Last Ditch Racing Has Smokin' Run at the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri!

For Immediate Release

March 8, 2009

Bangor, Maine USA

Last Ditch Racing, a Maine based performance rally team, enjoyed an epic journey to the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri to compete in the Rally America Regional Rally hampionship as well as the National and Regional portion of the events. The team were invited to compete in the Regional Rally Championship based on their finish as the Rally America Eastern Regional Overall and Open Class Champions in 2008. The team were also Eastern Regional Open Class Champions in 2007.

The 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem Missouri is round 2 of the 2009 Rally America Championship. Known as a fast and flowing event, it is in contrast to to the tighter, more technical roads the team is used to seeing at New England and Eastern Canadian events.

After an epic two days, filled with much drama, the team took 2nd place in the Rally America Regional Rally Championship, and 3rd in Open Class in the 100 Acre Wood Regional Rally. The results are but a small part of the weekend's story.

With the rally located just over 1,500 miles from the team's home base in Bangor, Maine, just taking the start is an accomplishment! Adding to the stress of moving the team halfway across the country, the day prior to the departure saw Maine hit with a large Nor'easter storm that dumped about 16" of snow on the team's headquarters. "I had to get the tractor out and snowblow just to get us out on the road. We didn't see another car on the highway that morning for over an hour," said driver/owner John Cassidy.

Once on the ground in Missouri, Driver John Cassidy and Co-Driver Dave Getchell spent most of Thursday on one pass recce, while the crew fettled with the car and put it through technical inspection. A frantic call from the crew to Cassidy informed him that the turbo restrictor was 0.06mm too large for the regulations. Without a spare, the crew were on the phone in a matter of minutes and found a machine shop in Salem, MO that specializes in design and repair of equipment for the lead mining industry. The crew brought the old restrictor and within 2 hours, the enthusiastic crew at the machine shop put a new restrictor in the teams' hands, enabling them to start the event. "I had no idea why the restrictor was such a miniscule amount over," said Cassidy, "but our car is always legal and we didn't want anything to put our results in Missouri in question. The work by the machine shop was exceptional and our helmets and hats are off to them!"

Clear to start the race on Friday, Cassidy and Getchell were off to a relatively slow start. After two stages, they found themselves more than 30 seconds behind 2007 RRC winners Henry and Cindy Krowlikowski. Determined to pick up the pace, disaster struck. One of the power steering lines developed a crack. Forced to race 3-4 stages with manual steering, Cassidy knew they'd bleed time. "It was a huge blow to our confidence. We went from race mode to survival mode. Good thing it's not our first time in that position. In addition to the power steering loss, we had a crack in the exhaust manifold. I was worried that the exhaust leak might cause the dripping fluid to ignite in the engine bay. Luckily that didn't happen, but other things that we expected did."

At the start of the last stage, while waiting to start, the crew heard the telltale screaming of metal on metal in the engine bay. On stage, the now dry power steering pump seized, causing smoke and sparks to fly out of the engine vents/scoop as the pump also took out the alternator/power steering belt. Able to finish the stage, Cassidy and Getchell shut down all unnecessary electrical systems as they knew they were now running on battery. "We had about 25 miles back to service and weren't sure if we could make it on just the battery." The answer came shortly later, when the lights started to dim, then flicker. With the low power level, the engine control unit started to run erratically, so the crew was forced to pull to the side of the dark Missouri country road. Fellow Subaru driver George Georgakopoulos pulled over and offered to tow the team into the final MTC of the night. Said Cassidy, "Being towed in a quiet, cold car, just 10 feet off the back of another careening through the dark at 50mph was quite a surreal experience. It took all my concentration to keep the tow rope taut and be safe. Without George, we'd never have completed 100 AW!" The team of Fox/Blattner graciously loaned the team a welder to make repairs to the exhaust header.

Seeing Steel Tulip-4 roll into the MTC on the hook, the service crew knew they were in for a long night. The crew sourced another power steering pump from fellow competitor Pat Moro. Again, without Pat's help, the team would not have completed the event. While the crew replaced the pump, Cassidy and Getchell headed to the local auto parts store for a replacement belt and power steering fluid. After dropping off the supplies to the team around midnight, Cassidy and Getchell headed back to the hotel while the crew worked through the cold night. Crack in the header welded up, Cassidy was awakened often by the crew with status updates on the repairs as well as for guidance on how to proceed. "It wouldn't have been so bad," said Cassidy, "but I had developed a nasty sinus infection that hit hard on Thursday night and was having trouble sleeping as it was. At one point, about 04:45, the crew called me and told me the Dodge Sprinter was dead on the side of the road! A deer had run out in front of them and they honked the horn. The dash lit up like a Christmas tree and the truck died and wouldn't restart. I fired up the laptop and went to the online Sprinter forums and found a post about someone having similar issues after using the horn. I told them to check fuse 7. It was blown as was the case in the forum post. The truck fired up and they continued on their way back to the hotel. They thought my ability to service the Sprinter over the phone out of a dead sleep was spooky! "

Starting Saturday over 3 minutes down on the first place Krowlikowskis, Cassidy and Getchell knew they needed to push. The crew assured them the car was 100%. On the transit out to the first stage of the day, the power steering hitched a few times and had Cassidy worried that he might not have it for long. Then the power steering pump began to squeal. Cassidy and Getchell played all the possible scenarios out in their minds. Replacement pump might be bad? High and low pressure lines might be swapped? Steering rack damanged? Belt too loose or too tight? They got to the next stage start a bit early and decided they'd take a late penalty if need be, if only to suss out the issue. Turns out the new belt was a bit loose and slipping, causing the squeaking. Tightened and good to go, they strapped back in.

The first leg of stages went well for the crew, but didn't see them setting any land speed records. Their close ratio gearbox, with the ultra short final drive-perfect for twisty Eastern events-was not working so well on the fast open roads in Missouri. "It was frustrating," said Cassidy, "We were pushing as hard as we could, but the drivetrain ran out of gumption just around 100mph. We needed another 10mph at least for Missouri." Temperature was also an enemy for the team. The team were running on Pirelli soft gravel tires for the first time at the event, and while Friday's temperatures were within the operating range for the tires, Saturday's temps were at the lower limit. At the second service, they decided to mount some Yokohoma AO-34 snow tires as the stage conditions from that point on were questionable with a winter storm warning posted for a possible 6-8" of snow. Competitor Krowlikowski was out with a blown turbo, so the team had an opportunity to push for another position at least. "There were no smiles when we heard that Henry and Cindy went out-they were having a fantastic event and to go out with a mechanical issue that is out of your control is always difficult."

To the team's surprise, the next 4 stages had no snow, but Cassidy found the Yoko's offered more grip than the Pirellis. "The Yokohama AO-34's have always been a favorite tire, and I love them more now. Although still not reaching the velocities they wanted, the team had power steering, a repaired exhaust header and sticky tires. "Although a bit late, things were as good as they could be for us! The last loop of 4 stages saw the team pulling into the finish control of each stage to find the car ahead still completing their paperwork-a sign we were making time. Each time we'd pull up and see them there, we'd high-five! It was a good feeling." It was a feeling that continued into stage 14. The stage was covered in about 4-5" of snow, and by this time, Cassidy and Getchell felt like they were at a Canadian Rally-familiar territory. "We were smiling like a couple of schoolboys with a naughty magazine. We knew this was our opportunity to have fun and go fast. The gearing of the car isn't really an issue in the snow, as it's about smoothness and commitment."

Stage 14 saw the team set the 10th quickest time, 1 second behind eventual event winner Ken Block. "We had a great time on that stage and passed one car and were catching a second, meaning we were clawing time back. It's the stage that represents the rally for us-the crew, local businesses and fellow teams had all worked together to get us to that point and we were standing on their shoulders in order to push through the snow in the dark-just a great feeling that'll we'll carry forward to the next event and beyond," said Cassidy.

The team ended their trip home just behind another snowstorm-the same that they had in Missouri-just now in the Northeast. Nine days and over 3,000 miles later, the team is ready for a bit of time off, but knows that assimilation back into, "normal," life won't be easy. Said Cassidy, "It's always difficult when you come back and friends and co-workers ask if you had a good time or a good trip-they just don't understand the depth of the answer we "could," give them! We usually say we had a good time and leave it at that!"

The team would like to thank their crew for their support prior to, and during, the event We couldn't have done it without you! Drew Simpson, Ken Anctil, Chris Boone, Bronson Crothers, Nate Haskell, Rob Sockalexis, Nate Sockalexis, Samantha Francis and Duncan Matlack.

The team's next event will either be STPR in Pennsylvania in June or the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in New Richmond Quebec in July. Check the team website for upcoming plans/events.

For more information the 100 Acre Wood Rally, please visit: <http://www.100aw.org/

Photos by Lorne Trezise, Copyright 2009 frozenmotionphotos.com

Ty Williams Gets Lost

"Next."
"Bear left onto Canyon at Canyon to stay on Canyon"
"Confirm left on Canyon. Next."
"Right."
"OK, the road to the left doesn't exist, so this is a forced right.
Still working instruction Right. OK, coming up to a Tee. Both roads exist, so confirming Right. Next."
"Right onto Canyon at Canyon to stay on Canyon."
"Wait, does that mean we're on Canyon now? We just turned off of Canyon. Oh, yes, we're on Canyon again. Confirming right onto Canyon. Next."

Saturday, February 28th, 2009 saw the rebirth of the Columbus Alley Rally. Alley Rallies are, in theory, a form of road rally in which driver/navigator teams progress over an unknown course arriving at unknown checkpoints precisely on time while following a set of printed route instructions. Alley Rallies are, in practice, motorsports events who's sole purpose is to make sure that anyone participating in them will never willingly set foot in a car again. They're run at night.
They're run in the cold and ice. They're run on alleys so narrow that opening the car doors is impossible. They're run off of route instructions perfected over years of experimentation to be as deceitful and incomprehensible as possible while still being factually correct.

"Next."
"Right onto Overbrook."
"Confirming right onto Overbrook. Nex.... Jesus, is this even a road?"
"Well, I see mailboxes and driveways, it must be."
"OK, but where's the, you know, road?"
"Um, under all these rocks maybe? They look like they might be broken up concrete."
"What's our CAST?"
"9 MPH"
"I don't know if we can do that, we'll have to make up time somewhere. Next."

The evening began with scruitineering. After careful inspection of the cars and interview of the teams, the Rallymaster decreed that all the cars would compete in Ill Equipped and all the teams were Without Any Class. At the driver's meeting, The rules were reviewed. Drivers were
not allowed to yell at or criticize navigators at any time. Navigators were encouraged to constantly tell drivers exactly what they were doing wrong. Numbered Route Instructions and Unnumbered Route Instructions were to be followed in strict numeric order except when
doing so would conflict with the order they were printed on the page. The rally would start at the stop sign you couldn't see. "Next" "Jog right to avoid SRIP "Immaculate Conception"."
"Confirming avoidance of second coming. Next" This year's rally was a partial re-run of Alley Rallies of the past. Covering most of the North side of Columbus and the Olentangy
Watershed, it ran past houses designed by Frank Loyd Wright, countless overfilled dumpsters, and a particular lamp post 12 times. The rally was measured at 30 miles and the perfect time was 3 hours. Via shortcuts, most teams completed the rally in over 4 hours and 50 miles. We managed to complete the entire rally minus one 300 yard section that seemed to be a figment of the Rallymaster's imagination. Amazingly, it only took us 4 hours and 3 minutes. As our first Alley Rally, we considered simply finding the restaurant at the end of the rally a major victory. In that time, we had started 2nd in the running order, fallen to 12th, accidentally worked our way back up to 1st, spent over an hour total going in circles (usually with other rally participants) trying to achieve escape velocity, and used 8 gallons of gas.

"Next."
"Right after the Alfa Romeo. How can they be sure the Alfa will be here during the rally?"
"It's an Alfa, they don't move. Confirming right. Next."

It was with something totally unlike anticipation that we awaited the results of the rally while eating. Times were totaled, penalties assigned, and answer sheets graded. Amazingly, last place didn't go to the team from Cleveland who managed to be taken into police custody during the rally. As the results were read, from last to first, we listened to the results with greater and greater surprise as our names weren't called. Astonishingly, before calling our names, the
Rallymaster reached into a bucket to extract something. We'd fished on the podium. We'd won money!

"Next."
"Caution! Stay left to avoid the Miata that's stuck in a pothole!"
"What? No way that's in the Route. Show me!"
"No! Look out the windshield!"
"Crap! Man, I almost took off his door! Next."

Three dollars and ninety-five cents.

... and we're already looking forward to next year.

Chuck Wins in Indy

Two Saturday's ago (10/18/2008), I was at a Hockey game with some friends, and my Team-mate John Ryan e-mail's a link to a post on the SCCAforums, concerning an Event 10/26/2008.

<http://sccaforums.com/forums/permalink/326010/328005/ShowThread.aspx#328005

As a principle member of Team AwesomeSauce, I was a bit disturbed by the comment, my racing colleague Geoff made... as well as his allegations. A fire lit inside me. I sent out a couple e-mails to wrangle together some local drivers who may have skipped the event due to late-season symptoms. Things like corded tires, destroyed clutches, etc.

We decided to throw John Ryan into STFU STi in the SMS class, and Melissa Britten (A budding Fort Wayne Region Star) into STU L. And Of course, I'd be in STU-X. X designating the Indy region Pro-class to show Geoff an others I didn't wear woman's underwears (well, sometimes on my head, just after they've been finessed off).

First heat was cold (low 40's) and drying conditions. Luckily, none of us had to drve until the 2nd heat, where both my co-drivers were placed. John's first run in the car yielded ended up being his fastest and .001 behind the multi-year reigning SMS Class Champion..Ending 2nd in a hugely subscribed SMS Class.

Melissa who typically drives an H-Stock Corolla did very well in the STi. After her first run she seemed out of breathe and surprised that a Subaru not only had "turn-in" but would also hang it out. She won STUL by 7.815 seconds. Which would have put her 6th of 9th in the STU Open class... and 4th in the SMS Open class running the same heat. DESTROYING drivers in their own cars...

Both seemed to comment on how predictably the car would rotate/slide around a variable 270 degree sweeper at the beginning of the course.

STU drew 3rd heat to run. My first run was sloppy as hell, one section walked WAY faster than it drove. so i dove into this section, and slid the car side-ways into a cone-wall.. Horrible time.. sickening sloppy run. Came back to grid frustrated, Heard The local hot-shoe (one of my hero's), Kevin Kent come in with a blistering 52.1... barely heard the time being announced over the cheers. I was happy for him, but still hung my head, My day was over. Or so i thought..

.. Went out for my second run, just going through the motions.. kept it nice and smooth, accelerated hard, what the hell, i had nothing to loose. Came into a display reading 50.955.. My jaw dropped, along with about 30 spectators. Timing and scoring paused the event to make sure it wasn't a timing error. at this point Kevin and I were fighting over top-time of the X-class.

Kevin was supportive as usual, If you ever encounter him, you'll note his graciousness, and willingness to help. We discussed shift points, and an apex section. I took on a passenger for my 3rd run.. which I told, not to expect another sub 51sec run, but we went 50.783. Kevin went faster to a 51.432, but still not enough to catch the STFU STi. Our 4th runs we went slower, I had a slide which ate a good second from my time., and Kevin dropped a couple thousandths. Which is a real testament to his computer-like consistency and perfection. So WE won it. Team AwesomeSauce was taking the traveling Pro-Class Trophy Home for the winter. During the drive back home, Kyle Mavis, who was commuting in the STi posted this:

<http://sccaforums.com/forums/permalink/326010/329272/ShowThread.aspx#329272

Quite Appropriate, don't you think??

Final Results here:

<http://indyscca.org/SoloFiles/SoloResults/2008/ev7/event%207%20-%20102608_fin.htm

<http://indyscca.org/SoloFiles/SoloResults/2008/ev7/event%207%20-%20102608_pax.htm

I'm So stoked from the results of the win, I've registered for the Florida State AutoX Championships. I'll be leaving next Thursday for Sebring. Hopefully, thanks to the help from the guys at Turn In Concepts, Dunlop Tires, and my teammates, We'll Continue the pwnage

Chuck McMillion

Last Ditch Racing takes on the Laurentian region!

September 11, 2008

Bangor, Maine USA

Last Ditch Racing headed to the beautiful Laurentian region North of Montreal for round 4 of the Canadian Rally Championship, Rallye Defi-St. Agathe.

Driver/owner John Cassidy was joined by co-driver Dr. Jennifer Daly for this event. Recce went smoothly, and Friday's smooth, short stages were seeing the crew get used to each other and some recent modifications to the car.

It all went pear shaped when the team refueled the car prior to embarking on the last few stages of the evening. Shortly after exiting the refuel area, the car died. Cassidy attempted to trouble shoot, but other than cranking the car and popping the hood to look for loose wires, there wasn't much to do.

Being just outside the service area, the crew opted to get pushed back in for repairs/troubleshooting and take a penalty for illegal servicing. Hoping to get back to the parc expose in downtown Ste. Agathe on time, members of several rally teams swarmed over the car. It was determined that the the recent fueling was to blame and the fuel tank was drained, showing a large amount of water in the fuel. A new fuel filter was sourced from the Subaru Canada support truck and the team was on their way to expose. The team had filled some fuel jugs from a half full barrel back at the shop, and the only explanation was that rain water found it's way into the drum.

Unfortunately for the team, although they had arrived at parc expose 22 minutes prior to their assigned out time, they had accrued maximum permitted lateness for the entire event. The Stewards informed the team that they would not be able to restart the second and final portion of the event on Saturday.

Said Cassidy, "Fielding a rally team is a huge endeavor on many levels for all competitors. Crew had flown in for the event from opposite ends of the continent, 100's of hours of car prep had gone into making sure the car was perfect. Te be struck down by something that was essentially non-rally related was heart wrenching for me as a team principal. Telling the team we were out was one of the most difficult announcements I've made to them in some time. We loaded a car that was ready to race back on the trailer and headed out for a late dinner. There was no other alternative, and at the end of the day, that's rally."

Not a team to dwell on the negative, the LDR service crew volunteered their to fettle the Washpa Rally Team's Toyota MR2 for Saturday's stages. Cassidy hit the stages with pro photographer Mark Fleming and found out how difficult it is to catch rally cars in action-especially on a rainy day!

Last Ditch Racing would like to thank Jen Daly for strapping in the right seat and bringing chocolate chip cookies! We'd also like to thank Iain from Planet Motorsport, Karl Sprongl and Steward Ho from CanJam Motorsports for their help in the service park Friday night. We'd also like to thank crew on hand for the event: Duncan Matlack, Dave Getchell and Ken Anctil.

The team's next event will be Rally of the Tall Pines and possibly the LSPR rally in the UP of Michigan in October.

Last Ditch Racing Takes Double Win at New England Forest Rally 2008!

Bangor, Maine USA

Last Ditch Racing, defending 2007 Rally America Eastern Open Class Champions, took the overall and Open Class wins in both the Mexico Regional Rally and the Berlin Regional Rally at last weekend New England Forest Rally. Their performance was enough to earn them a fifth place overall in the national portion of the event, after starting 16th. The team set several top 10 stage times and set personal team records on seven stages. The New England Forest Rally, held in Western Maine and parts of New Hampshire, is Round 6 of the 2008 Rally America National Championship and regarded as one of the roughest and difficult events in the Championship.

The team began 2008 by taking the overall win at the Team O'Neil Rally in New Hampshire in icy conditions. The team continued on their winning streak by taking an award for the longest jump at the recent Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in Quebec and finishing 10th overall in the national event. The recent wins at the New England Forest Rally give the team a commanding lead in the Rally America.

Driver John Cassidy and Co-Driver Dave Getchell drove a tidy and quick event and brought their 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX STi home relatively unscathed. Said Cassidy, "This result is the equivalent of a win for us. To be 5th overall after a past production car world rally champion and two series contenders is amazing. Maine is known as a rough event and this year was no exception. We kept out of the scenery and had only one puncture, with the tire going flat after we were done with the stage. Dave and I were at the top of our game and reached a new level of performance in the car. We were definitely pushing and this is an event we'll remember for a long time!"

Some not familiar with the team were surprised with their impressive finish, but Cassidy expects more of the same in their remaining events this season. "We really struggled with development of our current car early on, leading to some poor finishes and a season where we went from fourth in the Championship to not scoring any points at all. Since last fall, we've hit our stride with the car and recent additions to our service crew have bolstered our confidence."

The team had close battles with Dave Mirra and Jeff Moyle, both piloting Subaru STi's prepared by Vermont Sportscar. "The cars we were racing are quite advanced relative to ours. Our ace in the hole was our experience and perhaps our advancing age! Both Dave and Jeff were right there throughout the event and our ability to avoid drama put us in a position to take 5th. On the final stage, we caught two cars near the end and literally had to stop in the thick dust because we just couldn't see the road. Mirra told me when he came through he didn't have any dust to contend with and that made me worry that he had perhaps caught us. He took 30 seconds out of us, but it wasn't enough and we held station."

The Maine Forest Rally 1999 was Cassidy's first event in a Honda CRX. "The team has made obvious significant strides over the last 9 years. We've still got plenty of room for improvement, but our hard work over the years as a privateer team is starting to pay dividends when we achieve a result like this. To have our career best finish at home after such a long time in the sport is a dream come true. It definitely fuels us to strive for bigger things in the future. We've been asked recently if we'd consider a full US national schedule next year, and while we'd love to do that, we'd need far more external support to do it properly. Time will tell!" The team's next event will be the Rallye Defi-St. Agathe in Quebec, Canada.

Chuck's Ramblings about the Oscoda Michigan Divisionals

Oscoda Michigan Divisional...
http://www.soloseries.org/2008/08DET_fin.htm

(Note; dual course. morning/afternoon.)

In the afternoon.. I made 1 run in my car.. traded Azmath cars for the second run (he drove the STfU STi and I drove his Mazda 3) then 3rd run I traded John.. (I hate Neons now more than ever!!!!!)

They LOVED the STi!!!!

The courses were HEAVILY FAST-R-comp-car biased.. ESP, SS, BM, CM
PAX results reflects that.

The top 20 on pax was almost reciprocated at the OVR Divisional.. with the same people.. due to asphalt vs concrete.. and a less biased course layout.


Sunday:
http://www.nworscca.com/modules/event_results/results/2008/2008_e5_web_files/2008_e5_web_index.htm

(note: I was the only one in the top 5 (maybe more) that had NOT driven this course (they set up the same course.. twice a year.. and let people try to set the class record...)

I was in first heat.. Greg was 3rd heat.. and has driven this course... twice a year since OCT 2004.

ALSO..

I broke the old STU record by nearly a second... which stood for 4 years.

This was using an economy tune.. all weekend.. driving..to / from events... and at the event.... the tune is good for 27.15 MPG... I'm sure i could have picked up an easy 1/2 second with more power.

The car is great... too much rear camber though...(-1.9) adding camber bolts this week (while the wheels are off to change brake lines) and re-aligning to -1.2 ish...

Thanks for your help!!!
Chuck

Williams, Carlton, TiC Headline 2008 Roadrally Season

Columbus, Ohio

Having completed the first 3 events of the 2008 season, the 2005 Impreza 2.5RS wagon campaigned by T. Williams (williaty) and M. Carlton is making a strong showing thanks to support from Turn In Concepts.


The season opener for the Central Ohio Rally Club was the Mad River Run rallymastered by Willams and sponsored by Turn in Concepts. Taking place over 120 miles of twisting, blind, and narrow gravel and tarmac roads in Union, Champaign, and Logan counties in Ohio, the rally saw twice the usual number of entries due to Subarus competing for a generous prize donated by Turn In Concepts and the promise of challenging driving.



Round 2 of the 2008 season was the annual River Run, rallymastered by Eric Jones, retired pro-rally (including WRC) driver and navigator. The Run followed more than 300 miles of the most challenging and technical roads in Ohio. 93 cars started the event in Canal Winchester and 92 of them finished in Zanesville (1 Triumph was lost on course, we suspect it's in someone's pocket). Along the way, the route took teams along US-33, through Hocking Hills, portions of Wayne National Forest, along the Ohio river, and up State Route 555. Defending the Subaru name against many British sports cars (including a Lotus Esprit Turbo) were 3 Imprezas from Central Ohio Subarus and a brand-new 08 STi from Cleveland. The 4 cars quickly formed a convoy led by the TiC-sponsored RS wagon of Williams. Only Williams had remembered to bring
a navigator. Over the course of the day, the convoy was given the point-by from every other car, failing to finish 1st only due to the small matter of the STi nearly running out of gas miles from the nearest 93 octane pump. However, all 4 Subarus counted the day a major success and well worth running again.


The Champaign T Party made up Round 3 of the 2008 season. Held in Champaign county, Ohio, the rally covered 75 miles of back roads. Many roads were repeats from the season opener. However, ODOT had decided to smile on rallyists everywhere and had liberally coated the entire
county in fresh gravel. Roads that had been clean tarmac in April were an inch deep in gravel in June. The target speeds had been set when the roads were tarmac, so the actual pace necessary for the rally was, to say the least, brisk as it wound through blind square left after blind square right. Williams and Carlton fared well, placing 1st in Class as well as 2nd Overall. Running in the least-equipped class, Seat of Pants, Williams and Carlton recorded a 0 (perfect time!) on
Stage 4 and a 3 the very next stage, scores typically only seen by the highest Class of computer-guided cars. Williams and Carlton are hoping to continue this success throughout the 2008 Season, putting the TiC Rally Cow on the podium each month. With 3 events remaining in the 2008 Season, including the Ohio Forest Rally which takes place on the historic Sunriser Rally pro-rally stages, Williams and Carlton are determined to make a strong showing for the honor of wagons, NA's, and TiC.