The battle that went all the way across the United States to the 2008 International Rally New York is over. Tied for USRC points with Hampton Bridwell and Josh Katinger going into the rally, the Rallynotes Team completed a mission that started over two thousand miles away in Southern California. To keep pace with their rivals in a more powerful SVT Ford Focus, the team in the Dodge Rally Neon would have to be at their best.

After four very fast stages on Friday morning, just two seconds separated the top two Production 2WD teams. This meant the pace would continue on to the rougher and muddier stages of the day. A mistake on stage five by the Ford Focus team caused them to slide sideways off the road, getting stuck and losing over two minutes. The Rallynotes Team would capitalize on this error and continue to run fast and clean stages. On stage seven the team had their only mistake of the weekend, overshooting a left turn causing them to lose roughly ten seconds of the gap.

On Saturday morning the Rallynotes Team lead was down to just over one minute. The strategy for the day was to keep the pressure on and attack at 100%. The road for the stages was a long uphill section followed by a short downhill run in one direction and a short uphill section followed by a long downhill the other way. “I was surprised we were just as fast on the downhill. The Focus could only make up time on the uphill stages and we were both driving at an incredible pace.” explains Driver Kristopher Marciniak. “I watched the gap become 1:14 and then 58 seconds. The SVT Focus really pulls going uphill, it was going to be close. Fast and perfect are not two things that come easy at a rally.”

With two stages and the super special left to go. Hampton and Josh slid off a right hand turn and rolled the Focus with no harm to themselves. The USRC Production 2WD champions would be Kristopher and Christine Marciniak in their Dodge Neon for the third year in a row. Because of the ridiculous pace set by both teams, the Rallynotes Team won 2WD overall in the rally and 7th overall for the event – by far their best showing.

“We want to wish the best of luck to Hampton and Josh, without their competition we wouldn’t have won in 2WD overall.” said Kris. Congratulations go out to 2nd place Dan Brosnan & Shane McCann (Nissan Sentra) and 3rd place, father-son team of Simon and Kieran Wright (Ford Focus) who celebrated along with Kris and Christine Marciniak at the two wheel drive champagne ceremony at the conclusion of the rally. As Co-Driver Christine Marciniak mentioned at the awards ceremony - “We want to thank all the East Coast teams for embracing us – even though this is no longer our home area, it is where we grew up, so that was just awesome. We also want to thank all our friends and family who came out just to cheer us on!”

Congratulations to the overall winner of International Rally New York 2008 Seamus and Joseph Burke. Congratulations to USRC winners Brian Scott and John Dillon (Open 4WD), Jimmy & Melissa Keeney (Production 4WD), and Bruce Davis & Jimmy Brandt (Open 2WD). The USRC is a great national championship that gave us the ability to come across the country and defend our title. Truly supporting EVERY class, the United States Rally Championship is really an affordable and realistic championship series for rally in North America!

The team would like to thank the following people for without whom this win would not have been possible: Nathan Snitko, Matt Malloy, Craig Symonds, and Tyson Derby – for coming out as volunteer crew members; Joyce and Don Wittish – for their financial support and enthusiasm; and also Korey Marciniak, Ian Bowers, Andrew Hobgood, Sabrina Vollers, and Bill and Valerie Foskey – for coming out to cheer us on in our debut East Coast event. “We would like to thank all the organizers, volunteers, and workers for all the rallies this year. Without dedicated people, we could not go out there and have this much fun. See you next year!” – Kris & Christine

On October 3rd and 4th, the Rallynotes.com team pushed the envelope of speed in their stock powered Production 2WD Dodge Neon at the 2008 Prescott Rally. Keeping up with faster Group 2 class cars, they were able to slide into tenth overall and third in 2WD for the event! Adding to their USRC points with a 1st in Production 2WD, and winning the California Rally Series ‘Performance Stock’ Championship in the process!

The car and crew were in top form all weekend. Finding the speed early on Friday night, the team set 10th fastest times on the first two stages. Service only required a small lighting adjustment for the encountered dust. This helped keep the car fast for SS3 and SS4. An overnight tire change was all that was needed to ready the Dodge Rally Neon for the next day, and Saturday only saw some minor rim damage after hitting a large rock.

The weather played a factor as it started to rain on Saturday afternoon. This kept the dust away, soaked the crews waiting in the service area, and made the last 3 miles of ‘First View’ treacherous. Driver Kristopher Marciniak explains: “We were flat out for the first five miles. It’s uphill, so we can’t afford to slow down and lose momentum. A few miles from the end, we chose to take it easy after a hard left put us sliding sideways towards the mountain. It got real slippery up there.” We would like to congratulate Brian Scott and John Dillon for their Open AWD win, Jimmy and Melissa Keeney for their Production AWD win, and George Doganis and Tom Smith for their fast Open 2WD win. The Rallynotes.com team celebrated their Production 2WD win with these teams during the champagne ceremony immediately following the rally.

At the award ceremony later that night the team was honored with the Carl Merrill Award. Organizer Michael Taylor explained why Kristopher and Christine were the recipients this year. “These two exemplify Carl’s spirit and commitment to rally and sportsmanship.” The team would like to once again thank Michael Taylor for the recognition and thank all of the organizers, workers, volunteers and competitors of the 2008 Prescott Rally. Special thanks to our volunteer crew of Vanessa & Brian Driggs, Dan Green, Jake Caler, Jared Sivinski, and Kyle Johnson. Not only helping the Rallynotes team, they offered assistance to three other teams, and the rally itself by driving the CRS scoring trailer back to the hotel while the final scores were computed.

With help from Brian Scott’s crew, the team’s tools, tires, and spares will be in New York for the final round of the United States Rally Championship. The Dodge Rally Neon is being privately shipped and the team will be flying in shortly before the event. Will the Rallynotes.com team have the speed and stamina necessary to beat the leading Eastern Production 2WD team of Hampton Bridwell and Josh Katinger in their SVT Focus? Who will be the 2008 USRC Production Class Champions? All will be decided in the final round at the 2008 International Rally New York. See you there!

Next weekend, the 21st Annual Prescott Rally, held in beautiful Arizona will be the location for some great NASA Rallying. With an impressive 35 teams on the entry list, six USRC Production 2WD entries, and seven total teams battling for top California Rally Series P-Stock honors, this will be an exciting final event for the USRC Pacific and CRS regional championships. The team will be pushing hard for USRC points and a top spot in order to win the CRS P-Stock class championship for 2008.

The Dodge Rally Neon is in great shape after the grueling Gorman Ridge Rally. No major damage was incurred and the car has been thoroughly looked over. Updated Bilstein rear struts will keep the team in control for the speed and jumps seen on these long stages. The new Tuff Rims continue to impress and will be tested on the large imbedded rocks known to dot the course.

The team is excited about the competition and the course this year. The rally will be running two 22 mile stages which will test the entire field. “Our Gorman strategy was to go slow and save the car. At Prescott – I want to be setting the pace for the Production cars all weekend. The last time the 22 mile stage was run we set 7th fastest overall. I would like to do better then that this year.” exclaimed driver Kristopher Marciniak.

The team is charged up for the penultimate round of the United States Rally Championship. They are ready to tackle the roads and competition at the Prescott Rally!

About an hour north of Los Angeles, Hungry Valley is home to a very special rally called Gorman Ridge. It’s a rougher event that makes for a well rounded championship. Just to finish this rally takes planning, effort, struggle, and patience. If you cross the finish line here you are ready for anything that a southwest rally will throw at you – exposures, boulders, rough washes, embedded rocks, water bars, etc. Unusual that it’s often the beginner rally of choice for those starting out in the California Rally Series. Last weekend saw a number of retirements as the crews raced through the rocky terrain.

The team planned some careful strategy for this event. A loss here would force them to be perfect at Prescott against teams that may not have entered Gorman. Finishing would guarantee a prize tow fund to the USRC final – International Rally New York. With that on the line, the Rallynotes.com team took it easy on the rough stuff and brought it in to a champagne finish. Driver Kristopher Marciniak talks about the strategy, “As a rally driver you need to know when to go slow and when to go fast based on conditions. If you destroy the car, it’s over. At Gorman you can destroy a car in seconds. It was tough for me to sit back and have teams catch us, but I settled into a good pace, and stayed there for a consistent drive to the finish.” When asked about the pace, Co-Driver Christine Marciniak said, “I wanted to go faster! But locking in the USRC tow fund was more important. I’m really excited for Rally New York!”

This is the 15th rally the team has entered with the Dodge Rally Neon. The new Tuff Rims have now passed the endurance test with flying colors. The volunteer crew stayed sharp throughout the entire event, checking and double checking tires, skidplates, suspension, and fluids on the rally car. We would like to thank: Harry Bushling, Dan Green, Judd Barber, Darrin Simmons, and Dave Clark for their efforts at the event.

The team is set for the penultimate round of the United States Rally Championship, the Prescott Rally in beautiful Arizona. Fast and fun, Kristopher and Christine Marciniak will be pushing for top times at their favorite event of the season!

Two rallies, one trip. Two CRS class victories, one USRC class win. Two great events, one fantastic time! 2007 USRC 2wd Production class champions Kristopher and Christine Marciniak achieved their goals and finished Idaho 9th overall amid a strong contingent of all wheel drive teams, thus gaining valuable points for both the regional and national championships respectively. Not putting a wheel wrong all weekend, the team’s only issue came from a chicane cone that was hit in a spectator area – this lead to some minor road points that the team later nicknamed “spectator points” as the Dodge Rally Neon was completely sideways, giving the crowd a good show on the final stage.

The beautiful Idaho stages, held in the Boise National Forest, made for some of the best rally roads the Rallynotes.com team has ever driven. Do not mistake the word ‘best’ to mean ‘easy.’ With extremely abrupt drop-offs, pine trees, downhill narrow twisty corners, short straights, and the occasional cattle making its way onto the route, these smooth roads mean business and any lack of concentration or a missed call will ruin your weekend quickly.

“Lots of fun, a solid weekend,” remarked driver Kristopher Marciniak. “We were pretty exhausted from two pass recce’, but the notes were spot on and I could really trust them the first time out. We had no issues with traction, just trying to maintain speed up these steep hills after a few hair-pin turns is really hard in a 100-something horse power car.” The Dodge Rally Neon was rolling on new strengthened steel rims provided by TuffRims.com

The Rallynotes crew teamed up with Richard Rockrohr & Marie Jacobs and their production AWD Subaru Impreza, sharing crew and resources for both North Nevada and Idaho Rallies. As Richard and Marie are local residents of Boise, their gracious accommodations felt like home. We would like to give a big “Thank You!” and add that our experience at Rally Idaho wouldn’t have been as smooth without their help. Congratulations to them on their 8th overall and 2nd in class! We look forward to teaming up with them on future events.

Smooth turns to bumpy and rough, as the team prepares themselves for the next extreme event (and self-proclaimed “rally-versary”): Gorman Ridge Rally – August 16th, 2008.

A little over two weeks ago, the Rallynotes.com team captured their first in class victory at the North Nevada Rally. This weekend, the City of Mountain Home will host the Idaho Rally 2008. It’s round 3 of the United States Rally Championship and event 5 of the California Rally Series Championship that the team will be vying for points. The two day performance rally takes place in the Boise National Forest just 30 miles east of Boise. Competitors will race on very technical, narrow and often elevation changing Forest roads with stages ranging from 7 - 14 miles. They will have spectator areas for the fans to come and check out the action!

The Dodge Rally Neon has been looked over and stored in Idaho for the last few weeks. The team will be flying in to make reconnaissance, held early on Thursday morning. This will be their second time writing stage notes from scratch and they’re looking forward to the challenge. “It’s a lot to do.” said driver Kristopher Marciniak. “Unlike organizer supplied stage notes, where you might have to tweak a corner or two, this is 100% on you to get it right the first time.” When asked about the pressure of writing notes Co-Driver Christine Marciniak responded: “The car is already up there, so we’ll be relaxed and ready to go.”

Coming off their win in Nevada, the team is pumped to continue the winning season with the USRC! Amateur radio APRS tracking will be on and the Rallynotes.com team progress can be tracked before, during and after the event. Check out: http://rallynotes.com/rallycar-tracking/

The team is ready to take on its first 2008 USRC event – Rally Idaho!

Eighty miles Northeast of Reno, past the Black Rock Desert, the 2008 North Nevada Rally will be held on the roads around Purgatory Peak. Smooth twisty stages and stunning scenery are all part of this revived California Rally Series event to be held on Saturday, June 21st. Cars and bikes will be on the route as this race will include a NASA Rally Sport RallyMoto™ event as well.

The Rallynotes.com team makes this their first stop on a trip continuing on to the USRC Rally Idaho in July. Driver Kristopher Marciniak explains. “It didn’t make sense to drive all the way up to Reno and back to Southern California, and then head up to Idaho three weeks later. As we really want to support this CRS regional event, we made plans to do both rallies in one round trip.” To do so, the team will instead tow to Boise, Idaho following the North Nevada Rally on Sunday, then fly home and back later. “Needless to say we booked our flights early and we’re saving a lot of money over the cost of towing and time off work. With the cost of fuel you can’t expect to get there for cheap anymore; it now has to be budgeted like tires and parts, but we’ll be out on the stages!” added Kris.

Co-Driver Christine Marciniak started her season early by co-driving for John Black in his recently purchased Ford Ranger pickup at the Plan B rally in Ridgecrest, California. “I was more than happy to help John, and get some early season seat time. Our goal was to have fun and finish, but we also managed to go fast and place first in class. It was also a great opportunity to navigate for a different driver in a different type of vehicle.”

The Dodge Rally Neon will be in top shape, driving on new Tuff Rims! These strengthened steel wheels use laser cut rings to support the outer and inner edges of the rim. This design will help prevent punctures, leaks and damage to the rally tires. For those of you who missed the silver wheels on the car, the new Tuff Rims have been powder coated to match!

One trip for two rallies means everything will need to be accounted for and triple checked. The team will need to make sure extra spares and parts are packed for the long haul. Amateur radio APRS tracking will be on and the Rallynotes.com team progress can be tracked before, during and after the event. Check out: http://rallynotes.com/rallycar-tracking/

Rallynotes.com is ready to have some fun at the North Nevada Rally!

The team started the 2007 Laughlin International Rally and Motorsports Festival last weekend with hopes of doing well in a regional class and to secure a runner up spot in the United States Rally Championship Production Two Wheel Drive Class. In an unbelievable twist with a rule in the 2007 USRC regulations the team was completely unaware of, the event was scored high enough so that they would have a shot at winning the championship.

Early in the rally on Friday the team passed their competition, a Ford SVT Focus driven by Hampton Bridwell & Josh Katinger. They were stopped on SS3 and forced to retire after losing a timing belt. At this point, if the Rallynotes team finished the rally they would have enough points to win, but simply finishing this event would prove to be a dramatic challenge.

Friday night the extra protection from plastic skidplates added to the rear of the car for this event started to overheat the gas tank. Driver Kristopher Marciniak explains: “All I could smell was fuel. We pulled over on the transit back to service and I opened the fuel cap and got the expected ‘woosh’ of over-pressurized fumes. Later that night my Crew Chief Harry Bushling made some adjustments with a battery powered jig saw.”
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This weekend, the 2007 Laughlin International Rally and Motorsports Festival will be the place to be for USRC rally action! Headquartered in Laughlin, Nevada, the rally uses roads throughout the amazing Hualapai Indian lands and even into the Grand Canyon for a three day exhausting event that will push the team to its limit. Team Rallynotes.com will be looking for a strong finish to secure a second place in the Production 2WD championship. They will also be competing for podium points in the CRS rallycross to be held Sunday along side the SuperStage at the Laughlin MotorZone Special Events Area.

Driver Kristopher Marciniak talks about his strategy for this event. “It’s going to be tough not to think about what happened last year. We pushed hard on Friday and got our best regional class result ever. We continued to push on Saturday and turned in some awesome times until a ‘blind crest into a ditch’ almost wiped us out. We limped back on Sunday to finish the event and had a fantastic time – but it was a struggle that took a lot out of us. It’s tough to prepare for something like that, but we’re going to push just as hard out of the gate and see where we stand. Having the ability to run recce` this year I think will make a huge difference.”

An essential part of this team is the service crew. No other rally is as tough on the crew as it is in Laughlin. With one hundred mile tow transits and remote service locations, having everyone sharp for when the car arrives is essential for the team’s success. Co-Driver Christine Marciniak explains: “Kris and I have experienced the International Rally from almost every angle possible – spectating, volunteering, and competing – so we know how exhausting just getting to the remote stages and service locations can be. We have a great volunteer crew that is experienced and focused. They know how important it is to be timely but not rushed, and we are so grateful to have friends willing to literally make the long haul towing us around.”

The crew and the car are ready to rally for this non-stop grueling three day event that will determine where they end up in the standings of a national championship, a regional championship, and rallycross championship! It’s going to be a blast!

This year’s 20th Annual Prescott Rally, held in beautiful Arizona was a fantastic event for the team. With a 10th place on the Friday regional event and a 10th place on the Saturday event, the team scored a 9th overall for the USRC National weekend, with a much needed 1st in Production 2WD. Setting a good pace on Friday and bumping it up on Saturday, Driver Kristopher Marciniak and Co-Driver Christine Marciniak set 8th fastest on SS6 in their Production Stock Dodge Rally Neon.

“There was a little bit of warm-up time needed on Friday. Christine and I haven’t been in the rally car in about six months, so we didn’t charge out of the gate like usual, but everything about the car was working well and we were 100% on Saturday morning. I gave the service crew plenty of time to watch us on the computer,” said Kris. The crew utilized their new APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) to keep tabs on the rally car all weekend. This system also allows fans and friends alike to watch the rally on the web from anywhere. It tracks location, speed, direction, and altitude. Check it out at: rallynotes.com/rallycar-tracking/

On Saturday the team encountered its only minor mechanical issue during the event. The inner front pads had begun to wear to metal. Fresh brake pads were procured and installed with time to spare during the evening service. The Bilstein suspension worked effortlessly all weekend and the team is looking forward to a set of RumbleSoft Racing machined housings for its next event – The Laughlin International Rally in Nevada.

The dedicated service crew was made up of volunteers who trekked all the way from Southern California for the event: Judd Barber (Team Manager), Harry Bushling (Crew Chief), Kevin Patterson, and Dan Green made up the group. The team would like to extend a special thanks to Kevin Patterson for the use of his vehicle for reconnaissance on Thursday.

Everything is building up to the final round of the USRC in Laughlin Nevada. With its fast roads and even faster national competitors the Rallynotes.com team will be pushing for a class win!