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21 October 2002 - 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

Suddard/Dillon Team Successfully Completes Lake Superior Rally

Team Overcomes Mechanical Woes at LSPR

Houghton, MI. Despite suspension problems and adverse weather at the Lake Superior Pro Rally (LSPR) in Houghton, MI, Lesley Suddard (Wilmington, DE) and John Dillon (Thousand Oaks, CA) managed to finish the final rally in the 2002 SCCA ProRally national championship series. In this, their first race together, the team finished fifth in class despite struggling with severe handling problems due to bushing failure in the rear trailing arms of their Ford Focus.

"We set four goals before starting the event," reported Dillon. "We planned to be safe, have fun, finish the rally, and go fast. We accomplished the first three. Only the mechanical problems kept us from satisfying number four as well. Still, we're happy with the result."

Suddard, a former ClubRally Runoffs champion and Canadian Novice champion, added "At first we didn't recognize we had suspension issues because of the terrible road conditions. Snow and rain transformed the dirt roads of the upper peninsula into quagmires of mud and slop. With only 105 horsepower and two wheel drive, we thought it was the racing surface that kept the car dancing down the stages."

On the second day of the event and under drying conditions, it became apparent to the team that the rear end wouldn't hold its alignment. "We were driving down the highway en route to the first stage when the back end suddenly twitched left," observed Dillon. "Then we knew we had a real problem." Suddard demonstrated her years of experience by adjusting to the wicked handling of the car long enough to get into the service area near Copper Harbor. At that point the crew lept into action. A limited time window kept Lee McElhinny Sr and Jr and Matt Andrzejak from replacing the trailing arm, but they worked hard to realign the rear end and repair the bushings as best they could. "Those guys really hustled when we needed 'em," reported the driver. "We wouldn't have finished this rally without them."

Although the team didn't finish as high as they'd hoped, they are still satisfied with the results. Thanks to their finish Suddard completed the season in fourth place in the national Production championship. More importantly, it gave the driver valuable experience with "stage notes," a new-for-the-U.S. method of describing the route the racers use. "This was only my second full rally with notes," she said, "while John has a lot more notes experience. Thanks to his steady tone and timely pacing, I learned quite a bit. I'm still slower with notes than with the old 'tulip' diagrams, but this weekend gave me a lot more confidence using them."

The Lake Superior ProRally is the last event on the SCCA ProRally calendar but Dillon has two more races scheduled with his regular partner Leon Styles: the Prescott Forest Rally in Arizona and the Ramada Express International Rally, headquartered in Laughlin, Nevada. If the suspension problem can be solved, Suddard plans to compete in one more Canadian event, the Rally of the Tall Pines in November, where she expects to wrap up a second place finish in the Production Class of the North American Rally Championship.

Suddard's car is a Ford Focus sponsored by Expansions Inc, Shelby East and Artwerkx. The Widget Team is sponsored by Tombstone Paintball Park, Sampson Racing Communications, Porterfield Enterprises, and Shults Dot Com.

For more information contact John Dillon at John @ WidgetRacing.com or visit www.WidgetRacing.com.

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