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11 March 2000 - For immediate release
For more information, contact: John Dillon
Widget Rally Team
P. O. Box 1231
Thousand Oaks, CA 91358-0231
Phone: 805.906.7797
Widget web site: www.WidgetRacing.com
e-mail: John @ WidgetRacing.com

Widget Co-Driver Joins Sierra Rally Team for Full 2000 Season

John Dillon of Thousand Oaks, California, a co-driver for the Widget International Rally Team, joins Mark Nelson of Reno, Nevada as part of the newly-formed Sierra Motorsport Team. The pair plans to race for the Group N championship in the SCCA ProRally Championship series. Their car, a right-hand drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV, was race-prepared by Ralliart in New Zealand and will be serviced in the U.S. by Murray Thomas (for the eastern events) and Guy Light (for the western races). Both crew chiefs are highly respected mechanics, and Guy Light built the 1999 championship Production-class car (a VW New Beetle) for Karle Scheible.

"I'm excited about the opportunity to race with Mark," said Dillon. "It's always a pleasure to race with a well-organized team, especially one with a powerful mount like the Evo IV." Nelson added, "I've taken a brief hiatus from driving so it's good to have an experienced navigator like John riding in the passenger seat. With his expertise with the route book I can focus on my driving; I don't have to worry about the route book or the course ahead."

Nelson has a long history of rally success, beginning in xxxx with the xxxx rally. Dillon, whose rally experience dates back to 1995 with the East of Indio race, finished second in the PGT co-driver championship in 1999, his rookie year of National competition. At the Prescott Forest Rally last October, Dillon and driver Mark Tabor were awarded the inaugural Carl Merrill Sportsmanship Award for their positive attitude and support of the volunteers who made the event possible.

The team expects to be successful in part because of their JRZ suspension components and the sure grip and strength of Pirelli tires. "I've used Pirellis on my street cars for years," praised the navigator. "They have incredible grip in all kinds of conditions." Any co-driver will tell you they hate to change tires on a stage. "I'm looking forward to the predictable reliability in our Pirelli rally tires." The consistent performance of brakes from Porterfield Enterprises adds stopping power to the high-performance race car. Because the team members are spread across the U.S., electronic collaboration offered by Shults Dot Com (a web and internet services agency) is indispensable in preparing for upcoming events. "Shults provides not only web sites and e-mail connectivity," noted Dillon, "but allows us to centrally manage the logistics of a national effort through the use of web technologies."

In additional to competing as a rallyist, Dillon serves on the California Sports Car Club's Board of Governors and is an active volunteer safety worker for local club races at Buttonwillow Raceway Park and other venues. He is also the SCCA Southern Pacific Division's ClubRally steward. When not behind the wheel, Mark Nelson has served the club as an event organizer and volunteer checkpoint worker.

The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a club of over 50,000 members involved in many facets of motorsports. For more information regarding the SCCA, check out http://www.scca.org. For information about the California Rally Series, visit http://www.californiarallyseries.com.

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