19 April 2003 - Resaca, GA =

A couple weeks prior to the event, we started working hard to get our trailer ready. We had finally purchased a tow vehicle back in Feb (1993 F-250 Ford diesel truck) and we were ready to start hauling. Trailer repainted, rewired, and several other minor modifications and we're ready to test fit the RallyRanger on it. Oops, the hood will hit the crossbar for the tire rack. Lower the front tire pressure to 15lbs and it just barely snugs underneath. Oops, problem with my fantastic wiring job, right side works fine but left side blinkers cause all lights to blink. Oops, we have insufficient tiedown points to be able to tie down all 4 corners (some would say more than one tiedown in front and one in back is obsessive, but I prefer a safer 4 point tiedown).

We have just 5 days when we take the trailer back to the body shop to correct the problems. He says he'll try to squeeze us in, but trailer is still just sitting there on Thursday evening when we swing by to check on it. I had hoped to pick it up and load the Ranger up that night as we were scheduled to leave out the next a.m.

Kristian comes up with the idea to use a U-Haul tow dolly behind the F-250 to pull the Ranger. Excellent idea, so we begin making our rounds to the different U-Haul dealers in town. This must be national moving weekend as every tow dolly and every trailer is either rented out or already reserved. Find one in next town, but guy wants almost twice the  rental price as everyone else. I don't feel like paying $40 a day for 3 days (plus tax and handling fee and road fee and whatever else kind of add-on fee they can think of to soak more money out of me). Oh well, looks like this RallyCross is a bust.

Almost dark the night before we're due to leave out, and we're heading home kinda down about having to miss yet another RallyCross (missed 2 in Huntsville, one because I had to work, other was rained out. Also missed one already in Resaca as we just weren't ready back in January). Kristian had already begun thinking up some other stuff to do for the weekend when I decided we'd make the trip after all, we'd just have to load everything up in the Ranger and drive it up there. Worked until well after dark getting everything packed and stacked in the Ranger. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies coming to town, even had Kristian's bike loaded so he could ride if he got bored. Checked the truck over good, checking all fluid levels and the tires.

Headed out at 9am the next morning, an hour later than planned, but our last minute changes left us a couple things to do that morning and that put us behind. We had timed it so that we would arrive around 2pm in Resaca so we could help set out pylons and maybe get a chance to pre-run the course a time or two. Since we weren't pulling the trailer, we decided to 'snake' up to Resaca thru the country, taking mostly 2 lane roads from home to Talladega, then Interstate 20 to just inside Georgia, then back on mostly 2 lane roads up thru Rome and into Resaca. Taking the back roads saved us 1/2 hour driving time over going the more round-about interstate way.

Arrived at Resaca with no problems. Directions were good all the way from the house and out to the Rally site. Got there about 2:30 pm eastern, but no one was there yet. Site owner said Dave had called and wouldn't be there till 4:30 or 5pm. Went back into town and got a motel room. Kristian watched cartoons as I stretched out and relaxed after the 4 1/2 hour drive. At 5pm we headed back out to the site, but again the site owner said Dave wouldn't be in for another hour. Unloaded Kristian's bike and he BMX'd the smaller motocross track to pass the time. After an hour or so we both got hungry and said to heck with the pylons. We went back to the room and ended up ordering pizza.

Slept pretty good except just after midnight when the couple 2 rooms down had a big argument with a lot of door slamming, yelling and finally someone tearing off in their car. It had returned by the time we got up the next morning. Repack the truck (luckily, nothing was missing from the back as we had only unpacked our bags and a couple of the more easily pilferable toolboxes), grab some biscuits from Hardees and headed back out to the site.

Checked in at the SCCA trailer and asked where to park/setup. Dave said we looked good where we had stopped, so we went back and set up our pit area. Later, everyone else ended up parking a little bit away from us, so it looked like we were either unfriendly or that we were being ostracized by the crowd. Wasn't our fault, we just parked where we were told. We fumbled around with our 'tent' but finally got it set up. Would have been easier if there had been some decent directions in the box when we opened it for the first time. We had a good looking site, truck parked under the tent on a tarp, large toolbox on sawhorses to the side, fire extinguisher, air tank and 5 gal water container placed beside the toolbox. Very professional looking for our first time out.

Fumbling with the tent put us behind, timewise. We hadn't officially registered or had our tech inspection. We rushed to get these done (including signing Kristian's minor waiver) as everyone else started walking the track. By the time we finished the paperwork, we were the last (and way behind) in walking the track. Then we ended up having to take a shortcut across the field and not walk the whole track as we were missing the drivers meeting. Got there just in time to hear the last couple of sentences. Hopefully we hadn't missed anything important.

Checked the truck over again for fluid levels (after long drive up) and pushed tire pressure up to 45lbs. all around (Probably want to look into a steam cleaning of the engine compartment after the event). 

Tech inspection went well, checked for leaks, brakes, and some general stuff. Since Ranger is my daily driver, I keep it well maintained so we had no problems. Kristian rode with me as we got to take 2 'parade laps' around the course. We discussed the corners and straights, trying to guess which gear I would need to be in during the actual runs.

It was announced that we would be in the first group to run and would get 4 runs. I pulled the truck into the line of waiting competitors and began to get nervous. It would be a long walk home if I ended up rolling the truck or blowing the engine. (Actually we would have rented a U-haul truck and trailer and towed it home, but I wasn't looking forward to having to do that either).

I hung toward the back, not wanting to be first, and not wanting to be in the middle either. They would start the cars when there was sufficient amount of distance between them, so there could be up the 3 cars on the course at a time. I didn't want to be right in the middle and do a bunch of spinning out and mess everyone elses times up, so I tried to be the last one. Ended up being either second from last or next to last. It worked out okay as I didn't spin out any or cause any kind of problems on the track.

Kristian and I had walked the field the evening before, while waiting to help set out the cones, mostly looking for mudholes, ditches and rocks. We noticed that the ground was 'moist', but not wet and hoped that would make the track just the right amount of 'tackiness' to get a good bite. While it wasn't wet, it was clay based and the track ended up slicker than we had anticipated. I had hoped that the lower gearing in the truck would work to my advantage, but during the morning races I found myself spinning the rear tires too much in first and second gear.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to the starting line. I pulled up for my very first run ever. I was very nervous, not wanting to mess up too bad. Rolled too far up into the starting grid and was motioned to back up by the Starter. This made me more nervous as I was already beginning to mess up. Started backing up and almost hit the car in line behind me (at least I hope it was almost, I didn't feel anything anyway).

Kristian snapped a picture of me giving the thumbs up signal as the starter tried to get my attention for me to start my first run.

Course was about as bumpy as I figured it would be. Growing up on a farm, I knew how bumpy a 'smooth-looking' field could be. I was glad I was driving a truck and couldn't imagine being out on such a track in a new Subaru. I think I spun the tires all the way to the first turn. Didn't do too much better coming off the turn either as I could hear the engine high revving. Street tires provided almost no traction. We will have to invest in some better rear rubber before the next event.

Ended up with a 134.349 for my first run. Not the slowest time, but almost. Yeah, first run and I didn't get slowest time!!! (that would soon change). Second run was 130.017, again not the slowest but close and about 10+ seconds off the majority of the field. But I can't think like that, all I need to concentrate on is the fact that we picked up over 4 seconds from the first run, woohoo!!!

Third run was a blistering 121.495, time was so good that I almost think there was a problem with the timing equipment. (which there was a problem with the timing equipment as we got into the next set of runs). Wow, almost a 9 second improvement, and this time I'm well away from the back of the pack (ok, 6th from the end, but I thought it was pretty good). Unfortunately, most the rest of the field seems to be improving too so I'm not really gaining on anyone. But who cares, I'm now 13 seconds better than my first run.

Felt like I did pretty good on my 4th run, but they never called out my time, so I sent Crew Chief  Kristian up to see what it was. Turned out that there was a problem with the timing system and several of us would get a re-run. Maybe this re-run thing shook me or something, but I could feel this run being slower than my original 4th run. Wheels spinning too much, rear end sliding to wide coming off corners. Or maybe it was just my imagination, but I did end up with a 129.106, which turned out to be the slowest time on that run.

I drove the truck to our pit/service area, popped the hood to let her cool, checked the tires for air pressure (where is that Crew Chief of mine anyway?, this is his job). Our first set of runs were over. I hadn't been keeping up with everyone's run times, so I figured we were solidly at the bottom of the lineup. Little did I know then that I had been slowest on only 1 of the 4 runs.

By the time I had done some quick checks and walked back to the trailer, everyone else was already to their workers positions. I blame running near the end of the pack and parking so far away, which caused me to not work the first round of the next set of cars running. I hoped I wouldn't be penalized or disqualified for not working when I was supposed to. I planned on using the 'lost new guy' excuse if I were questioned.

Got to watch the other guys run and wondered if I looked as good out there as they did, or if I looked like a new guy that had never set tire on a rallycross track before in his whole life. Finally tracked down my Crew Chief who had been playing with Pedro Ebert 's (#7) son. Asked him how I had looked during my runs and he said he didn't know because he only watched when I started and when I finished. I hadn't thought that he was probably too short to see me when I was down on the other end of the course. When we bring our trailer next time he can get on it and watch I guess.

Invited KenRally over for some lunch with us, leftover pizza. It was part of a package deal, he gave me a good deal on some KenRally.com decals in exchange for some eats. I wondered to myself if I could  talk him into a $5000 contingency award if I got first place in the RallyX while running a KenRally decal.

After lunch I made sure I got on a workers detail and ended up working turn 5. Again it was interesting and informative as I listened to the way the cars came into and thru the turn. In the next runs I would try to duplicate where I heard them letting off/braking and where I heard them applying power. It was also good that I worked turn 5 because I was able to see a large rut that was forming on the outside of the turn.

We would only get 3 runs during the afternoon set. The ground was drying out quick and we were beginning to see more dust than the morning. Everyone said this would make the runs better so I was looking forward to continually improving my times. Everyone else also seemed to be improving their times as they were pulling 3 to 10 second faster times than the morning runs. Luckily, the dust wasn't a problem as the cars were well staggered on their leave times and I didn't have to turn back into my own dust at any point.

These last 3 runs went by in a blur. Seemed like as soon as I finished one, I'd be back on the starting grid ready to start another. Crew Chief/Son kept me supplied with cold water and details of the previous run times as I sat with my truck doors open on grid waiting my next run. Amazing how hot you can get in 2 minutes with the windows up and flying around the track.

On 2 different occasions during the day the transmission popped out of gear. My truck is so quiet that it was hard for me to 'hear' shift points. I also missed a shift on one turn. Each of these times I managed to hear my engine scream as I pushed the gas and wondered why I wasn't getting any traction on that particular corner. I need to get a way to determine my engine speed or shift points as I don't have a tach and just cannot hear the engine most of the time over the bouncing and banging of the truck over the bumps.

I rarely ever looked at the gauges. The only time I did was on that straightaway after the first couple turns. Most of the time I was up between 35 and 40 mph on that section, and usually in 3rd gear. At least once I tried to catch 4th, but again, I couldn't hear the engine so I don't know if I might have been lugging it by shifting up too early.

More than once I know I came real close to cones. I was monitoring FM 98.3 on the radio, just in case there was a red flag or any other type of info. Occasionally as I made a corner, I could see the corner workers looking at me. I kept wondering what they were thinking. Wondering if they were thinking I was doing good, or if I was just amusing as the light back end of the pickup truck swung wide behind me on every corner. (I also saw someone watching the Rally thru the fence on the back side of the track).

Unfortunately, none of the corner workers came over to give any advice or coaching as to how I should handle their particular corner. I know I didn't brake enough, choosing (unintentionally) to slow before reaching the corner and then applying power in the corner to hopefully whip the tail around so I'd be straight coming out the other end. Told my son that I'd try to take the corners dirt sprint car style, but doubt very seriously if I even came close. It definitely was different watching how the front wheel drives came thru the corners as compared to how I had to come thru them with rear wheel drive.

Back to the racing, my 5th run netted me a 122.210, not too shabby I thought, a marked improvement over most of my morning runs. Unfortunately, even though this was a 7 second improvement over my #4 run, everyone else also improved and mine ended up being the slowest time.

6th run was much the same, again I improved on the run, pulling a 121.525, but again it was the slowest run. 7th and final run was the same. A improvement and my best time of the day at 120.742, but again the slowest time of the run.

I guess from a personal standpoint, I did very well. I improved on almost every run, my best time was almost 14 seconds faster than my slowest run. We also had no penalties, no breakdowns and no spinouts, so all ours were clean runs. 

We quickly packed up the Hillbilly Hauler at the end of my last run and left without having much time to say goodbyes. It was not an intentional put off, we just had 4 1/2 hours of return trip ahead of us and I hate driving after dark. Pretty uneventful ride home, we talked about the day and both agreed that  we had fun. Ate supper at a Dairy Queen in Talladega, arriving just 10 minutes before they closed for the night. It was almost 10pm when we got home, so we only unpacked our helmets and clothes, leaving the tools and 'stuff' in the truck and hoped it didn't rain on it overnight.

The Ranger made it safely home with not a problem or whimper after the pounding I'd given it during the day. My son asked me to go online to see if scores had been posted yet, and I did just to show him they wouldn't be up for a couple days. Imagine my surprise as I pulled up the Rivergate site and there were the times and rankings. Thanks to whoever got them posted so quickly.

I take a little bit of pride in knowing that 'technically' we didn't finish last. We were listed as 26th out of 32 entrants. However, everyone finishing after us was either a DNS or a DNF. 

We're both looking forward to Huntsville RallyCross scheduled for 24 May. By then the trailer should be completely finished and we'll start our packing early enough so we're not just throwing random tools and supplies into the big toolbox like this time. We've got a better idea of what to take and what not to take. There is a slight possibility that we won't make the 24 May event, but I'm not even going to think or worry about that until mid-May at least.

(end note #1: slept late on Sunday, didn't realize a day of RallyCross and a long drive home could wear you out so much. I was even kind of stiff most of the day, guess I'm not used to all that jostling around)

(end note #2: Much thanks to my 9 year old son Kristian who took all the 'action' photos during the rally, helped out a lot in getting set up, kept track of our run times and has always been very supportive in everything we do. He's the best kid in the world)