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!

We leave tomorrow for the short drive to the headquarters for the Doo Wop Rally Series. Though Saturday has been shortened to just one stage, we are thoroughly looking forward to getting the car back out there. As I type, the car is going through some final testing and tuning and I’m putting off making the final itineraries for service, car, and press people.

Our goal is to have fun out there. Apart from that, we aim to survive Saturday and go all out on Sunday. We’re currently starting at the head of the Gp2 pack and are looking forward to some stiff competition for overall 2WD win. John Lane/Ray Damitio in the fire-breathing Volvo are the current favorites for that title, but we’ll do our best with what we’re given. We also have to hold off threats from Dash/Taylor, Barnes/Crawford, Decker/Craig, C. Crane/TBA, A. Crane/Nielsen, and Brown/West, any of which could contend for the top 2WD title this weekend as well. It will be a tough battle, to say the least. There will definitely be some stories to tell from this one! Keep checking back for updates throughout the weekend if we have internet access.

See you on the stages!