Bemidji, Minnesota -- A close second place finish at the Sports Car Club of America Ojibwe Forests ProRally has moved the team of Mark Utecht and Brenda Corneliusen into the points lead for the Group 5 category. Utecht and Corneliusen had a hard fought battle in their Mayhem Racing Dodge Omni GLH turbo with the Honda Civic of Bryan Hourt and Tom Tighe. After over 100 miles of stage rally competition, Hourt and Tighe took the Group 5 win by only 11 seconds. The final stage of the event showed just how hard Utecht and Hourt were working for the class victory -- Utecht had the fastest time for the stage overall and Hourt had the second fastest time, only three seconds behind, both beating all of the all-wheel drive, turbocharged cars in the Open class.

Finishing second has moved driver Utecht and co-driver Corneliusen into the Group 5 Championship points lead ahead of former Group 5 Champion Ralph Kosmides and his co-driver, Ken Cassidy. Utecht also now leads in points for the Jon Woodner Cup, awarded to the most successful two-wheel drive competitor in the series. While Mayhem Racing had intended to run only one more ProRally this season -- the Lake Superior ProRally in Upper Michigan (Oct. 20-21) -- they are now entering both Wild West in Washington (Sept. 15-16) and Prescott Forest in Arizona (Sept. 29-30) in an effort to win the Group 5 title.

"We started the season with a new chassis and the car has been competitive at every event," said Utecht. "We have placed third or higher in all Pro Rallies we have run this year, with no DNFs (Did Not Finish), so I am quite pleased with our performance for the season. I've had a lot of support toward running the additional events to try to take the Group 5 Championship. It may be some time before we get this opportunity again."

Mayhem Racing is based in Stacy, Minnesota, just north of the Twin Cities. Team manager is Mark's wife, Mary Utecht. J.B. Lewis, Brenda Corneliusen's fiance, is Chief Mechanic on the team's 1986 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo.

Sponsors of the Mayhem Racing ProRally effort include:

• FirstCom - business telephone communications
• ProGraphics - signs and vehicle graphics for business and racing
• Warranty Solutions - warranty claims processing and consulting for automobile dealerships

Mayhem Racing's 2000 ProRally Results:

Date	Event	Group 5	Overall
1/28-29	Sno*Drift, Atlanta, Michigan	1st	7th
6/3	Susquehannock Trail, Wellsboro, PA	3rd	9th
7/28-29	Maine Forest, Rumford, Maine	1st	8th
8/25-26	Ojibwe Forests, Bemidji, Minnesota	2nd	11th

For further details and for photos, contact: Mark Utecht at 651-408-1203 or Brenda Corneliusen at 763-502-8561.

Tim Winker
Phone: 218-729-0821
tim@winktimber.com
www.winktimber.com