Mike Rewis dogwalks through the course

Typical course, anyone can do it!  <- takes you to a Youtube video from the last event

It seems as if everyday we’ve been asking, whens the dust going to fly, it’s been such a cool summer! So hopefully before the Termination Dust flies, we are going to squeak in a RallyCross at the Alaska Raceway Park!!!

http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.advert/uidEvent/404300D5-AE26-DA06-286928E71DA1666A

This is the direct link to the open registration!

The Arctic Alaska Region of the Sports Car Club of America will be sanctioning the 2nd Summer RallyCross Season Championship on Sunday, September 12, at Alaska Raceway Park. This will be the second of three RallyCrosses with the the final event on November 13th.

Racing the Termination Dust Schedule for Event Morning

Cars will have been gridded departing tech, and we will have the first car on course immediately after the Driver’s Meeting. The number of runs will be announced at the driver’s meeting and all runs are counted in the day’s scores.

Straight from Gail Engblom, the Road Rally Safety Steward, who was out on the course last night, “This rally explores several areas of Anchorage and includes some great scenery and views.  It is also a learning rally, where the competitors will be introduced to some of the lesser known terms from the glossary and progressively difficult course-following as the route unfolds (or snarls) on the road ahead.”

The Arctic Alaska Region of the Sports Car Club of America is sanctioning the 2010 Road Rally Championship, sponsored by RPM Alaska. This second event of the season will have rallyists gathering at the Carr’s store on Jewel Lake Road at Dimond Boulevard at 10AM. Do plan to arrive as close to 10AM as possible, as there are final registration matters to take care of, waiver forms to sign, and a quick vehicle tech inspection. Entry fees are $15 for the Driver and $15 for the Navigator. For those who do not hold an SCCA Membership, there is an additional $5 SCCA Weekend Membership available.

For more information call Cheryl at 243-2122 (9A-7P)!

Rallymaster Cheryl Lynn would like to thank her Safety Steward Bill Demming and pre-checker Kevin Bohall for their time on the course. Bohall and Driver Caron Steward actually ran the first Where Eagles Dare in 1986—he said he had to come out as it was a part of his history! Doug Wilson, a member from Fort Wainwright flagged down the Rallymaster on the Glenn Highway when they were headed out to final the route and put mileage to it and road along to learn about rally and be the “speed limit” sign guy.

With  press about the event in emails, postcards, in the Bear Paw Festival booklet, and on the Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber’s website, we were blessed with many new competitors! The event began at the Eagle River Carl’s Jr. at 6PM, Thursday, July 8th and most teams were back for ice cream by 915PM after traveling to Peter’s Creek and well…”Where Eagles Dare” up on Mile High. Thank you to RE Bill Demming, Brad Generous, and Kim Coopernak for pulling checkpoint duty!

It was wonderful to have Russ Bell “in spirit” with us too. He was an avid Rallyist in our early years, and I noted in his obituary “he loved road rallies”, so it was special to have his daughter back out to the sport. She would rally with her Dad as teenager when his partner Philip Earl wasn’t available. And, by the finish Thursday eve…she hasn’t forgotten too much about the game either!

Having endured comments of “rallying is just for little old ladies in their minivans” on a local motorsports site, Paul Carter was not sure what to expect. He was pleasantly surprised by the challenge and precision road rally entails. And the country side that is off the main road that you don’t even know is there as you drive in and out on the Glenn Highway! The fact that he and his father took the Novice Class on their first Road Rally may have something to do with their “we’ll be back” enthusiasm too, yet we hope they’ll be rally regulars no matter their next finish. Competition is heating up for Engstrom and Lynn aka “Brain and Foot” (and also young Clara Engstrom this time) who ended the night with one penalty point!

The finishes for Where Eagles Dare XXV are:

Expert - Jake Engstrom/Jeff Lynn, 1 pt, MBW 330xi

Expert - Donna Fields/Kim Ciccone, 7 pts, Acura

Novice Class

Bobby Carter/Paul Carter, 4 pts, Subaru Forester XT

Tiffany Dunn/Thomas Lochner, 6 pts, GMC Sierra

Amanda Engstrom/Kody Anderson, 8 pts, Honda Pilot (won tie with 2-0’s)

George Celsor/Debra Abshier, 8 pts, BMW Z3 (lost tie with 1-0’s)

Rebecca Bastien/Leah Durocher, 9 pts, Subaru WRX TR

Bill Mendenhall/Kim Ruechel, 13 pts, Subaru Outback - Winners of Red Lantern

In addition to the Red Lantern for last place finish and $$ for their next entry for the first place finishers, all first competitors were given the Road Rally Driver or Road Rally Navigator shirts in appreciation for their coming out to give Road Rally a try!

The next event will be Midsummers’ Route of All Evo on Saturday, August 7th, by Rallymaster Jeff Lynn.

You will find the times under the Solo header’s Solo Results bar, yet for those that only want to know Time of Day info — John Wahl took the PAX from the horsepower!

Online Registration will open Thursday, July 16th. Stayed tuned for more details from Rallymaster Jeff Lynn, who is out setting course and readying for his Safety Steward check by Gail Engblom in just less than a week!

For more information, please contact Cheryl at 243-2122 (9A-7P) or send an e-mail to rpmalaska@mac.com with your questions.

Presented by RPM Alaska, the season has set the following dates in their 2010 Summer Road Rally Championship:

May 20th - Road Rally School -  Come learn about all of the “rules of the road” for the Sports Car Club of America’s sanctioned Road Rally events. The school will be in Anchorage and $15 per person, which includes their entry into the first event on the season.

May 22th - Signs of Spring Road Rally - An adventure on the Anchorage hillside neighborhoods of Anchorage. Rallymaster Cheryl Lynn will take Drivers and Navigators on familiar routes across the Anchorage Hillside on this season opener. Beginner route instructions are available for those new to the sport on this event sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America, Arctic Alaska Region!

June 13th – Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Matanuska Valley Colony, come join us for a Sunday “driving tour” of the colonists’ past. We’ll be exploring the roads in the Palmer area on this Road Rally, and go back in time to show you  where the settlements began and remember past farms and history! The rally will end at the Alaska State Fairgrounds at the Colony Kids’ picnic.

July 8th - Where Eagles Dare Road Rally - It was the first year of RPM Alaska and we’re returning to the name given the Bear Paw Festival Road Rally for many years for this event. Celebrate the Chugiak Eagle River Chamber of Commerce’s 25th Festival and give the sport of Road Rally a try too! This event will be run on Thursday evening, at the opening of 4-day celebration. Gather your friends and come give Road Rally a try and travel off the beaten-path where eagles dare!

August 7th – Midsummers’ Route of All Evo - Rallymaster J Lynn will be returning to the neighborhoods of Anchorage for this event! Think you know your way around Anchorage? Drivers and navigators, on public roads will be challenged by “main road rules” and the route instructions as they make their way in search of checkpoints.

September 25-26th – Mayday Mayday XXIV will be for those who enter both days of this weekend. Yet, each day will be counted as a Championship in the Summer Road Rally Championship standings. Lodging will be at Gate Creek Cabins in Trapper Creek Saturday evening.

Entry fees for the May-August events are $15 for each SCCA members and $20 for each SCCA Weekend member with no charge for additional team members in the vehicle. Should you be joining us as an SCCA Weekend Member, keep in mind that you will only pay that Weekend Membership once during a multiple-sanctioned weekend of Road Rally, Solo, and/or RallyCross events!
More information:  web: alaskascca.com, email: mdmdrally@mac.com or RPM Alaska at 243-2122 (9A-7P)

The dates have been approved for our next RallyCross Series as July 11 - Digging to China RallyCross - Alaska Raceway Park, September 12, and November 13th. All of these events will be held in the Matanuska Valley and Registration will be online at www.motorsportreg.com, as well as event mornings onsite.

Rally Steward Rebecca Bastien is working behind the scenes to build the support team needed for another active and successful season of RallyCross. Stay tuned for an update on the upcoming May meeting!

Members Demming, Babbe and Bastien were present when Tom Berry–our 2010 return guest–received his Solo Driver of Eminence Award in Las Vegas this past February. It was there that he mentioned he would like to return for another Solo Weekend and would bring his daughter this time.

Yet, already in the “queue” for 2010 were Colorado members Kevin Wenzel and Iain Mannix, fellow competitors known to Kent Hamilton who were placed on the Region’s list of those wishing to be invited north. Duncan had given his “they would be great choices” and after three weeks of trying to confirm them for our Solo Weekend XX — work and family obligations kept them from heading north to be of service to the Arctic Alaska Region. Perhaps we’ll see them next year?

Berry's Mitsubishi EVO

This year, we welcome back Tom Berry, who is making his third trek north for our Region’s Solo Weekend. While traveling with Dave Palmquist for prior schools in Soldotna and Houston, this year he’ll be co-instructoring with daughter Christine Berry!

Starting on her 12^th birthday, Christine was one of the first kids to participate in the newly sanctioned Junior Karting program, and she did so until she was able to get her drivers’ license. While she had been hanging around autocrosses for many years while her Mom and Dad were racing, once she had her license—she started driving the cars they drove. Starting with a BS (now CS) 1999 Mazda Miata for 2001 and 2002, she wasted no time moving through the classes each year! For 2003 and 2004 – BSP 1996 Chevrolet Corvette, 2005 – ASP 1999 Chevrolet Corvette, 2006 – ESP 1996 Chevrolet Camaro, and her ride from 2007 forward has been a BSP 2006 Mitsubishi Evo.

She has attended the SCCA Solo Nationals since 2003 and has taken 2^nd place 4 times, claiming the 2007 BSPL National Champion and the 2008 SML National Champion. SCCA ProSolo saw her as L2 Class Champion and the Overall Ladies Champion for 2007. Yet she doesn’t stop at “just” being a competitor behind the wheel! Christine serves her local Region, since 2004, by designing at least one course a year. She stepped up to the challenge of designing a course for one of the San Diego National Tours as well!

Earning a Bachelors Mechanical Engineering Degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) in 2007, she was a driver on their 2004 FSAE team and have been a key volunteer for the 2007-2009 FSAE West competitions held at the Autoclub Speedway in Fontana, CA. Since graduation, she has been working at Raytheon, a large aerospace company in El Segundo, CA; and, of course, she wrenches on the racecars (when they need it) during her spare time on the weekends.

Tom Berry had his start in autocrossing while attending University of California Riverside “in the late ‘70’s”. Exteremely passionate about this family sport, he recently added an extra race car so everyone in the family has seat time.

As noted, Christine was one of the first kids in the Junior Kart program and Tom was involved with introducing this program to SCCA’s Solo program and his Region. His record of attending every Solo Nationals since 1992 has been rewarded with 2009 Solo Driver of Eminence, 6 Solo II National Championships, 10 Pro Solo National Championships, 1 Overall Pro Solo Championship and 1 Overall 2^nd Place finish. Strong on the Pro Solo scene, Tom served as Chairman of Los Alamos Pro Solo for 11-years and designed most of the courses during that time.

And, he has taken time to serve on the Cal Club Rules Committee for four years, as well as chairing and designing courses each year! Need further evidence that he is a worthy guest instructor? He has been involved with Cal Club schools for 15 years, Los Alamos for 6 years, and of course — he has been our guest twice before!

We’re coming out of hibernation and confident that this snow will be gone by our May 15-16^th event at Alaska Raceway Park! Registration options for the 20^th Solo Weekend, with guests Tom and Christine Berry, can be found at www.motorsportreg.com, and include Saturday’s School and Dinner, Sunday’s California Dreamin’ Championship Solo with course design by The Berry’s, or a package deal offer which covers both days’ activities!

The Region will be closing Registration for the Solo School on Thursday, May 13^th and all entry fees must be paid online or postmarked by May 12^th. Registration for California Dreamin’, our first Championship Solo of 2010, will close online May 13^th and will be open onsite 8:30-9:00AM Sunday, May 16^th at Alaska Raceway Park. You may contact the Region at 243-2122 (9A-7P) with your additional questions!