Author Archives: Joe Roche

Car 64 had a good day today. Our rookie navigator has come a long way in such a short weekend. He knew nothing on Friday. Seriously. I didn’t want to worry him, so I didn’t even show him what the instructions look like. I spent Friday morning training him, and Friday afternoon trying to peel him off the ceiling. By Saturday afternoon he really was getting the hang of it, and we were thrilled to find out we had the second best score of the day (before the worst leg got thrown out, then we were 4th). Of course, Sunday is for all the marbles and the pressure was on!

You don’t know how you are doing while you are rallying. You hope things are going well, but you have nothing to measure against. We were in the back of the field but had several good cars in front of us and behind us. We didn’t see anyone all day, except for glimpses of them on long straightaways from time to time. We thought we were doing well, and when the good cars left from the morning break almost exactly on our calculated time we felt like it really might be a good day.  Our scores for the first 2 legs were ACE and :06, then a pair of :02s. The 5th leg wasn’t anything special, we didn’t bobble (much), but we had a :21. Devastating because your score on Sunday is your score – nothing can be thrown out.  Worst leg of the weekend and it is the last one on Sunday…

We still finished 3rd on PRO. Our :22 for Stage 1 (:16 after the worst leg was tossed) made our weekend total :47. decent for a part timer like me and a fresh out of the package rookie in the navigator seat. We beat some really good teams. And most importantly, Vern might be willing to practice a bit for the next go-round.

Also, the GTO looked great, and even better with 2 ACE decals!

Congrats to all the winners:

Champion Division: Doug & Dana Sharp (1), Hudson, Hudson and Hudson (60) and the Deerings in car 83

Pro Division: Haverty/Kucera (29), Rutledge/Rutledge (25), Roche/McKinney (64)

SOP: Corey/Corey (8), Craig/Craig (18), Chikes/Sobiesky (7)

Rookie: Sirvaitia / Studeman (19) and Bent / Stuart (22)

Thanks to all the volunteers, the Millsboro Fire Dept, Bob Bryan, and everyone else who donated or helped in some other way to make this an outstanding event!

I can’t wait for the Spring rally!!!

PR 2018 Stage 2 Scores

PR 2018 Event Scores

Up bright and early for the start of the “real” rally, stage 1 is all day Saturday.  We already had the instructions and many of us had noticed the myriad triple speed changes our rally master had lined up for us to attempt.

luckily car 64 was scheduled to go out 5th, behind several very good cars. You know you will have space to run because you won’t be dealing with off course excursions happening in front of you. Well, you hope that’s the case!

Rains had come overnight last night, but the forecast called for clearing skies by about 10 am.  Yeah, right. It rained on and off all day, with the sun peaking out only on the transit back home. Rain makes the roads a little slippery, so we had to be extra careful.

it was a great day for car 64. We had a couple of bobbles, but nothing that was too embarrassing, and we came home with a :22 total and an ace! We later found out that was good for 2nd on the day, but after everyone dropped their worst legs we are in 4th overall and first in the PRO class.

Championship day is Sunday. Stay tuned!

PR 2018 Stage 1 Scores

The Friday rallies are always a challenge. It has been a long time since you have had to manage the stopwatch, make the car stay on that speed, understand and execute those damned instructions! Add to that bringing a rookie into the car for his first taste of rallying ever.

My brother in law Vern and I have had some interesting adventures together. We got to meet BB King on his tour bus once, for instance. When I asked him to try this he was eager, but concerned he would be the reason I didn’t win.  Lol, if he only knew!

i try to keep things simple, but there is always something you forgot to mention before you go into battle. Usually little things, like how to time a stop sign, or really, to make sure that stop maneuver is timed for a 15 second pause.

Yeah, that bit us. A little. No big deal, just a 10 second error. I gotta say, by the time that happened Vern had really come a long way. He was disappointed in our scores, but other than the 27 in leg 4 we had a great day.

The grand scheme of things, Friday means nothing. It’s practice day, and a learning day for the rookies. Saturday is the start of the real deal. The GTO is running good. We could become pretty competitive by the time this is over…

Maybe. With a little luck…

Joe

Car 64

PR 2018 Stage 0 Scores

Call Georgetown Microtel at 302-858-5111. You need to reserve your room by 9/15/2018 or there will be no room for you! Do it now!!!

Joe

Entry-Pumpkin.2018

Who’s going!?!

Fairport 2018 Event Scores

Fairport 2018 Stage 0 Scores

Fairport 2018 Stage 1 Scores

Fairport 2018 Stage 2 Scores

It’s over, and what a weekend! We can’t thank Howard, Janet, Doug, Dana and crew more for putting on an outstanding event. We are pretty sure the $15,600 check to the Egypt Fire Department is a record that will stand for a long time. Congrats to the winners, Car 38 Martin and Martin on their 18.43 second weekend and victory over the hard charging Knowles and Gentry team in car 66. SOP winners were the Craigs in car 18, and Rookie honors went to the Stahl girls in car 16. Thanks to everyone who attended and/or contributed. We will see you again in October!

2018 Club dues for May 2018 to April 2019 are in the mail. You can print yours by clicking here: 2018 Dues

Please keep our club going strong!

We are saddened to hear of the passing of longtime NERC member Kurt Rappold today. Kurt was a good friend of the NERC, and it is fair to say that without his support we may have folded in the early days. We will share details as they become available.

If you want to send Pat a card, the address is 116 Gov Markham Dr, Glen Mills, PA 19342

Obituary here

Unbelievable job from the Sharps! We just got the word that the Spring 2018 rally is now full. Also, unoficially, the block of rooms at the Hampton Inn has been sold out. There are still rooms available, but at a higher rate. There are several other hotels in the area including a Holiday Inn Express, Microtell Inn and Homewood Suites. NERC is not endorsing these hotels, but they are within a short drive of the Hampton Inn.

Only 2 months to go. Lets get the cars ready to rally!!!