Well, day one is over. We did quite well, scaring many of the Open cars with high hopes. We finished on the podium with 3rd overall, 1st 2WD and 1st Gp2. Our experience on the extraordinarily rough stages at LSPR had a lot to do with our winning today. What we learned about the car and driving despite ridiculous potholes was applied to the rough taholah stage today. Only a rub of a chicane marker or a couple missed notes or a couple driver errors kept us from 2nd. 1st was about 40 seconds beyond our reach. However, a brush with a log on the first stage left our rear beam bent and the passenger rear wheel an inch or more towards the middle of the car than it should be. A bit of careful sledghammer application by the trusty crew of Rob, Gus, and Chuck left the car operational enough to do well on the last two stages.

Though day one went well, competitors really come to DooWops for day 2. As such, the boys are out at Gene McCullough’s shop in Elma, WA replacing the rear beam that we bent on the first stage. Otherwise, the car is running well and should put down some good times tomorrow if things keep going this well. Look for an update sometime soon!