I believe in spectators. I think they are essential for the growth of the sport and as a long time spectator the key to success is information. It was not so long ago I was leading 20+ Subarus around the woods of Rumford, Maine with a copy of a hand drawn map of the stages that looked as though it was written on the back of a Dunkin Donuts napkin, scanned, and posted online. “Squiggle, route 17, Fish Pond Road” – we’re done here. Thankfully, Rally New York embraces spectators openly and has lots of information and great maps online.

Tips for spectating: 1. Don’t be a chode. 2. Be aware. 3. Stay safe. 4. Have fun!
Driving like you’re IN the rally will get people hurt and could screw up the event for everyone. Trying to follow lost people ruins the weekend. Know when and where the cars are going to arrive. Print out maps! Pack some extra clothes for the weather along with water, food, and some folding chairs. If you’re going “out of bounds” prepare to hike (good boots) and keep a reasonable distance off the road on an INSIDE corner. Stay off the road when the stage is hot. If a marshal tells you to move – MOVE. Bring cameras and video and take a ton of pictures!

Check out the main site at: www.rallynewyork.com
2008 Rally New York Spectator Guide
2008 Rally New York Course Maps
There. Now you have the tools you need to successfully spectate a rally. I expect you to be a good ambassador for the sport while in NY.

We are looking forward to seeing old friends, meeting long time fans for the first time, making new friends, and having a fantastic rally with all of you. Ze’Neon was loaded onto a car trailer last Thursday and is on its way across the country right now. We will be flying in to rendezvous with it shortly before the event. We’ll see you in New York!

Pictures:
Yuji – http://photos.mediaspigot.com/Events
Pamela – http://picasaweb.google.com/astrofizkid/PrescottRally#
Dave Sewell – http://www.prescottrally.com/images/2008/taylor/index.html
Bob Rosevear – http://www.prescottrally.com/images/2008/rosevear/index.html
James Ellzey – http://www.prescottrally.com/images/2008/ellzeyj/index.html
Bill Rogers – http://www.motorsportmemories.com/Prescott-08/index.htm
Michael Slygh – http://www.mslygh.com/Prescott/
Jason – http://flickr.com/photos/jshultz/sets/72157607741704543/
TurnDriverSide’s – http://flickr.com/photos/samuraiaz/

Video:
Rallynotes.com YouTube Channel
Jason – Video 1 is close up shots
Jason – Video 2 is overhead shots

Told you it was ‘mega’ – more to be added, no doubt.
Thanks to ALL the photographers out there!

Back from Prescott! Had a great time! We came in 10th overall! We won the CRS P-Stock Championship! As we’re flying off to the East Coast for a family event this week, I want to devote my time to getting the in-car edited and on-line. Tons of time to write posts and stories on the plane.

Thank you crew, fans, friends, and family!
There are a TON of media sites out there with pics and video I’ll update as soon as I get a chance.
– Kris

Once again, we are really excited to have our APRS tracker up and running for the Prescott Rally. This has the best native APRS coverage of any rally out west. What this means simply is: Friends, fans, and family can watch our progress in real time on the internet! Updates should be around every 5 minutes. The map interface is Google Maps, so it’s very easy to use and navigate. If you click on the dots on the tracked route you will be able to see the following:

KI6IUC-9 – Is my Amateur Radio call sign.
(The -9 is to indicate the rally car.)
Date and time in 24 hour UTC
speed in MPH, direction, altitude in feet
/Short message that will indicate our status.
[how that packet got to you]

Itinerary for the Prescott Rally 2008 Times are all PST
Thursday – October 2nd: Drive out from California to Phoenix, AZ (10:00AM – 7:00PM)
Friday – October 3rd: Reconnaissance (6:00AM – 10:00AM)
Friday – October 4th: Rally day one (4:00PM – 10:30PM)
Saturday – October 5th: Rally day two (8:00AM – 3:00PM)
Sunday – October 6th: Drive back to California (10:00AM – 7:00PM)

** Don’t miss Friday and Saturday, these are the days to watch. We will be in the rally car racing at speed on the roads around Prescott!
Times are LOCAL – Pacific Standard Time or GMT -7:00
This may help…

Live scores and results of the Prescott Rally will be available here!
Check out other APRS data from the Prescott area here! You should be able to see other rally cars, sweep vehicles, etc.

The Current Plan:
We drop the car off at a reputable transport company after Prescott. They then get the lowest price on getting the rally car to Newark, NJ by the 24th. ($1400 to $1600 one way BTW) We have flights booked to get us to NJ a day before the rally and back on the following Monday. When we arrive we’ll need to rent a trailer for the weekend from U-Haul and borrow someones (yet to find) truck for service. We’ll need to borrow tools and we’ll only have some light spares for the rally, as the car can’t be crammed full of stuff for shipping. We can then pay to ship it back, or drive it back ourselves after Christmas. These Christmas plans have yet to be made – and YES – I did say we’d drive the rally car back. It’s been done before. This couldn’t be done with an open class, dog box, monster turbo, rally car. As you can see to the right – we can make it blend right in!

This plan is rough because we won’t have our tow dolly or service vehicle. We’re super limited on spares and tires. It’s also very expensive.

Other Ideas:
We calculated the cost of driving the Blazer & Rally Neon. With gas and $80 a night hotel rooms we’re looking at a $2300 round trip. Much closer to the $2000 tow fund budget. The problem is – I don’t get paid time off, and my schedule is already booked. I know I can drive it back, but not both ways. We’re now looking for friends, fellow rallyists, long lost acquaintances, to drive the whole rig from Southern California to Newark, NJ. We would even be willing to fly them out (or back) here for such a trip.

The ideal solution would be to get with a team already going from the West that can step a 1 car trailer up to a 2 car trailer. A little more fuel – but the total cost of the trip for them would be less. We can then take spares and tools and team up for Rally New York. We would be willing to spend $2300 for the round trip. One team has already come and gone, and we need to find others interested.

We’ve posted and emailed and called. If you can help us out, or have a suggestion that I haven’t thought of yet, email or post a comment!
Prescott will be here before you know it. I’m heading down to the shop tomorrow to maintain and prepare the car. Hopefully a plan will arise in the next week.
For even MORE granular detail on the subject – check out my Rally New York post on Special Stage.

As we patiently waited for the NASA events this year, our season started quite late. We miss Rim of the World. There were lots of questions from fellow competitors as to what rallies we’d be doing this year, and how come we weren’t competing in ________ Rally? The answer this year is a little more complex and I’m going to touch upon some of the team planning that is imperative to success.

Rally America this year has added the requirement of HANS (Head and Neck) devices at its events. NASA looks to add this requirement in 2009. With new helmets and seats to accommodate the devices, we looked at a team cost of around $3500 for the year (equivelent cost of two rally entry fees) just to enable doing a Rally America event in 2008. I’m not drilling holes in a 5 year old Bell helmet. I want comfortable seats that have space and padding for HANS. End of discussion.

We are planning to take 2009 off. Christine needs 100% to finish her doctorate, and I think it’s a good chapter point for our rally career. Don’t worry – we’ll be out volunteering and in our CRS capacities and back in 2010. This gives us time to save for all sorts of new things. Not to get too ahead of myself, but a new faster car is on the drawing board. Propagate rumors accordingly! 😉

As soon as the USRC calendar was announced we started on the plan. So in April (two months before the rallies) we had booked flights and secured lodging for the North Nevada / Idaho loop. We had non-refundable tickets before most teams decided to even RUN the rally. As the price of fuel and flights skyrocketed over the summer this decision saved us hundreds of dollars. The trip was a tow to Reno, rally at NNR, then a tow to Boise, fly home, fly back, rally at Idaho, tow home. Not that all this planning didn’t prevent the unexpected. We had to replace the fuel pump in the Blazer in Idaho and the rear differential bearings when we got back. So much for all the ‘saved’ money. Make sure when you start rallying that you realize $1000 is nothing. Vaporized in seconds by rally teams everywhere.
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