2010 was the year of rally. We knew we couldn't afford to go west this year, so we chose to go to multiple races in the northeast. Rally is the closest thing we have to desert racing up here, so this was our focus. None of us had ever been to a rally race before, even our advisors. We knew for the most part how rally races work, and some of us even knew the key players, but beyond that it was completely new. And that's how we started.
Our first race was the Team O'Neil Rally in Dalton, NH. This was the perfect starter race. Single day event, close to home, and as a regional event (as opposed to national) there were fewer spectators, meaning travel during the event was easier and finding a good place to watch the race was no problem. There were three major spectator points, and through careful scheduling and planning, we were able to hit all three of them during the day. This was one of the things I loved about rally. Even as a spectator you're busy. You need to sit down with a map and a schedule, plan your routes and times during the day, and figure out the best strategy for seeing the most action. All this extra involvement makes you feel like you're more than just a witness to the sport but in fact a part of the sport.
The 19 car field field at Team O'Neil was mostly Subarus, as one would expect, but also included a biodiesel VW Golf and a Jeep Comanche pickup with a Dukes of Hazzard dixie horn. Most of the stages took place on the roads of the Team O'Neil Rally School (an incredible complex), with the remaining few on the roads near the facility. New to the adventure of rally, we started the day at Parc Expose (a chance to see the cars and drivers before the event), arriving well in advance and in fact beating most of the race cars there.
A few of the rally cars in front of Dalton Town Hall
In all we got to see 8 stages from 3 viewing points before going to the awards dinner nearby. By the time of the awards we were already hooked. The speed, the precision, the control, the sound of turbos chirping through the forest, the way the drivers were able to slide cars around the corners, as if the wheels were on sideways, it was an amazing spectacle. This wasn't driving. This was art. One couldn't help but be both invigorated and entranced by it all. On the way from the final stage to the awards dinner we ended up in convoy with four of the rally cars (rally cars are street legal, license plates and all). Being in the middle of these machines sealed the deal.
At the dinner we got to see the human side of rallying. Everyone we met, be them driver, crew, fan, or even the people in charge of the race, were willing to take the time to talk to us and make us feel welcome. We got to stand in the front of the (admittedly small) crowd during the champagne spray, and during the awards dinner we sat with the team of Joey Kale and codriver Scott Nickerson. During the dinner we found out Scott had been a scout as well (scouts are everywhere). He shared the video footage from the car's onboard camera with us, allowing us to copy it to my computer (at least until the camera battery ran out). Dinner was excellent and we had a blast chatting and listening to stories. Rally rocks!
The winners of Team O'Neil celebrate
In between Team O'Neil Rally and Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (which wasn't originally on our schedule), we had our usual booth at the World's Largest Pancake Breakfast here in Springfield. The breakfast is an annual tradition, celebrating the birthday of the city. We've been at the breakfast for years, promoting the values of scouting. This year we decided to make things more interesting with a new fund raiser. We had Ellias, one of our crew members, stand on a stool in front of a plywood wall. For a dollar, a patron at the breakfast would get a piece of Gorilla Tape and use it to secure our scout to the wall. After 90 minutes we pulled the stool, seeing if there was enough tape to stick the scout to the wall. It was a great fund raiser, very popular with the kids at the breakfast, and we were able to raise $100 for the crew. Also, he did stick.
The decorations are the result of a passing clown
Our next trip and quite possibly our biggest event of the year came in July with the New England Forest Rally in Bethel, Maine. Unfortunately most of the scouts have summer jobs, so only three of us could go. Fortunately, however, because all three of us were over 18 we were able to volunteer to work as course marshals for the rally. For the most part being a marshal simply means going out on the stages and making sure nothing happens that could put spectators or racers in danger. Going into more detail it meant we could go beyond the realm of spectators, from getting to be out on the shakedown stage to going to the awards dinner (for free) at the end of the event.
We pulled into Bethel Thursday afternoon, made camp at the nearby Stony Brook Campground (which was an excellent facility), and headed over to Sunday River Ski Resort, the base of operations for the rally. After signing in (and getting some sweet volunteer swag) we were told we could drive down to the shakedown stage and find a place to watch the cars. Shakedown is a sort of pre-race practice, typically held the day before the race, where drivers can give their cars a final check and sort of warm up their skills. We parked on the inside of a hairpin and walked about a half mile down the course, choosing to watch at a sort of "S" bend near the stage start.
Crew members Adam and Jake watch as rally star Ken Block flies past on shakedown
After about an hour on shakedown we decided to head back towards our car, stopping at a few other viewing points to watch the race cars go by. Upon returning to the hairpin we discovered I had left the van windows open, which resulted in the entire interior being coated in a fine layer of rally dust. Oops.
Its the blue van in this video. You can see how it ended up so dusty
After shakedown we headed over to the Phoenix Lodge for dinner. At the lodge we ran into rally driver Bill Caswell, a former Boy Scout himself. We ended up having dinner with Bill, sharing stories of rally, desert, and scouting. During dinner he revealed his plans to race a modified BMW E30 at the Baja 1000, a story we had to keep to ourselves until late October. We ended up hanging out with Bill until nearly 1AM, finally retiring to camp to get some rest before our early wake up for the race.
Between the two days of racing we marshaled a total of five rally stages, having the time of our lives at every one. The top tier drivers at this event were unbelievable, able to make their cars do things that physics says should be impossible, reaching absurd speeds over narrow, challenging roads. Once again we left with new friends and a plethora of stories. And some awesome photos.
Joseph Burke goes by on Stage 7. That's Adam in the white shirt and orange vest
Unfortunately plans to go to National Jamboree with the truck more or less fell through. Still being unable to find a place to work on it meant it wasn't ready to go to the Jam. A few of us went down for a day anyway, just to experience it. Despite the trip being challenging, involving a missed train, an 8 hour overnight drive on little sleep, and lost hotel reservations, being at the Jamboree more than made up for it. Jambo was incredible and its a shame the centennial celebration of the Boy Scouts of America can't go on another year.
In August things finally picked up. We moved into a new shop and returned to work on the truck. A few days after the move we went to the AMA Motocross race in Southwick, MA. This has always been a good fund raiser for us. We work in the pits for the track during the race, and in return the track pays the Crew for our services. We also get to talk to the riders during the day, and some riders donate jerseys for us to auction off for the project. This year Matt Goerke and Dan Reardon donated their jerseys to us. We intended to have them up on ebay in September, but decided to delay the auctions when we got big news.
Toward the end of September we got an email from Boys' Life magazine saying they were going to feature us in the "Scouting Around" section of the magazine. Naturally this was a very exciting moment for us, as well as a nervous one. Suddenly our little project was about to go out nationwide, and in Boys' Life at that. We emailed back and forth with the magazine, giving them info about the project and doing a photo shoot with the truck so there were new photos for the article. The article will be in the January 2011 issue of Boys' Life
A photo from the photo shoot, during our practice pit stop drill
Our final race trip of the year took place on the first weekend in November as we went down to the RallyCar series Rallycross race at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. Despite having many of the rally drivers and cars we had come to know during the year, this race was completely different. Instead of dirt roads and logging trails through the woods, the Rallycross race took place on a half asphalt, half dirt circuit, built on one of the tracks at NJMP. Races were side-by-side between four to six cars, with each race being four laps long. The Rallycross event brought in legendary drivers from both the United States and Europe, including Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra, Pikes Peak record holder Rhys Millen, Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust, Sverre Isachsen, Toomas Heikkinen, Andrew Comrie-Picard, Liam Doran, and Nitro Circus sponsored driver Matthew Johnson, who schooled the 2WD class in a 70's Ford Fairmont station wagon.
This car is INSANE
All the drivers and teams were incredibly welcoming (as is apparently the norm in rally/rallycross). Travis Pastrana recognized Steve from the New England Forest Rally and we chatted for a bit about what had gone on since then (Travis, you still owe us some Baja stories, buddy). Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP) talked to us for well over a half hour (he also signed the back bumper from his car and gave it to us at the end of the weekend). Ellias got to talk to Rhys Millen about how to get started in drifting (Rhys is also a champion drift racer). Matthew Johnson brought a strange bike called a "swing bike" and let anyone brave enough ride it around the pits. A swing bike has an extra hinge on the frame beneath the seat. It is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. We want one.
This is how you ride a swing bike
Racing at the Rallycross was thrilling. We were parked right by one of the tightest turns on the course, which was also the location of the jump, so we got to see lots of sideways action and big air. The drivers gave everything they had, this was the last race of the season after all. In the end the Euro drivers won both days, with Tanner Foust being the highest finishing American. At the end of it all the Subaru Rally Team drivers celebrated by giving the crowd an excellent smoke show.
All in all it's been an amazing year. While we didn't get the chance to visit the desert and come home with sand in our shorts we did get to see a whole new type of racing and make so many new friends. We love the desert, but there's no denying the awesomeness of rally. We're making plans to work with rally teams next year to get more pit experience before we go out to Nevada. Meanwhile we're hard at work on the truck to get it finished and tested. With the racing off season now upon us we hope to put more hours into the build. Anyway, until next time, farewell from Venture Crew 35.
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