2014-KansasRally_005
Kansas Rally Weekend 2014 – Letter to Competitors

By Rich Bireta, photos by Doug Patterson

The eighth Kansas Rally weekend was held November 8 and 9, 2014.  This year’s Rally Weekend was the best ever due in large part to the great set of volunteers I had helping out this year. I mentioned these folks after the events, but a “Thank You” bears repeating to (and not in order of importance):

  • Derrick Carpenter for serving as safety steward for Saturday and for working checkpoints both days.  Derrick’s role as utility infielder for the weekend really helped things run smoothly.
  • Marty Courtois, Albert Weaver, Dan McConnell, Anne Marie Stevenson and Kyle Rohde for working checkpoints,
  • Adam Miller and Albert Weaver for checking Sunday’s event,
  • Dan McConnell for yet another great job in pre-event promotion,
  • Kansas Region RE Linda Duncan and SCCA VP of Solo and Rally Howard Duncan worked checkpoints Saturday,
  • Anne Marie Stevenson and Devon Shipman for ably running registration on Saturday morning, enabling me to see to the many last minute details,
  • Bruce Betting ably handled the starter duties, preventing a mass exodus from the school.
Jack von Kaenel conducts a pre-rally Seminar
Jack von Kaenel conducts a pre-rally Seminar

National SCCA competitors Ron Ferris from St. Louis and Bruce Gezon, who made the trip from Murraysville, Pennsylvania, Jim Duea who came from Oklahoma City ran with Jack von Kaenel who came from North Carolina.  Bruce and Charlene Bettinger made the trip from Wichita for the event.  Bee and Theresa Bao came from Ardmore, Oklahoma.  Candy and Jan Gerber drove down from Omaha for the event.  (Happy Birthday, Candy and Happy Anniversay!)

East to Easton Rally

A total of 17 rally teams started Saturday’s event from Prairie Moon School and Grant Township Community Center north of Lawrence.  The rally route used all paved roads to get from Lawrence to the finish in Atchison, Kansas, home town of aviatrix Amelia Earhart.   Following an odometer check that ended at the Kansa Indians Historical marker, the route went west across the Lake Perry dam for a checkpoint on the west side of the lake.

Competitors’ Meeting
Competitors’ Meeting

The route re-crossed the lake and went north for checkpoint two located at the site of the Civil War battle at Hickory Point.  The route then went east through the town of Winchester and then east of McLouth for checkpoint 3.  Following a rest break the rally entrants headed north to checkpoint 4 at the Limit Road turnout by Easton and through a construction zone then north for checkpoint 5 located on the outskirts of Atchison where Jarod Scott, the owner of the salvage yard where the checkpoint was located, stopped to chat and take some photos.  The rally teams met in the lounge of Paolucci’s restaurant for awards, drinks and dinner.

Saturday’s Winners
Congratulations to Albert Weaver and Marty Courtois.  In their first event running together these two finished first in the Experienced class and first overall.
Congratulations to Albert Weaver and Marty Courtois.  In their first event running together these two finished first in the Experienced class and first overall.
Jack von Kaenel and Jim Duea won Expert both days along with first overall on Sunday
Jack von Kaenel and Jim Duea won Expert both days along with first overall on Sunday
Peter Monshizadeh and Lindsay Pruitt won the Beginners Class.
Peter Monshizadeh and Lindsay Pruitt won the Beginners Class.
East to Easton Road Rally Scores
SCCAMiDivPerryHickoryHappyLimitAmelia
CarCrewRegionClassClassLakePointTrailsEarhardtTotal
1Jim Duea / Jack von KaenelOK/ DetroitEExpert17342127
2Ron Ferris / Bruce GezonSTL/PhillyEExpert355112053
26Albert Weaver / Marty CourtoisGuest/ KansasSExperienced43213022
5Candy Gerber / Jan GerberNebraskaSExperienced311115131
17Mark McCoubrie / Judy McCoubrieKCSExperienced3421110764
6Cheryl Gregg / Randy GreggKansasSExperienced2194216124
19Bruce and Charlene BettingerWichitaSExperienced3312372022124
9Donna Cross / Adam MillerKCSExperienced224050021133
3Devon Shipman / Jon ShipmanGuestSExperienced8186215420262
4Bee and Theresa ThaoOklahomaSExperienced293005611387
23Peter Monshizadeh / Lindsay PruittGuestSBeginner524228232147
18Jack Hardigan / Ryan MeierKCSBeginner127651433176
24Ian and Lori AndersonGuestSBeginner617083610230
8Roy Lopshire / Charlie ClarkKCSBeginner87411272155331
10David Tung / Aracely TungGuestSBeginner940300135367
15Keith Keirsey / Dale IbisonKCSBeginner77153982666420
12Frank Biondo / Ben BasgallGuestSBeginner42237411300450
Devon Shipman and Anne Marie Stevenson kept registration running smoothly.
Devon Shipman and Anne Marie Stevenson kept registration running smoothly.
Bruce Bettinger started the cars
Bruce Bettinger started the cars
Into Checkpoint 3 Saturday
Into Checkpoint 3 Saturday
Mark!
Mark!
Saturday’s Break
Saturday’s Break
20 early!?!?  How could I be 20 seconds early?
20 early!?!?  How could I be 20 seconds early?
Kansas River Run Rally
Checkpoint 6 Sunday – Buck Creek
Checkpoint 6 Sunday – Buck Creek

On Sunday 8 rally teams returned for the Kansas River Run Rally.  This event featured good quality, unpaved roads.  This year’s route retraced much of the first half from 2013, following the Scenic River Road (aka Farmer’s Turnpike) from west from Lawrence to Tecumseh.  After the first four checkpoints the teams took a break at the gas station in Perry, Kansas.  The post-break route went north and east for three more checkpoints including my favorite stretch of road, Buck Creek.  A short transit brought the teams to the ending location, the original Johnny’s on the Kansas River.

Having the rally run over good quality, unpaved roads let us put together an event that was shorter, had interesting roads, ended earlier and yet had more checkpoints.  Look for a repeat of this format (paved roads Saturday, unpaved roads Sunday) in 2015.

Sunday’s Winners

Congratulations to Jim Duea and Jack von Kaenel won the Expert Class and first overall on Sunday’s event.

Randy Gregg and Doug Patterson, running together for the first time, won the Experienced Class.
Randy Gregg and Doug Patterson, running together for the first time, won the Experienced Class.
Showing that persistence pays off, David and Aracely Tung won the Beginner’s Class on Sunday.
Showing that persistence pays off, David and Aracely Tung won the Beginner’s Class on Sunday.
Kansas River Run Road Rally Leg Scores
ShawneeDouglas
Provisional ScoresLecomptonCountyCountyLecomptonMarionBuckCity
CarCrewILineLineIICreekDumpTotalClass
1Jim Duea / Jack von Kaenel31100005Expert
2Ron Ferris / Bruce Gezon752201017Expert
4Randy Gregg / Doug Patterson212212672272Experienced
3Bee and Theresa Thao1741625825140Experienced
5Bruce and Charlene Bettinger579134163725161Experienced
8David Tung / Aracely Tung52167233606021359Beginner
7Dan McConnell / John Martini61497774411866422Beginner
6Chris Raymaker / Tommy Ellison1117921602414098533Beginner
Sunday’s Finish – The Original Johnny’s
Sunday’s Finish – The Original Johnny’s
Thorns and Roses

It’s a tradition in the Boy Scouts following an adventure to review the areas that have gone well (roses) as well as some items that could be improved for the future (thorns).  Here is my list for the 2014 Rally Weekend.

Roses:

  1. The turnout.  17 Saturday and 8 cars Sunday is a great turnout.  It would have been nice to have fewer “no shows” Saturday, but we fit comfortably in the lounge at the restaurant.  Dan McConnell did another excellent job on getting the word out about this weekend.  Thanks, Dan!
  2. The Kansas City SCCA turnout.  For a club whose interest is primarily autocross and club racing, it was gratifying to see 5 cars turnout from the KC Region.
  3. Repeat entrants.  It was very gratifying to see so many familiar faces from previous years.
  4. Quick scoring.  I tried some new strategies to speed scoring this year.  First, I did not work a control the second half of Saturday’s event.  This combined with a driver (Thank You, Derrick) and a log-reader in the back seat (Thank You, Anne Marie) enabled me to have provisional scoring done by the time I arrived at the restaurant. Provisional results were sent to contestants via email before I reached the restaurant.
  5. The volunteers who turned a good rally weekend into a great rally weekend.  I had a lot of great help and felt comfortable delegating many tasks to them.
  6. Registration went smoothly thanks to two of my daughters, Anne Marie Stevenson and Devon Shipman.  Thanks, girls!
  7. Pre-rally tutorial.  Experienced National rallyist Jack von Kaenel volunteered to conduct a pre-rally tutorial for entrants.  Jack’s small circle grew quickly over time (see photo).  Did it work?  David and Arcely Tung won their class on Sunday, including scoring one “zero” (perfect leg) thanks to Jack’s guidance.
  8. Photos.  Check the KC Region website (www.kcrscca.org) for some of the great photography by Doug Patterson.  All of the photos in this report are courtesy of Doug.  Thanks, Doug!

Thorns:

  1. One error in Saturday’s instruction.  Fairmount vs. Fairview roads, although this error did not seem to confuse contestants.
  2. The location of checkpoint three on Saturday was not good, requiring a turn across potential oncoming traffic.  We won’t use this location again.

Thanks to all the competitors who came out and the workers who made the events possible.  I hope to see you at another event in 2015.  I am planning a February event (including a rally school), a summer event as well as the rally weekend in November.  Keep an eye on the Kansas City SCCA Region web site and Facebook page for announcements.

~Rich Bireta

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