Tess & I would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes on the completion of our first Rally event. There are many people who deserve our deepest thanks for making this project so successful. First and foremost are Jude and Jennifer. Their tireless efforts and many sleepless nights are the only reason we finished. After it’s initial engine failure (my fault for not installing a new motor in the beginning), the Jeep performed flawlessly all weekend. Special thanks to Matt, Dan, Doug, Curt and the AFI mechanics, Ed and Dan W. for taking time out of their days to get the truck on the road. Finally, my personal thanks to Tess for agreeing to co-drive. Tess kept us on the road and on our minute all weekend long. It takes real guts to strap into the passenger seat with someone behind the wheel that has never driven a Rally car. Thanks for taking that leap of faith.
Having never been to a Performance Rally, I had no idea what to expect. What I found was one the best organized, most enjoyable racing experiences of my life. I can only compare it to the Runoffs or ARRC. It was at least as much fun as either. Many thanks and kudos to the organizers and volunteers who make the 100 AC Wood one of the finest events in the country.
On to the details.
The whole idea of running the 100 AC started when we tried to get Tess to give Road Racing a try. She said she wasn’t interested in that, but Performance Rally would be a different story. About 6 weeks prior to the race, we decided to build a vehicle and go. Jude informed Tess she would be co-driving. The conversation went like this:
Jude: We’re building a Rally car. You’re co-driving.
Tess: Ummm……ok!
The decision was then made to build a truck because it would be tough and a Jeep because they’re cool. We finished the build with about a week to spare.
We arrived at Salem with the race truck on one trailer and a complete Jeep Comanche parts truck on another. This turned out to be a wise move as the motor chucked a rod during the test stage complete with smoke and fire. Bummer. Jude took both trucks back to St. Clair to do an engine swap. Somehow he managed to con five friends into staying up until 4am to get it done. The truck returned to Salem running like a top with time to spare.
During that time, Tess and I attended the mandatory Novice School. Being the newbs that we were, we found the school to be informative and helpful.
We arrived at the Parc Expose nice and early, did a nut and bolt check and parked it in our starting position: 51st. DFL. After Thursday’s events, there probably wasn’t much faith in us among the powers that be. Two rooks in a recently blown up truck, who can blame them? We took the start, much to our delight and the delight of the ten remaining spectators (most of which were our friends).
From this point on, my recollection of the stages is pretty sketchy. There was so much coming at us at such a furious pace, there was little time to make mental notes of the details. I do remember catching one of the VW Golf’s in the first stage, which seemed like a pretty good thing. Other than that, it was a matter of making the most of the tulips and staying out of the trees, rocks, stumps, ditches, drop-offs, etc., etc. As we arrived at each stage, we typically received a warm welcome with a touch of surprise from the volunteers. The further into the event we went, the larger the surprise seemed to be. Jude and Jennifer got bored not having to work on the Jeep at the service areas, so they adopted the team of G. Pin and Jack Butler, two really nice guys from Florida in a Ford Escort.
By the final stage we were feeling pretty good about the possibility of bringing it home in one piece when I noticed the gas gauge. It was in the red and the needle was not moving anymore. It was the first full tank of gas that I had run through the truck. It seems that once it hits half full, the fuel level falls off fast. There were 5 miles to go in the special stage and a 16-mile transit. I told Tess that I was backing it down to conserve fuel and maybe we would make it home. The next 20 miles was the most excruciating drive of my life. After all that we had been through, running out of gas in the final transit stage would have been crushing. I ran the final transit barely breathing on the throttle, putting along at 40-45 mph, with my stomach in a knot. We crossed the finish line on fumes and proceeded to a very emotional, jubilant, victory lane. You would have thought we had won the Daytona 500 by the way we were carrying on. Truly a great moment. Provisional results showed us 4th in class, but when the final results were posted, we were moved to 5th. It seems that the team in the MX3 either had a road penalty reduced or it was an error to begin with. The reduction in the penalty gave them the slight edge.
We plan to run the truck again as soon as possible. It will probably remain in its current state until we move out of Seed 8. After that, we will either modify it and take advantage of the improvements that the rules allow us or look at a more modern car as a platform for a new build. I must admit that I am leaning toward improving the Jeep, it’s more fun than should be legal.
Jim Stevens
#492 G2 Jeep Comanche