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 2nd 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 7th 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 7th 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
