Kyle and Chelsea Rohde ready to tackle Leg 6 Saturday outside of Alma (Photo: Kyle Rohde)
Kyle and Chelsea Rohde ready to tackle Leg 6 Saturday outside of Alma
(Photo: Kyle Rohde)

The seventh Kansas Rally weekend was held November 9 and 10, 2013. The Sports Car Club of America is the premier grass roots motor sports organization in the world. Events like the
Kansas Rally Weekend can not occur without a significant volunteer effort on the part of many people. I mentioned these folks after the events, but a “Thank You” bears repeating to:

  • Derrick Carpenter for serving as safety stewards for Saturday and for working checkpoints both days.
  • Albert Weaver, Andrew Bireta, Jon Shipman, Dan McConnell and Deborah Hopkins for working checkpoints,
  • Adam Miller and Charlie Clark for checking Sunday’s event. Adam also served as Safety Steward Sunday and worked checkpoints,
  • Dan McConnell for yet another great job in pre-event promotion. Dan also worked checkpoints Saturday with Deborah Hopkins, President of the Heartland Miata Club,
  • Kansas Region RE Linda Duncan and SCCA VP of Solo and Rally Howard Duncan worked checkpoints Saturday,
  • SCCA National Rally and Solo Administrator Deena Rowland who handled registration Saturday.
KansasRally-2

Kansas City Region SCCA and the Heartland Miata Club for a great turnout. National SCCA competitors Ron Ferris from St. Louis and SCCA national points keeper 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. Jack also kindly assisted with scoring on Saturday. Chuck Hanson came from Indianapolis and ran with local partners to expose more people to the experience of competing in a computer-equipped car with a National-level competitor.

Go West Rally

A total of 25 rally teams (a full field) started Saturday’s event, the Go West Rally. The rally route used all paved roads to get from Lawrence to Council Grove. Following an odometer check that ended at the Kansa Indian Historical marker, the route went west for two checkpoints at Lake Perry followed by a long transit to the west side of Topeka where the route picked up the Kansas Native Stone Scenic Byway. The route went through the Kansas towns of Dover, Eskridge, and around Lake Wabunsee (“Gem of the Flint Hills”) to a rest stop in Alma. From Alma the route went southwest along the Mill Creek Scenic Drive through Alta Vista, south over the dam of Council Grove Lake to the finish at the historic Hays House in Council Grove. Leg 4 of the event was discarded as one checkpoint crew cancelled the morning of the event.

Saturday’s Winners
Congratulations to Ron Ferris, St Louis Region SCCA, and Bruce Gezon, Steel Cities Region SCCA, for winning First Overall, first in the SCCA Equipped class, and first Expert class.

Congratulations to Lori Goetsch and Martin Courtois (red Mini), Kansas SCCA members from Manhattan, Kansas for winning the Experienced class. Congratulations to Adam and Christina Miller, Kansas City Region SCCA members for winning the SCCA Stock class.

Congratulations to Darrell Stevenson and Anne Marie Bireta for winning the Beginners’ Class, Georgia and Frank Fink came in second and Devon and Jon Shipman were third.

Congratulations to Scott and Melissa Wiles for winning the Best Miata award. Heartland Miata Club provided five entries this year.

Go West Road Rally Scores

CarCrewRegionSCCA
Class
MiDiv
Class
Total
1Ron Ferris / Bruce GezonPhilly / STLEA692Jim Duea / Jack von KaenelOk / DetroitEA773Deena Rowland / Chuck HansonKansas / IndyEA814Lori Goetsch / Marty CourtoisKansasLB1436Adam Miller / Christina MillerKansas CitySB19913Roy Loyshire / Charlie ClarkKansas CitySB48926Theresa Thau / Bee ThauCal ClubSB52914Paul Moylan / Tim MahrKansas CitySB5508Darrel Stevenson / Anne MarieBireta GuestSC2155Georgia Fink / Frank FinkKansas CitySC2197Devon Shipman / Jon ShipmanGuestSC2279Melissa Wiles / Scott WilesHeartland MiataSC28611Justin Hansen / Chris HansenKansas CitySC31212David Tung / Arcely TungKansas CitySC33827Mark Maconbrie / Judy MacronbrieKansas CitySC40824Michael Kelly / Keyta KellyHeartland MiataSC44119Julie Fennel / Travis FennelHeartland MiataSC47516Jan Kiersey / Keith KierseyKansas CitySC49920Hal Baumhardt / Dave PattonHeartland MiataSC54525Scott Petterson / Chris PetersonKansas CitySC67430Duane Wesley / Lynne WesleyPorche ClubSC68215Doug Lau / David HicksHeartland MiataSC70817Kyle Rohde / Chelsea RohdeKansas CitySC72910Johnathan Wright / James WrightKansas CitySC89618Kent Crow / Khamin CrowGuestSC1070

Go West Road Rally Leg Scores

CarCrewLeg 1Leg 2Leg 3Leg 5Leg 6Total
1Ron Ferris / Bruce Gezon2532111969
2Jim Duea / Jack von Kaenel0728123077
3Deena Rowland / Chuck Hanson26131622481
4Lori Goetsch / Marty Courtois226601639143
6Adam Miller / Christina Miller1121973634199
13Roy Loyshire / Charlie Clark31230010371489
26Theresa Thau / Bee Thau251416030030529
14Paul Moylan / Tim Mahr7873007086550
8Darrel Stevenson / Anne Marie Bireta1259111330215
5Georgia Fink / Frank Fink8117443443219
7Devon Shipman / Jon Shipman851314736227
9Melissa Wiles / Scott Wiles53671143715286
11Justin Hansen / Chris Hansen45221763336312
12David Tung / Arcely Tung36461835419338
27Mark Maconbrie / Judy Macronbrie16362863040408
24Michael Kelly / Keyta Kelly126112236615441
19Julie Fennel / Travis Fennel132501034762475
16Jan Kiersey / Keith Kiersey8250205234499
20Hal Baumhardt / Dave Patton144015338300545
25Scott Petterson / Chris Peterson292203003824674
30Duane Wesley / Lynne Wesley271430041300682
15Doug Lau / David Hicks302513007156708
17Kyle Rohde / Chelsea Rohde112973005764729
10Johnathan Wright / James Wright1483003009256896
18Kent Crow / Khamin Crow300300300104661070
“… The formal definition of the principal road is the obvious continuation through an intersection of the road upon which you are traveling. At some intersections this principal road may be determined by pavement surface continuity, a curve warning sign, the center line on the pavement, or the placement of a stop sign or a yield sign. … ”
“… The formal definition of the principal road is the obvious continuation through an
intersection of the road upon which you are traveling. At some intersections this principal road
may be determined by pavement surface continuity, a curve warning sign, the center line on the
pavement, or the placement of a stop sign or a yield sign. … ”
Old and New. MGB/GT to Miatas at the start.
Old and New. MGB/GT to Miatas at the start.
Kansas River Run Rally
Sunday’s event was about a week past the peak of fall color (Photo: Anne Marie Bireta)
Sunday’s event was about a week past the peak of fall color (Photo: Anne Marie Bireta)

On Sunday 11 rally teams returned for the Kansas River Run Rally. This event featured an all new route on good quality, unpaved roads. The route generally went west from Lawrence on the south side of the river to Topeka and returned to Lawrence on the north side of the river ending at the original Johnny’s Tavern in north Lawrence on the river. The rally route was rarely more than 3 miles from the Kansas River.

Sunday’s route went through Tecumseh, Kansas. Observe Chief Tecumseh.
Sunday’s route went through Tecumseh, Kansas. Observe Chief Tecumseh.

Sunday’s Winners

  • Congratulations to Ron Ferris, St Louis Region SCCA, and Bruce Gezon, Steel Cities Region SCCA, for winning First Overall, first in the SCCA Equipped class, and first Expert class.
  • Congratulations to Theresa Thao and Bee Thao for winning the Experienced class.
  • Congratulations to Lori Goetsch / Martin Courtois (red Mini), Kansas SCCA members from Manhattan, Kansas for winning the SCCA Limited class.
  • Congratulations to Travis Heckes / Mike Jecklin, for winning the Beginners’ Class.
RiverRun-3
Curvy Road next 1.5 miles means Checkpoint 3 is 1.4 miles ahead. (Photo: Anne Marie Bireta).
Curvy Road next 1.5 miles means Checkpoint 3 is 1.4 miles ahead.
(Photo: Anne Marie Bireta).

Kansas River Run Road Rally Leg Scores

CarCrewRegionSCCA
Class
MiDiv
Class
Leg 1Leg 2Leg 3Leg 4Leg 5Leg 6Total
1Ron Ferris / Bruce GezonPhilly / STLEA52230012
3Derrick Carpenter / Charles HansonKansas / IndyEA451311428
2Jim Duea / Jack von KaenelOk / DetroitEA037111931
11Theresa Thao / Bee ThaoCal ClubSB32210362073
4Lori Goetsch / Marty CourtoisKansasLB291518110021256
8Travis Heckes / Mike JecklinGuestSC3242052164
9Mark Maconbrie / Judy MacronbrieKansas CitySC171541442579
6Devon Shipman / Anne Marie BiretaGuestSC30126342984
5Dan McConnel / Deena HinesKansas CitySC3301647236134
10Deb Mitchell / Alec MitchellKansas CitySC3829571147164
7David Tung / Arcely TungKansas CitySC3412222113859286
For the second year in a row, glass trophies from Prize Possessions were given out as awards. (Photo: Devon Shipman)
For the second year in a row, glass trophies from Prize Possessions were given out as awards.
(Photo: Devon Shipman)

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 2013 Rally Weekend.

Roses:

  1. The turnout. 25 Saturday and 11 cars Sunday is a great turnout. I had to turn away entries for Saturday as 25 is the practical limit for the restaurant. Next year when we end
    in Weston the entry will be limited to 20 cars. Dan McConnell did another excellent job on getting the word out about this weekend.
  2. The Kansas City SCCA turnout. For a club whose interest is primarily autocross and club racing, it was gratifying to see 12 cars turnout from the KC Region.
  3. The Miata Club. I think that if rallying is going to grow in this area, its participation is going to come from the participation of clubs like the Heartland Miata Club, whose members are looking for some fun roads on which to drive their cars, with some sporting competition and post-event socializing thrown in for good measure.

Thorns:

  1. Mileage measurement. Although I used my Timewise electronic odometer (which worked flawlessly this past summer) it malfunctioned when measuring these events leading to a disappointing level of accuracy for the top crews.
  2. Saturday scoring. Scoring took longer than I would have liked. I was unable to get a head start on scoring while the event was in progress.
  3. Saturday registration. A last minute cancellation by a checkpoint crew threw registration into more chaos than usual. While I had to reassign checkpoint crews and decide which leg to discard, Deena Rowland valiantly handled registration by herself.

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 2014. 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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