Whatever meaning you give to the word "drift", as in "Northwoods Drift", the one meaning it didn't take on February 21st was "snowbank". There were few drifts to be found during this, the third event in the ASCC Winter Rally Series, thanks to the unseasonably warm weather this year. Imagine the temperature hitting +40F in February!
Despite the nice weather, seven teams turned up, but the PRO Rally Omni of Mark Utecht and Paul Schwerin ran into problems when they took it off the trailer so they did not start. The rallyists left downtown Duluth at 2:00 pm, taking Skyline Parkway south to Fond du Lac and crossing the border into Wisconsin. The route circled back to Duluth over the famous Oliver Bridge, there was a short break at Spirit Mountain, and then north to Twig and Fredenberg. The way turned south again, returning to Duluth and finishing on Skyline where it had begun.
Steve Irwin and Phil Schmidt had the rally in the bag, finishing with a total score of three points.
The only Class B team, Paul Moormann and Suzanne Wooten, used their winter rally experience to collect only 13 points and second overall honors, beating out the second Class A team of Starr and Starr by a healthy margin.
Local rally celebs Tim Winker and Diane Sargent took the Class C win, ahead of Al "Maat" Taylor and Paul "Why did I let Al bring his computer?" Rosholt. The other local team, Bill Taylor and Mike McConnell, were tied for first in class at the midpoint, but a computation error coupled with one or two off-course excursions caused them to re-think their strategy and head straight to the endpoint, two controls shy of actually completing the rally.
Thanks go to the people at Deluxe Coney Island, our starting point (where they put Fun in a Bun), and to Sammy's Pizza Downtown, the endpoint (where they put Fun on a crust, I guess). Thanks also go to the Workers, Randy Jokela and Mark Strohm; they're always there to help me out, and I appreciate it.
Thanks also to the out-of-town competitors; it's gratifying that you folks are interested enough to travel some distance to participate. Mr. Schmidt came all the way from Madison!
And I should also thank the local competitors. We are the source of these events in our area, and actually showing up to participate is what our club is about.
The ASCC's Winter Rally Series is alive and well and will be back next year, snow or no snow. Actually, I could get used to this kind of weather. Who says Global Warming is a bad idea?
Official Results 1 1-A Steve Irwin Phil Schmidt Subaru Impreza 3 2 1-B Paul Moorman Suzanne Wooten Audi Quattro 13 3 2-A Gary Starr Karen Starr Honda CRX 57 3 1-C Tim Winker Diane Sargent Saab 900T 118 5 2-C Al Taylor Paul Rosholt VW Fox Sedan 190 6 3-C Bill Taylor Mike McConnell VW Fox Wagon 289
'98 ASCC Winter Rally Series Final Standings