doug Schrenk and Rob Walton (Saab) had pulled ahead of
Kosmides and Noyes by 29 seconds.
27.) In Group 2, Todd Hartmann and Shan Callahan (six-speed Volkswagen
Golf GTi) have a slim, one-second lead over Chad Dykes and Deborah
Fuller (Toyota).
28.) Doo Wop Production GT winner Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowski
(Mazda 323 GTX) have a 51-second lead over Rim of the World PGT winners
Lee Shadbolt and Claire Chizma (Subaru Impreza). Truess' regular
navigator, Pattie Hughes had a commitment that predated the rescheduling
of this event. So she is missing this event, and Truess' longtime friend
Krolikowki is filling in for her.
29.) Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire are running unopposed in Production,
in the New Beetle. So they are taking their time and having an enjoyabe
run.
30.) John Forespring (Group 5 Ford Mustang) had problems with the dust
early on until they closed co-driver Tony Lemon's window, which fixed
the problem.
Wild West ProRally
Press notes
Page 5
31.) The switchover to two-minute starting intervals to deal with the
heavy dust did produce one logistical problem. The change made it
impossible to get the necessary Emergency Medical Technician from his
previous post to Stage 6 in time to run the stage. Therefore, cars will
transit what was to have been the last stage of the evening.
32.) Mark Williams, John Buffum's navigator did the last ProRally
(Susquehannock Trail) with Mexican national champion Gabriel
Ortiz-Marin, where he had to give instructions in Spanish. Just to have
a little fun with Buffum, Williams started out today's event giving him
instructions in Spanish. He says that it got a rather puzzled look from
Buffum.
33.) Teams are beginning to arrive back at the headquarters hotel. Noel
Lawler has had a great evening. "Just havin fun and keepin it between
the ditches" he says. Maybe so, but he's nearly two minutes clear of
teammate Buffum. Running first on the road, Lawler found the stages very
slippery due to loose gravel, and felt that he was losing a great deal
of time on the first pass through the set of three stages that was run
twice. However, he was surprised to find that he was only a couple of
seconds faster the second time through, even though the traction was
greatly improved.
34.) Buffum is still having overheating problems. The crew looked things
over earlier and concluded that he could continue. However, they have
installed a special sensor, according to navigator Mark Williams.
They’ve put an overflow bottle down by his feet. He says that when he
can feel his feet getting wet, they know to slow down and take it easy
for a while.
35.) Like so many others, Ralph Kosmides, had considerable problems with
the dust, especially after catching Buffum. He also found the roads hard
to read and a lot rougher the second time through. The car is running
well, though, and he has a positive outlook for Saturday's nine stages.
36.) On Stage 4, Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowsky saw the tail of a red
car sticking up out of the underbrush. Thinking that it was Kosmides and
Noyes and that they may have been hurt, they stopped to check. It turned
out that the car was a leftover from the previous running of that stage,
and everything was okay. The stewards will make a time allowance to
account for their stopping to render aid.
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 6
37.) At the start of Stage 5, Truess and Krolikowsi had their driving
lights fail totally. So they drove the stage on just headlights. Perhaps
the most disappointing part was that the car was running better than it
had for a couple of events, but they just couldn’t use its performance.
38.) Lauchlin O’Sullivan and John Oxford finished the evening in third
overall, and were feeling good, despite virtually stopping three times
due to the dust. Having won here a few weeks ago, O’Sullivan felt as
though he had sort of a home-field advantage and was looking forward to
Saturday.
39.) Tony Chavez and Ken Cassidy (Mitsubishi Galant VR-4)had their share
of excitement this evening. Two miles from the end of Stage 4 they came
charging into a fast downhill lefthander, and the brake pedal went
straight to the floor. Cassidy says that Chavez’s hands “got very busy”
on the shifter. They made the turn, but had to drive the rest of that
stage and the next, and the transits without brakes.
40.) Paul Eklund and John Allen (Subaru Impreza)had to deal with serious
overheating for the first three stages. A friendly farmer lent them a
hose to refill the cooling system. Later, the crew was able to look the
car over and pronounce it fit to continue. They’re looking forward to
moving through the field on Saturday.
41.) John Lane and Scott Huhn bent a strut early on in their Volvo with
the claimed 600-hp (yes, six hundred). They hit a rock in the road so
hard that the whole car gave off a loud, resonating bong. They also lost
a minute to a wrong slot. Lane loves his high-intensity discharge
lights. Compared to the usual halogen rally lights, he says that the
difference it like bright black-and-white versus brilliant color.
42.) Gerry Valentini and Lee Sorenson (Mazda Rx-7) wrong-slotted on
Stage 4 and then lost three and a half minutes when they got stuck
trying to turn around. They’re hoping for a bit more fun on Saturday.
43.) Other than wrong-slotting in a spot where the banner guard may have
been down, and another car was blocking the right choice, Kendall
Russell and John Dillon are having a pretty good time in their Dodge
Shadow.
Wild West ProRally
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19, 1999
Friday Results
Fin Class Driver Car
Pos Car# Seed Co-Driver Tires Sponsor Score
1 2 Open Noel Lawler Hyundai Hyundai 0:41:41
Charles Bradley Pirelli
2 8 Open John Buffum Hyundai Hyundai 0:43:35
Mark Williams Michelin
3 90 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan Audi Wagen Werks 0:44:14
John Oxford Michelin
4 14 Open Garen Shrader Mitsubishi TAD Motorsports 0:44:44
Floyd 'Doc' Shrader Michelin Red Line Oil
5 172 Grp 5 Doug Schrenk SAAB Scanwest Autosport 0:45:51
Rob Walden Michelin
6 7 Grp 5 Ralph Kosmides Toyota Ruby's 0:46:01
Joe Noyes Michelin Coca-Cola
7 10 Grp 2 Bill Malik Volvo Valencia Vol 0:46:44
Christian Edstrom Michelin
8 201 Grp 2 Todd Hartmann VW Intrax Suspenzion 0:46:48
Shawn Callahan Michelin Technology
9 16 PGT Gail Truess Mazda Rally Dynamics 0:47:05
Cindy Krolikowski Michelin
10 95 Open Tony Chavez Mitsubishi Texaco of Mexico 0:47:14
Ken Cassidy Michelin
11 20 Open George Plsek Audi No Fear, Cal 0:47:21
Renn Phillips Michelin Wagen Werks
12 35 PGT Lee Shadbolt Subaru Morrie's Subaru 0:47:33
Claire Chizma Michelin
13 198 Grp 5 John Lane Volvo C&S Auto 0:48:08
Scott Huhn Michelin
14 32 Open Paul 'Pablo' Eklund Subaru Royal Moore Subaru 0:48:11
John Allen Michelin
15 61 Prod Karl Scheible VW Lazer Inc. 0:49:11
Gail McGuire Michelin
16 141 Open Rob Hansen Mitsubishi Bayview Limo 0:50:12
Ed Hill Michelin
17 134 Grp 5 John Forespring Ford Matt Sweeney "ects 0:51:17
Tony Lemon Michelin PDE
18 70 PGT Kendall Russell Dodge Shults Dot Com 0:51:52
John Dillon Michelin
19 25 Grp 5 Gerry Valentini Mazda 0:53:58
Lee Sorenson Michelin
20 127 Grp 2 Chad Dykes Toyota 1:07:16
Deborah Fuller Michelin
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 7
44.) Good morning and welcome to day two of the Wild West ProRally. It’s
cloudier and grayer today than yesterday, but the betting is on a good
day overall. The first car left Parc Expose at 8:00 a.m. and headed out
into the woods for a full day of rallying. There will be 10 stages
today, including a 23-miler that will be run twice.
45.) There wasn’t a whole lot of news for several hours. So it’s after
noon before we begin hearing what’s going on out in the forest.
46.) The first to stop by the press room are Gordon Gaude and Tim Maple,
who are looking a little rumpled. It turns out that they’ve had a big
off. They got off the road on the first 23-miler, did a double roll and
wound up sitting on a huge tree stump with all four wheels of their
Volkswagen Golf well clear of the ground.
47.) Not quite an hour later, Doc Shrader is spotted walking across the
parking lot here. It is way, way too early for him to be back. He says
that he and Garen were running well on the 23-miler when the rear CV
joint on the driveshaft to the rear wheels failed. At first, Garen
thought they had one or two flats, because of the snaky way the car
handled. He drove to the end of the stage and asked the control worker
how many flats they had. When the worker replied, “none,” they knew what
had broken.
48.) Crew Chief Murray Thomas considered removing the driveshaft and
running the Shraders’ Evo IV in front-wheel-drive only. However, when
they looked at the points situation and their position within the rally,
they elected not to risk doing serious damage to the car. There was
nothing to be gained, and a crash might keep them from getting their
shot at the championship. So they retired in order to begin preparing
for Maine Forest, which will take place at the end of July.
49.) Northwest performance rallying fixture John Forespring, one of the
organizers of this event, has had a hard-luck weekend. He and his family
had made some interesting suspension modification to his ex-police car
five-liter Mustang; and he was looking forward to trying them out.
Things were going along well until he doubted his navigator’s word on a
fast 90 left. They went off the road, lost some arguments with nearby
stumps and wound up with a car that Forespring figures totaled. They’re
bruised but other wise okay.
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 8
50.) George Plsek is in a test mode with his Open Class Audi Coupe
quattro. “I’ve been taking it pretty easy. Just trying to finish the
rally, to test the car out.”
51.) Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire are enjoying themselves in the
Production Class Volkswagen New Beetle “It’s going very well,” said
Scheible. “It’s a very rough rally and due to the design of the car, we
can’t run very much ground clearance. So we’re hitting a lot of rocks.
It’s kind of rough for the car. We’re gonna take it easy, to make sure
we finish. We’ve already changed a strut and I don’t think we want to
change any more.
52.) Noah Third figures that his Group 2 Volkswagen Rabbit has the
cat-like ability of landing on it’s feet. After flipping his car in
Stage 8 he said, “We slid wide on a lefthander, caught a rear wheel and
it flipped -- a corner over corner roll. We managed to do it without
touching the roof. It collapsed the front end and did some damage to the
back end as well. It felt pretty normal. I don’t think we’ve damaged the
suspension too much.”
53.) After stage 9, both Hyundai’s are doing fine according to the crew
chief. He says everything seems to be under control. Buffum’s car will
certainly finish, he thinks. He says that Buffum is watching all the
gauges, is really keeping his eyes open and knows when to get into the
boost and when to get out of it to save the car.
54.) Paul Truess, crew chief of Production GT Mazda 323 GTX driven by
Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowski, says that things are going really
well. “After the second service here, things have been going fine with
the car. There have been no problems. We’re checking it over really
closely to make sure there is no rock damage. Some of the other people
ahead of us on the road have suffered punctures. We just want to make
sure that we do everything we can do to avoid something like that
because there are some big rockadillos out there.”
55.) After nine stages, Noel Lawler (Open Class Hyundai Tiburon) said,
“It’s going great. It’s going brilliant. We’re not even pushing awfully
hard and we’re leading by a fair amount. So, we’re in good shape.
Hopefully, it will be a promising lead and we’ll win this rally.”
Wild West ProRally
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19,1999
Final Results
Pos. Class Driver/Co-driver Time Difference
Vehicle/Tires (Hours, minutes, seconds)
1 Open Noel Lawler/Charlie Bradley 2:36:29 0:00:00
Hyundai Tiburon/Michelin
2 Open John Buffum/Mark Williams 2:40:38 0:04:09
Hyundai Elantra/Michelin
3 Open Paul Eklund/John Allen 2:48:27 0:11:58
Subaru Impreza/Michelin
4 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan/John Oxford 2:48:55 0:12:26
Audi 4000 quattro/Michelin
5 Gp5 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes 2:50:55 0:14:26
Toyota Supra/Michelin
6 PGT Gail Truess/Cindy Krolikowski 2:51:18 0:14:49
Mazda 323 GTX/Michelin
7 Open George Plsek/Renn Phillips 2:52:13 0:15:44
Audi Coupe/Michelin
8 PGT Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma 2:53:15 0:16:46
Subaru Impreza/Michelin
9 Gr2 Todd Hartmann/Shawn Callahan 2:59:51 0:23:22
Volkswagen Golf GTi/Michelin
10 Open Tony Chavez/Ken Cassidy 3:00:15 0:23:46
Mitsubishi Galant VR-4/Michelin
11 Prod Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire 3:01:12 0:24:43
Volkwagen New Beetle/Michelin
12 Gr5 Gerry Valentini/Lee Sorenson 3:05:49 0:29:20
Mazda Rx-7/Michelin
13 PGT Kendall Russell/John Dillon 3:17:38 0:41:09
Dodge Shadow/Michelin
14 Gr2 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller 3:50:41 1:30:12
Toyota pickup/Michelin
15 Open Rob Hansen/Ed Hill 4:12:46 1:57:17
Mitsubishi/Michelin
16 Gr5 John Forespring/Tony Lemon DNF DNF
Ford Mustang/Michelin
17 Open Garen Shrader/Floyd 'Doc' Shrader DNF DNF
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV/Michelin
18 Gr5 John Lane/Scott Huhn DNF DNF
Volvo Turbo/Michelin
19 Gr5 Doug Schrenk/Rob Walden DNF DNF
SAAB/Michelin
20 Gr2 Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom DNF DNF
Volvo 240/Michelin
Wild West ProRally
Press notes
Page 9
56.) John Buffum/Open Class Hyundai Elantra: “Yeah, it’s going fine now.
We’re just cruising along, keeping Noel’s rear guard. On the overheating
problem: “We have the boost turned down. Just going along steady,
watching the water. We’ve got an overflow bottle in the co-driver’s
compartment so he can just watch it. When it’s a quarter full we back
off for awhile.”
57.) After hearing about the Schraders’ event-ending incident, he
offered this comment: “At the beginning of the rally, we were talking
with Murray Thomas, who’s the crew chief of the TAD effort. At
Susquehannock Trail in Pennsylvania they had an accident where they went
straight off the road and damaged the front of the vehicle. Luckily, one
of Murray’s mechanics has a similar car; and they were able to replace
all the front pieces. So, Murray’s instructions to Garen before starting
the rally were: ‘If you go off the road, make sure you hand-brake it and
back it in because you definitely want to hit the part of the car you
still own.’”
58.) From Dave Clark, crew chief of the John Lane/Scott Huhn Group 5
Volvo 262 Turbo: “We had to replace a center bearing support in the
first stage and did a good time; but it came out. We were able to get
some from a crew chief’s car down the street. And in the second stage,
he went wide and clobbered a bank or something, bent the panhard rod and
tore a fitting off the brake. So we’ve gone one rear brake now, and
we’re crossing our fingers.
59.) Lauchlin O’Sullivan (Open Class Audi 4000 Turbo quattro) had some
minor problems, “but it’s holding together and the rest of the field is
having quite a few problems -- except for the Hyundai’s, of course.” On
a gain over John Buffum: “He’s having a problem with coolant leaking out
of the engine when he has too much turbo boost. So in the long stages,
he’s backing off quite a bit and that’s how we made up all that time.
We’ll try to pressure him as much as possible.”
60.) Ralph Kosmides (Group 5 Toyota Supra Turbo) is a happy camper.
“It’s going great. The car is going well and, luckily, we’ve outlasted
the competition. So, we’re looking good. Co-driver Joe Noyes said that
the dust problem subsided for them because the Schrader Mitsubishi
dropped out and Lawler and Buffum are well out in front.
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 10
61.) Production GT winner Gail Truess (Mazda 323 GTX) found the roads
challenging. “These roads are really interesting because they change so
much. It’s not like back East where the roads really have a cadence to
them and you can get into a very good rhythm. Out here they seem to
change. A couple corners will be similar and then it will change
traction or surface and you’ll go to something else. So you really have
to be on top of it all the time. I’m still making adjustments for that.”
62.) Truess is about to make a big move, literally and figuratively. She
has accepted a position as a full-time driving instructor at BMW’s
Performance Center, near Greenville, South Carolina. She recently spent
10 days in Germany and Austria going through BMW’s instructor school,
which has been in operation for 22 years. Truess will be moving to South
Carolina in a couple of weeks. Husband Paul will follow as soon as he
sells their home in Michigan.
63.) Tony Chavez (Open Class Mitsubishi Galant VR-4) had an eventful
rally in his first trip to Washinton, ending up 10th overall. He was
disappointed not to have been higher (he originally thought that he had
finished ninth), but was really pleased to have qualified for the move
up to Seed 1. Friday, he missed the first turn of the rally and lost
about 30 seconds, then lost his brakes in a very fast downhill turn
later. However, he got through the day and made it to the finish to get
a top-10 spot.
64.) Doc Schrader says they got “bit by the rally gods,” but they’ll
take advantage to the extra time to get ready for Maine Forest.
65.) Gail McGuire, Karl Scheible’s co-driver, has been adding a winning
touch to the cockpit of the Beetle. Every day of the event, she made
sure the driver’s side bud vase has had fresh cut flowers. Today, she
had a pink rose from the motel parking lot and a fern accent from one of
the service areas.
66.) Kendall Russell has gotten her 14th consecutive finish with her
Production GT Dodge Shadow. Last year she was the only driver in the
series to finish every event. Co-driver John Dillon passes along the
information that she successfully dodged a porcupine last night,
continuing her ongoing adventures with animals on stages.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lawler Gets First Win of Year at Wild West ProRally
SHELTON, Washington — Irish eyes definitely were smiling in this part of
Washington yesterday evening, as Noel Lawler took the overall win in the
Wild West ProRally, round five in the Michelin SCCA ProRally
Championship. Lawler and navigator Charlie Bradley have been close
before this year in their Hyundai Tiburon, but this time everything went
their way.
Lawler’s victory marked the fifth different winner in as many
events this season.
Team owner John Buffum made it a one-two finish for Libra Racing
and Hyundai, as he and navigator Mark Williams bought their Hyundai
Elantra home second overall. Paul Eklund and navigator John Allen
finished a very strong third in their Subaru Impreza. Hot on their heels
were Laughlin O’Sullivan and new navigator John Oxford. O’Sullivan won
the second round of the championship earlier this year in the same Audi
quattro.
Defending Group 5 champion Ralph Kosmides and co-driver Joe Noyes
finished fifth overall and well clear of the competition with their
Toyota Supra Turbo. However, the sailing was easy for them only toward
the end of the two-day event. Until late in the rally, they had strong
competition, which was slowed or knocked out of the event by the tough
roads. Gerry Valentini and Lee Sorenson brought their Mazda Rx-7 in
second in Group 5.
Only 23 seconds behind Kosmides and Noyes were Production GT
winners Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowski, in a Mazda 323 GTX. It was
Truess’ second-consecutive class win in Washington, and kept her record
perfect in the state – two visits, two wins. Earlier in the year, she
and regular navigator Pattie Hughes took the PGT honors in the Doo Wop
ProRally. Second in PGT went to Rim of the World winners Lee Shadbolt
and Claire Chizma, in a Subaru Impreza. They finished eighth overall.
Group 2 winners Todd Hartmann and Shawn Callahan came in an
impressive ninth overall. They were in Hartmann’s Volkswagen Golf GTi,
which features a special six-speed
European transmission. They had strong competition throughout a large
protion of the rally. However, as was the case in Group 5, the rough and
twisty course ate away at their competition until Hartmann and Callahan
had a comfortable margin.
For the second rally in a row, the Production Class win went to the
Volkswagen New Beetle of Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire. That gave the
new-style Beetle wins in only its second and third ProRallies ever. Just
to add an extra touch of class to what ended up being an easy event for
their team, McGuire made sure that the car had fresh-cut flowers in the
driver’s-side bud vase that is standard on the street cars.
The next round of the Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship will be
the Maine Forest ProRally, which will take place in Rumford, Maine, the
weekend of July 30-31.
— WRG —
WW-0002
62099
Wind River Group, Inc.
900 State Mill Road
Akron, Ohio 44319 USA
330.644.7774; 330.645.2045 Fax
windrivr@ix.netcom.com or windriv@aol.com
Wild West ProRally
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19,1999
Final Results
Pos. Class Driver/Co-driver Time Difference
Vehicle/Tires (Hours, minutes, seconds)
1 Open Noel Lawler/Charlie Bradley 2:36:29 0:00:00
Hyundai Tiburon/Michelin
2 Open John Buffum/Mark Williams 2:40:38 0:04:09
Hyundai Elantra/Michelin
3 Open Paul Eklund/John Allen 2:48:27 0:11:58
Subaru Impreza/Michelin
4 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan/John Oxford 2:48:55 0:12:26
Audi 4000 quattro/Michelin
5 Gp5 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes 2:50:55 0:14:26
Toyota Supra/Michelin
6 PGT Gail Truess/Cindy Krolikowski 2:51:18 0:14:49
Mazda 323 GTX/Michelin
7 Open George Plsek/Renn Phillips 2:52:13 0:15:44
Audi Coupe/Michelin
8 PGT Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma 2:53:15 0:16:46
Subaru Impreza/Michelin
9 Gr2 Todd Hartmann/Shawn Callahan 2:59:51 0:23:22
Volkswagen Golf GTi/Michelin
10 Open Tony Chavez/Ken Cassidy 3:00:15 0:23:46
Mitsubishi Galant VR-4/Michelin
11 Prod Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire 3:01:12 0:24:43
Volkwagen New Beetle/Michelin
12 Gr5 Gerry Valentini/Lee Sorenson 3:05:49 0:29:20
Mazda Rx-7/Michelin
13 PGT Kendall Russell/John Dillon 3:17:38 0:41:09
Dodge Shadow/Michelin
14 Gr2 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller 3:50:41 1:30:12
Toyota pickup/Michelin
15 Open Rob Hansen/Ed Hill 4:12:46 1:57:17
Mitsubishi/Michelin
16 Gr5 John Forespring/Tony Lemon DNF DNF
Ford Mustang/Michelin
17 Open Garen Shrader/Floyd 'Doc' Shrader DNF DNF
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV/Michelin
18 Gr5 John Lane/Scott Huhn DNF DNF
Volvo Turbo/Michelin
19 Gr5 Doug Schrenk/Rob Walden DNF DNF
SAAB/Michelin
20 Gr2 Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom DNF DNF
Volvo 240/Michelin
WW 99 Results
Results 99 Index
RRN Index