27 February 2002 For immediate release
For more information, contact: John Dillon
Creativity in Action
P. O. Box 1231
Thousand Oaks, CA 91358-0231
web site: www.WidgetRacing.com
e-mail: John @ WidgetRacing.com

"Back in the old days," the old timers would tell us, "we use to race all around them Missouri hills. Everybody loved us. Brother, I tell ya, back in the old days we'd go to places like Salem and Ellington and be welcomed with open arms. Those were the good old days, friend, way back in the '70s at a rally called 100 Acre Wood. Brother, you would have loved it, I promise you that."

After a brief hiatus of about 20 years, the 100 Acre Wood rally returned to the SCCA calendar. Hairstyles and hairlines, body styles and fuel delivery systems have all changed a lot in twenty years, but the warmth of the communities and the welcome reception the competitors received hasn't changed a bit.

This one day rally, held on 23 February 2002 and heaquartered in Salem, Missouri, featured 54 entries in six classes including the first real field of Historic rally cars. The dinner service break took place in Ellington. The entire town opened up for the racers, offering great hospitality for officials, competitors, and crew alike.

Additionally, this event was actually two rallies in one. A coefficient 3 ClubRally in its own right, chief organizer Kim DeMotte also invited the SCCA to use 100 Acre Wood as the venue for the 2001 ClubRally National Championship ("CRNC," also called "the shootout"). Rallyists traveled from every SCCA division to challenge for the title "National SCCA ClubRally champion."

The Irish Rally Federation based in the New York area occupied the bulk of the starting and finishing positions both. Tom Lawless with co-driver Shane Mitchell finished at the top of the podium, claiming the lion's share of the prize money, a thousand dollars. John Drislane and Ronan Burke crossed the final timing line in second place overall, about a minute and a half in arrears. Additionally Drislane claimed the ClubRally National Championship for the Open class. Lawless praised the organizers and the local community for putting on an outstanding, challenging event, remarking that "these roads were wicked fast. They were slippy in spots so you had to stay on your mark the whole time."

Patrick Farrell and Bob Kelly filled out the podium, while Patrick Lilly and Aidan Denby took home fourth place overall. Paul Dunn enlisted the aid of Dave Weiman for his odometer work in Dunn's new Evo, prepared by TAD Motorsport. The combination slotted them fifth in the overall standings.

Just outside the top five rested the next three ClubRally national champions and event class winners. Mike Hurst (with codriver Rob Bohn) drove his Mustang to the Group 5 win, only five seconds behind Dunn. Meanwhile Mark Utecht held off the Group 2 winners Randy Bailey and Will Perry by only one second. Utecht's victory came with Jeff Secor working the Terratrip. Secor struggled with a bout of food poisoning just prior to the start. "I have never been sick before at a rally so this came as a bit of a shock" said Secor. Utecht praised his co-driver, saying "I know I would not want to continue after getting sick but after that, he did as good a job as ever".

"Mad Mike" Halley struggled with his VW "Stud Bug" for much of 2001, but his podium finish at LSPR last October helped secure him an invitation to the shootout. Once again he partnered with Widget Rally Team codriver John Dillon and once again the Volkswagen proved rock solid. The Stud Bug's reliability helped Halley earn the Production class national ClubRally championship in addition to the class win for the event. "We had a pretty smooth run," said Halley. "The one error I made was right in front of the Ellington fans, naturally," he laughed. "I went a little bit wide at the bridge and got off into the weeds. At first I thought we were stuck on a rock, but finally I just jammed it into first and drove forward and across the bridge." The crowd roared its approval. Afterwards he reported, "Man, I've never signed so many autographs in all my life!" Despite the popularity with the fans, this may be his last rally until August unless additional sponsors can be found.

Phil and Dallas Smith won the Historic class in an MG, over a minute ahead of Richard Byford and Fran Olson's BMW 2002. "These roads are quite fast," noted Byford. "It would be really easy to get caught out and get into big trouble here." Byford and Olson hail from southern California. Third in Historic, Keith Wheeler and Lang Kirshberger, used to live in SoCal but have returned to Arkansas, dragging their MG with them. "This may be my last rally for a while," reports Wheeler. "My engineering studies are going to have to take center stage for now."

Aiden and Enda McCormack debuted a new Lancer Evolution and finished in the top ten, just ahead of tenth place finishers Robert Nielsen and Doug Dill. Nielsen, second in Group 2, demonstrated to everyone that even little 2WD cars can storm up a stage road with great haste if the right foot is properly applied. By the way, Nielsen and Dill held off the Group 5 entry of Niall Donnelly and Eoin Geough by just one second at the end. Other close battles included the Open war between Randy Zimmer/Russell Strate, Jr and Gerard Coffey/Paul Donnelly, again just one second apart, and the three way battle between Drew Goldsmith/Rick Burtis (Open), Robert Cutler/John Atsma (Group 5), and Mark and Duffy Bowers (Group 5). The first two were absolutely tied at 57:19, with the Bowers car finishing a single second behind them.

Not all Group 2 cars fared so well, however. JB Niday and Al Kintigh "met with forest products" on the fifth stage. Reports Kintigh, "we had too much rear bias in our new braking system on the first couple of stages." The crew affected repairs in service, and their VW proved quick on the fourth stage. (As a side note, the third stage was converted to a transit stage because of logistical problems.) Kintigh continues, "Three miles into stage 5 we came across a tightening left hander. The back end kicked out just as the corner tightened and brought the car into the ditch on the driver's side." Their car traveled about ten feet through the ditch and was then aiming back towards the proper road. He adds, "The earthly remains of a tree [stump] in the path back onto the road decided to stop the car and have a little meeting. Needless to say that the former tree didn't realize its own strength and stopped the car a bit quickly and with entirely too much force." Though the left front fender wrapped itself completely around the wheel, the engine itself continued to run--it just couldn't move the car, and their day was done.

Front-runner Tim Patterson selected John Allen as his new codriver for the 2002 season after Scott "Ferg" Ferguson retired at the end of last year. 100 Acre Wood was their first rally together. The sole competitors from the Northern Pacific Division (they both live in Seattle), the two started the rally first on the road in another TAD-prepared Evo. The team ran strong until the spectator stage in Ellington. Crossing the bridge just before the finish line somehow damaged the suspension and ripped out a ball joint. Others with mechanical problems included Scott Leonard and Bill Montgomery, whose PGT Eclipse lost the clutch, and last-minute entrant Brian Ackerman in an overheating Group 5 Eclipse.

The most serious event of the day occurred when J.B. Whorton and Matt Deye's PGT Mazda 323 GTX smashed into a tree on Stage 10. The two were airlifted to a nearby hospital (they have since been released), but properly applied safety procedures naturally invite delays. As the night drew long, the organizers and stewards conferred. In order to return the checkpoint workers and rally teams back to Salem before dawn, the organizers wisely decided to cancel the last two stages.

The rally concluded with the awards party at the Eagles lodge. Good food and bench racing was mixed with concerns about Whorton and Deye's status. When the scores were finally tabulated, the winners were recognized with Winnie the Pooh bears. Each bear's red shirt was embroidered with the finishing position and class and the 100 Acre Wood logo, a unique trophy for a unique event.

People are already planning on racing at next year's 100 Acre Wood Rally. Even now you can probably hear the old-timers jawin'. "Man, I remember the good old days back in '02. You shoulda been there. It was a great rally, I tell you what."

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