We were walking around the service area in Laughlin and a bunch of people informed us that our car was in GRM. I finally got a look at the December issue and it’s pretty cool. In a sampling of 20 cars that are both fun to drive AND economical, the article “Gas Pains” talks about weekend racers that don’t feel too much pain at the pump. The Dodge/Plymouth Neon was listed along with a picture of our Dodge Rally Neon going over the jump at the ORV park at this year’s Olympus International Rally.

If you haven’t already – check it out. If you saw the car and the website – Welcome to rallynotes.com!

I have a lot to talk about. Instead of breaking this up into 3 posts, I’ll cover it all here in this exciting update. We were looking over the California Rally Series points and we’d like to secure a podium finish for the year in the CRS championship. This lead us to a long discussion about running Reno. The Reno Rally is a Rally America regional event and it would unfortunately force us to buy another set of licenses for another sanctioning body. The good news is those licenses would be good for a year and there are two other rallies close to us that we may consider running (‘Seed 9′ and ‘Desert Storm’) in 2007. Christine and I went back and forth over running this event. We called the organizer David Hackett and he patiently answered all of our questions. We called Rally America about the annual license and received a quick answer. We called David back and he convinced us to come to Reno. At first I felt we would have to justify this decision to ourselves and others. Turns out we both just want to rally.

On Saturday night we went to the monthly SoCal Neon America meet. One of the charter members Jerry Cheney and his family sponsored the team for the event! We sincerely appreciate their unexpected donation and will look to do well in our class and the last race of the year. Reno Rally, here we come!

I have two final Laughlin videos to add to the list. The first one ‘Highlights‘ has video from our Super Stage battle and includes action from the stages. The second video is SS3 – ‘17 Mile Road West.‘ If you want a roller coaster stage – this is it. From start to finish we cover one of the most loved stages at the Laughlin Rally. Enjoy!

So…
The 2006 USRC Stock Class National Champions are running the Reno Rally on December 2nd.
Jerry Cheney and family are awesome supporters of the Rallynotes.com Team!
The final Laughlin videos are up and be sure to check out the 1, 2, 3 Laughlin Rally 2006 Picture Galleries!

Vanessa DuLaney took this shot and has many more up in the gallery right now. Keep an eye out for more as they come in. Bill from Motorsport Memories is sending me proofs and Yuji caught us off to the side of the road on Black Canyon.
Here is the link to the rallynotes.com Laughlin 2006 Gallery.

UPDATE 11/16: I just posted over 100 more pictures from Cyndi Stivers! Check out The Laughlin 2006 Gallery #2!

UPDATE 11/17: Another gallery with pictures from our camera (the turnaround, etc.) and Danielle Patterson! Check out The Laughlin 2006 Gallery #3!

This is how our Saturday ended. We’re both all right. My back is sore but I have no mobility issues. Christine was unaffected by the hit that knocked the wind out of me. Special thanks to all the people watching out for us. Watch for the full story here soon.

Laughlin International Rally 2006 – SS7 Black Canyon ‘Highlights’ – 11.3MB WMV
Low-res Preview

We had a wild weekend! We did awesome on Friday and held off Michael & Steven Taylor all day (our great competition in class – driving a stock Ford pickup). Saturday we got some wicked video of our blind jump into boulders on SS7. We destroyed 3 rims and popped the seal on the gas tank, thus handing the win back to the Taylors. We restarted Sunday under the Super Rally and took back our dignity by beating them at the Super Special (by .01 of a min)

Friday 2nd in CRS P-Stock
Sunday 3rd in CRS P-Stock
We are the 2006 United States Rally Championship Stock Class Champions! W00t!

Tomorrow – watch for pictures, video, and more!

Tried some outside shots with the bullet cam – enjoy the ground rush! We scored a 3rd in class as we were over powered in the long straights. In any case Ze’Neon is ready for the Laughlin Rally. New windshield, plus I fixed the two items marked in the logbook. The fire extinguishers have been serviced and re-tagged, and the reverse switch in the transmission has been replaced. I got the cool suit pump working and the skidplates are tucked up where they should be. See the Johnson Valley Rallycross results here.

We’re ready for Laughlin! We’ll be heading out with some friends on Thursday morning!
The rally starts Friday November 10th and finishes on Sunday November 12th. Here are more details about the Laughlin International Rally.
Check out the live results on the web – Laughlin Results.

Johnson Valley Rallycross #3 2006 – 28.7MB WMV

I’m using the shop as much as possible this week. It’s actually a short list of items for Laughlin, but I want Ze’Neon to be in top shape for this event. It’s a full three day rally and from what I’ve heard and read – it’s one of the tougher ones. Lots of miles, lots of transits, lots of weather – you get the idea. Take a look at what I’m up to in the Laughlin Prep Gallery.

Besides rims, the damage from Prescott is light. I had to rebuild one of the rear struts after it got loose on Limestone Canyon and I need a new sensor for the Brantz. Speaking of Limestone: The windshield will be replaced this week too. I did a lot of the usual maintenance as well – oil change, tranny fluid, etc. Did I mention I love having a shop?

Here’s a great shot that photographer Ray deGier grabbed from the Prescott Rally 2006.
Windows BMP format: 1200 – 1152 – 1024 – Enjoy!

THE stage at Prescott this year had to be PerkinsView. Witty Tom seemed to get all the attention, but the last stage of the rally was an awesome run for us. PerkinsView is a combination of Perkinsville East (which fans of the rallynotes.com show will remember as one of our best stages last year) and First View. Now, I’ll just say that First View separates the men from the boys. Twisty gravel road on the side of a mountain with lots of exposures. Exposure means: Cliff with no guardrails, or “Don’t go off here as there will be lots of t3h falling.” This year they combined the two stages for a final, flat out, 22 mile dash for the finish.

The stage starts with the sun on our back as we work our way through the 3’s and 5’s. I’m working hard to get a rhythm down and I just can’t concentrate on 2 turns ahead. Christine backs it off for me and as the stage gets faster she has to speed read a couple of times to catch up. I have a good feel for the way this road goes from last year but there is a moment around 3:00 minutes in where Christine calls: “Stay right over crest, 20, right 4, 70.” I think about it and I’m expecting the right over crest then a little bit of a downhill starting to turn into a right hander. I should only need to dig on the brakes a little right? What I got was a crest which went immediately into a hard right. Had I not kept right over crest there – we would have been in the scenery… Upon later review Christine admits that she should have dropped the 20 and called it: “Stay right over crest into right 4.” We normally drop anything less then 40. The notation ’20′ yards/meters is useless to call at 70MPH. In the time it takes to say “Twenty” – you’ve already covered that distance.

That wakes us up and we get focused real quick. Now we’re moving into the faster sections and we will not make a mistake like that again. I start to dig into 4th gear and the speedometer is climbing to a steady 90MPH. I think my 100 last year was wheel spin without a limited slip differential. I think about this only a moment as we fly down into some 5’s and I try to keep the throttle buried in the firewall. Just a few little stabs with the left foot until we get to the “Right 3 don’t cut drop outside – might as well be a hairpin!”

We work our way down and back out of the valley. There is a right hander through a stop sign – which never gets old btw – and we’re into First View. It’s fast, but going this way is a bit of a hill climb so I’ve got to keep up our speed. At 9:10 minutes in there is a right 5 through a cattle guard and up a long hill. It looks smooth on the video but there is one hell of a kick that you have to deal with seconds before threading the needle of the cattle guard posts. We took it flat out, and were able to carry that speed all the way up the hill.

With one mile to go we snake our way up to ‘the cut’. Christine calls out some rocks, but at this point the road is littered with embedded rockadillos. We hit one right on the inside of a rim. It bends and starts ‘whumph’ing’ against the rear trailing arm. It’s loud – but it’s not flat yet. We continue to push and finish the stage. This part of the drama was in the first Prescott video – “Bang On!”

It’s awesome when control workers double check your time. “21:24. Wait… 21? Is that right?!” *frantic re-checking of sums “Yeah. That’s a good time!” Only later do I learn we set 7th fastest. Not bad for a little Dodge Neon ‘eh?

Prescott Rally 2006 – SS14 PerkinsView ‘Highlights’ – 72.7MB WMV
Low-res Preview