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Summer Madness

Day Job Interference; The Navigator is a Dirty Whore; Banished to the Land of Favre and On/Off Sale...

Jim "eases" the Datsun to the finish at Gravity Park

The Rally America national championship wrapped up in Maine last weekend, but the real men and women of the Great Lakes Rally Championship have just crossed the halfway point of our season.

On Memorial Day Weekend the championship made a brief swing through Wisconsin for fireworks, cheap beer and the Gravity Park Rally. The rough conditions here made local knowledge a premium, but the course took its toll on Wisconsin's finest, Jim Scray was forced to limp the Datsun home to 2^nd place with a punctured radiator in the first leg, withdrawing from the second. A tough way to celebrate our best result to date. De Pere based Erik Hill fared no better in his Eagle Talon, ending his day early with a snapped axle.

From there real life intervened and kept the Gravel-Spec team from returning to Minnesota for Nemadji Trail II, but navigator and back-stabbing shyster Colin Vickman landed a ride in Chad Eixenberger's Velveeta Special for the race and swept the 2WD class and squeaked out his first overall win. Read the race report here.

Chad Eixenberger and some asshole take two wins at Nemadji Trail II

Meanwhile, the rest Gravel-Spec crew has finished up enough side jobs to fund the rest of the season, and we're ready to return for the third running of the Duquette stages this weekend at Nemadji Trail III. With a few tweaks to the engine and new tires to test for the Lake Superior Performance Rally in October, Colin likes the team's chances this weekend. “[This season] we've gained more confidence in the car, pushing faster and taking more chances at every rally. Now its time to kick it up to eleven and put up a win or crash out.”

After 10 rallies Gravel-Spec Rallysport is backing up more of smack we talk than usual, Jim Scray is sitting on 7^th place in the Group 2 drivers points, and Colin Vickman is in a three way battle for third place in the navigators points, and sits in 7^th overall in the Great Lakes Rally Championship. In the first half of the season, the team has only failed to finish off of the podium once.

With 8 races to go Chris Greenhouse holds a commanding lead on the Group 2 driver's championship, but a late charge by Matt “Rocketman” Bushore could spoil his dreams of his umpteenth consecutive G2 championship. The navigator's championship is still wide open, anyone in the top 5 is within striking distance. Colin is a dark horse, but if he gets a win streak started this weekend he could come out on top.

So what's next? Sadly, the cash just isn't there to run the most exciting car in rallying at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in three weeks time, but plans are in the works for Gravel-Spec to field the “B-Team” (Hollywood Martin's Mitsubishi Evo) to gun for an overall win. At the moment the team will neither confirm or deny rumors of a three car effort at LSPR.

Fans can follow Gravel-Spec Rallysport's shenanigans on Facebook or via live updates on Twitter @ gspec510, available where the Gods of Verizon have blessed the northwoods with cell service.

Congratulations to Antoine and Nathalie for breaking Subaru's stranglehold on the national championship and good luck to our friends at the XGames!

Rally America's Great Lakes Rally Championship

Nemadji Trail III A & B – July 31

Ojibwe Forests Rally – August 20 – 21

Regional Rally Championship @ Lake Superior – October 15 - 16

All Photos by Jerry Winker

Eixenberger and Himes trade top honors at Nemadji Trail, Gravel-Spec on the Podium Again

"The road looks good. The car feels good. I like my chances." - Robo-Colin

The Gravel-Spec Rally Sport team drove through a freaking May snowstorm to descend upon the sleepy hamlet of Duquette Minnesota with the Midwest's top Group 2 teams for rounds 5 and 6 of Rally America's Central Regional Rally Championship. The nine G2 teams starting the rally included seasoned veterans and newcomers to the sport, making up over three quarters of the field. Four stages today are held on a section of the Nemadji Truck Trail which snakes its way 8.6 miles deep into the state forest. The stages are run in a twin-sprint format, where each pass out and back is scored as a separate race with a brief service break between each rally.

Overnight snow made for slick conditions for Nemadji 1A - the first run through the stages. Chad Eixenberger and Chris Gordon in their GTI held a 15 second lead over Matt and Silas Himes' Honda after stage 1. Jim Scray and Colin Vickman were lurking in third place less than five seconds behind in their Datsun 510. Workers scrambled as smoke poured from the Datsun's fresh header wrap at the finish control. Jim's only comment on the incident was "We don't worry about that." Despite a rear brake failure late in the first stage, Eixenberger held on to take top honors in G2, second place overall. Matt Himes couldn't make up any time on Eixenberger's water-cooled Westmoreland era wiring nightmare, but stayed ahead of the charging Datsun to keep second place.

Waiting to start the second leg

After a 30 minute service at the Duquette General Store, the cars headed back to the forest for a second sprint through the stages. Silas Himes took over driving duties in the Team 535 Honda Civic for Nemadji 1B and held an 8 second lead over Eixenberger and Gordon's VW after stage 1. With badly worn tires Jim Scray slipped to fourth place less than a second behind Mark and John Huebbe's historic class Beetle. On the final stage Silas Himes pressed on with a blown head gasket to set the fastest stage time of the day and take 1^st place in G2, second place overall. Chad Eixenberger drove to a solid second place 18 seconds behind. Taking advantage of the drying conditions Mark Huebbe pulled away from Jim Scray to take third place in the Ass-Engined Nazi-Mobile.

Derek McCorison and Paul Johansen took the top rookie honors in their V6 powered Hyundai Tiburon, finishing 5^th in G2, 8^th overall.

The results today move Mark Huebbe into third place in the driver's points championship, but don't change much at the top as Chris Greenhouse maintains his lead. Andrew Bushore stays on top in the navigator's championship but John Huebbe and Christopher Gordon move into second and third in the points chase. We had a smooth and solid run to put points on the board in our first rally of the season. At every rally you learn something, this time it was that some tires are more equal than others.

The Central Region Rally Championship continues on Memorial Day weekend with rounds 7 and 8 at the Gravity Park Rally, another twin-sprint rally outside of Chilton Wisconsin.

Gravel-Spec Rallysport gets Powered Up

Jim Scray and Colin Vickman are proud to welcome Power Up Lubricants and MCS Distribution to the Gravel-Spec team. The regional Group 2 team announced the new partnership with the Wisconsin based distributor today at their season launch party today at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Car Show.

Driver Jim Scray commented, “We're excited about our new sponsor and looking forward to a great relationship with a local company that can benefit from the exposure we provide in the Upper Midwest.” Gravel-Spec Rallysport is continuing discussions with their partners while seeking additional funding for the 2010 season and beyond.

The Central Region hosts the toughest 2WD field in the country, with ¾ of the field stacked with G2 cars at next week's Nemadji Trail Rally the action looks to get even hotter. Jim Scray made a splash on the regional circuit last year in his Datsun 510, driving to a top ten finish in the Group 2 points in his debut season. The combination of the 510's classic style and modern power made the Gravel-Spec crew an instant favorite with fans across the Midwest. Fans can follow the team's progress this season on Facebook and live from rallies on Twitter.

Gravel-Spec Rallysport also welcomes back Green Bay based Source One Security as their primary sponsor for the 2010 season.

About Power Up Lubricants: The entire Power Up product line of oil fortifiers, greases and fuel treatments have been engineered to reduce energy consumption and provide uninterrupted equipment operation through better lubrication. Power Up's products are available in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan thanks to MCS Distribution. Visit www.powerupmcs.com for more information on the NNL-690-G universal oil fortifier, Thixogrease and other Power Up products.

2010 Season Preview

It all starts here.

Spanning eleven months and nearly 2000 miles, the Central Region Rally Championship is the longest and toughest rally series in the US. Its also the last series where two wheel drive cars flourish.

In 2009, the Central Region Championship played host to over 100 drivers and navigators battling the elements and their sanity at 120 miles per hour on (and off) gravel back roads from Michigan to Texas. In our debut season Gravel-Spec Rallysport became a fan favorite thanks to rookie driver Jim Scray's sideways driving style, a classic car with a killer paint job, and the reckless behavior of the crew. Despite racing in only 5 of 15 events, Jim was able to secure 9^th place in the G2 class championship thanks to a pair of critical podium finishes. Sophomore navigator Colin Vickman raced in 7 rallies in his busiest season to date, securing 4^th place in the G2 co-drivers championship. Our meteoric rise to cult stardom in 2009 came at the cost of three engines, 20 tires, two alternators, countless hours of sleep and one vintage 1972 Nixon campaign sticker.

Where do we go from here?

2010 looks to be even better, with reliability woes behind us and a quickly developing driver. However times are tough, the recession has left its mark on the rally scene, the Central Region championship has lost a pair of events for the time being, and National Championship status for all events after X Games. Despite being forced into running a reduced rally campaign, we're planning to diversify our motorsports efforts, making the season ahead the brightest yet.

Go and do likewise gents, Victory is out there lying on the roads. Pick them up and they're yours – if you don't, then I have no sympathy for you.

Go and do likewise.

2010 Events

Lake Winnebago Ice Racing – January – February

100 Acre Wood Rally – Not without sponsor support!

WAG Rallycross – March - November

Snow States Rally Cup

Gravity Park Rally – May 29 2010

Nemadji Trail Rallies – May – July 2010

New England Forest Rally – July 16 – 17 2010

Milwaukee Mile Time Attack

Duryea Hillclimb – August 21 – 23

Ottawa Rally

Keweenaw Challenge Rally

Rally Paris

LSPR 2009

Houghton Michigan was the scene for the Ottawa Forests and Keewenaw Challenge Rallies, the final races for Gravel-spec Motorsports in the Central Regional Championship.

The stage was set for an epic Group 2 battle, the drivers title was up for grabs, navigators were left fighting for the scraps Jay Luikart left for us.

Jim Scray powers through a water crossing on Stage 3

Starting dead freaking last, the party in the back didn't last long. The engine swap turned the Datsun into a rocket propelled lawn dart, catching 2 cars in the opening stages. A reseed at the first service pushed us up to the middle of the field for the rest of the rally. The Kenton stages were good to us, even with 2 offs on Passmore we were still around to take advantage of Matt “Major Tom” Bushore's failed attempt to reach low orbit in his VW Jetta, leaving him twenty feet up a bank, 30 yards deep in the bush.



Leaving Kenton for the final two stages near L'anse we had a hold on 9th place overall, behind the Dodge Neon of Chris Greenhouse and the VW Golf of Paul Koll. In the cruise to the finish the top 3 in G2 held position, new dad Chad Eixenberger would pull ahead of Wiggan, rocketing back through the field after suffering an early tire puncture. Greenhouse captures the G2 championhship with today's beatdown.

G2 Results – Ottawa Forests Rally

1. Chris Greenhouse / Don Derose - 1:36:31.0 - 4th overall
2. Paul Koll / Tim Knorr - 1:37:54.7 - 6th overall
3. Jim Scray / Colin Vickman - 1:39:43.3 - 9th overall
4. Chad Eixenberger / Chris Gordon - 1:42:00.5 - 11th overall
5. Gary Wiggan / Kim Demotte - 1:42:14.8 - 12th overall
6. Bill Caswell / Elliot Sherwood - 1:42:21.6 - 13th overall
7. Matti Himes / Silas Himes - DNF – Stage 5
8. Matt Bushore / Andrew Bushore - DNF – Stage 5, 2nd stage failed to ignite
9. Erik Hill / Mike Yarroch - DNF – Stage 2, Mechanical

Feeling the Mountain Air...

Saturday's Keweenaw Challenge is a completely different animal, the stages are short and extremely rough. Friday is all about choosing your place to push, to win on Saturday you need to drive angry from the start, sacrifice the car, and be crazier than anyone in front of you. Stages today include three runs down Delaware Rd featuring “The Delta”, the most famous spectator point in American Rally, there are hundreds of ways to drive through The Delta, and they are all wrong. Today's stages also feature two runs up Brockway Mountain Drive, the fastest tarmac stage in the championship, with no less than 7 jumps in excess of 90 mph.

The 510 at the bottom of the Delta

Overnight Silas Himes hijacked driving duties in his brother Matti's blacked out Honda Civic, and amazingly Major Tom's Jetta 13 command module was recovered and repaired. Mike Hurst and Rob Bohn dusted off their 75 Ford Capri Cosworth for Saturday, wise to avoid yesterday's carnage.

After the first three stages we were 7th place, ahead of the other rookies but struggling to keep up with the pack led by Silas Himes. After a quick service, we ran Brockway Mountain and didn't die, found a new wrong way to drive around the Delta, and passed up Hurst's Capri in the ditch on Burma Rd.

Three point landing on Brockway

At the last service Curt Scray and Dave Hanna scrambled to replace and axle and carrier bearing and we were on our way to take off another 20 seconds on the second run up Brockway Mountain and a third run through Delaware, where we found the rightest way yet to run the Delta. After a clean drive we finished in 6th place, the Datsun proved it had the strength to tackle everything the Keweenaw can throw at it, and we can be deranged enough to push it.

G2 Results – Keweenaw Challenge

1. Silas Himes / Matti Himes - 32:15.5 - 5th overall
2. Chad Eixenberger / Chris Gordon - 32:37.2 - 6th overall
3. Matt Bushore / Andrew Bushore - 32:48.5 - 8th overall
4. Chris Greenhouse / Don Derose - 32:55.8 - 9th overall
5. Paul Koll / Tim Knorr - 33:19.1 - 11th overall
6. Jim Scray / Colin Vickman - 34:23.5 - 14th overall
7. Bill Caswell / Elliot Sherwood - 35:54.7 - 17th overall
9. Gary Wiggan / Kim Demotte - 36:22.4 - 18th overall
10 . Mike Hurst / Rob Bohn - 1:02:05.5 - 20th overall
11. Erik Hill / Mike Yarroch - DNF – Stage 4, Mechanical

This weekend's podium finish moves Gravel-Spec driver Jim Scray to 6th in the driver's standings, navigator Colin Vickman loses out the battle with Tim Knorr and slips to 3rd place in the standings.

This closes out the 2009 rally season for Gravel-Spec Motorsports, the team would like to thank our fans and families for a great year! Thanks again to this year's sponsors, Source One Security, Authentic Exhaust, and Fastenal.

This year's action isn't done yet!
Nov. 15th Gravity Park Rallycross, Chilton WI - “Rumble in the Park” Gravel-Spec Group A Challenge
Nov. 28th – Rally Paris, Roxton TX – Final event in the regional championship – Colin is jonesing for a seat.
Jan. 2010 – Lake Winnebago Ice Racing, Vinland WI - “War off the Shore” Gravel-Spec Group A Challenge

LSPR 2009 Pre-Rally Report - "Party in the Back" Edition

Houghton Michigan, where men are men...and some of the women are men. The Lake Superior Performance Rally is billed as the oldest toughest and meanest event in the series, the rally hasn't even started and its already the toughest yet. The Gravel-Spec team nearly repeated last year's non-appearance after blowing our third engine in testing two weekends ago due to another machining error. Turns out our engine builder knows as much about his trade as we do. However a quick transplant of a big-bore Nissan 240SX powerplant (meant for off-season activity) kept us in the game.



The team and car will be at Parc Expose by 1:00PM, starting 39th, aka dead freaking last on the road. With a finish today, Gravel-Spec driver Jim Scray will move into 10th place in the Central Region Group 2 championship. Colin Vickman is in the thick of a battle in the Regional Group 2 Co-driver's Championship, with only Tim Knorr present at this rally, solid finishes on Friday and Saturday will clinch 2nd place for Gravel-Spec's navigator.