More Winter Motorsports

*Jake Himes from Duluth and brother Matt Himes glance off a snow bank at the Sno*Drift rally.*

While much of America will be plopped in front of a television this Sunday to watch some over-hyped ball-and-stick sport (without the sticks, so I am told), I will not be among them. In my youth I followed the Minnesota Twins, and I have even gone to a few professional football/basketball/hockey games in my life, but I don't follow any of them with the fervor of most.

About the time I discovered the Twins, I also discovered auto racing, and that became my passion. At one time I could spout stats about the drivers in the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR, but since both have become more of a marketing tool than a sport, my interest in those has waned.

In the late 1960s, I discovered the sport of rallying. I followed, where I could, the exploits of drivers Erik Carlsson, Paddy Hopkirk and Simo Lampinen on the European/World rally circuit. I read of the challenge of the legendary Press On Regardless Rally in Michigan in the pages of Road & Track and AutoWeek.

With the interest in "Extreme Sports," today's youth are discovering what I discovered thirty some years ago, that rallying is an exciting form of motorsport, and unlike NASCAR and Indy, it is accessible to everyone.

Stage rally in the U.S. is now sanctioned by Rally America (www.rally-america.com), based out of Minneapolis. Some of the people behind the scenes at RA are long-time friends who acted as service crew on my meager rally efforts in a Datsun 510, and some have participated in the Arrowhead Sports Car Club Winter Rally Championship. (www.arrowheadscc.org).

The first RA championship event for 2006, Sno*Drift, was held last weekend in Atlanta, Michigan. Sno*Drift is the only winter event on the RA schedule, though the Lake Superior Pro Rally in October has occasionally had snow to add to the challenge. Michigan experienced the same 40F+ temps that hit Duluth last weekend, which made the snow and ice covered roads even more treacherous. Those who finished well were the ones who slid off the road the least during the two-day rally. Tire choice was particularly important, with most teams opting for either Nokian Hakkapelliita or Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires.

Subaru introduced their new version of Subaru Rally Team USA, with X-Games motocross champ Travis Pastrana and DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block as team drivers. Pastrana ran his first rally only two years ago, but his experience at vehicle control quickly vaulted him to the front. Block, too, is a recent convert to rallying, and earned the 2005 Rally America Rookie of the Year award for his outstanding performance.

Both Pastrana and Block were drawn to rally for the same reasons I was. "Coming from a background where you are constantly on the edge of control, regular racing where you see the same corner over and over again just didn't do it for me," said Pastrana. "I like the challenge of rallying because it is closest to the experience of motocross." Block echoed, "I used to tear around the back roads near my home in San Diego. Rally gives me the opportunity to do the same thing legally and with the best equipment." Pastrana finished second at Sno*Drift to eventual winner Canadian Andrew Comrie-Picard. Block led overall after the first day, but threw it all away when he got stuck in a snow bank and lost several minutes before teammate Pastrana helped to pull him out.

Jake Himes from Duluth was another competitor at Sno*Drift, with his brother Matt calling the instructions from the co-driver's seat. While Jake drives a Mazda RX7 for most rallies, it was not ready for Sno*Drift so he rented a rally-prepared Mitsubishi Eclipse from SISU Rallysport. Entered in the pair of regional rallies that followed the same course as the national rally, the Himes brothers finished third overall and second overall, with a Production GT class victory on the latter event.

Paul Koll in his Group 2 VW.

Paul Koll from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, caught the rally bug last year when he ran a couple of events in the ASCC Winter Rally Series. He bought a used VW Golf rally car, and has competed in several regional events since then. Over exuberant driving left Koll and co-driver Matt Wappler stuck in a snow bank and a DNF (did not finish) on the first of the regional rallies, but they rallied back to place ninth overall and second in the Group 2 category in the second event.

One of the advantages to living in northern Minnesota is that we are only a few hours away from several stage rallies, both national and regional. Headwaters Regional Rally is held out of Park Rapids in May, and the Shooting Star Rally is headquartered out of Mahnomen in July. In August the Rally America National Championship descends on Bemidji for the Ojibwe Forests Rally, and on Houghton, Michigan, in October for the Lake Superior Pro Rally. Check the calendar at the Rally America web site for further information.