July 16, 2005 To save money on hotel rooms, we had a big sleep over at my house. I only live 20 minutes away from the Treeline event, making for a short transit in the morning. My co-driver Rebecca stayed in the guest room, while my brother’s friend Billy slept in the living room at the mercy of our five cats. It was actually really fun and my mom made sure everyone had a good breakfast. She came out with us as she had volunteered to work a time control, just as I had done with her and my dad last year. The sky was overcast and I hoped that it would not get too hot or humid. For the past week, the temperatures out here crept into the triple digits while big thunderheads loomed over the mountains, making for some uncomfortable working conditions. But Anakin’s done now and ready to rally! Not having a trailer, I drove him out by myself. It was pretty hot and a bit rough. Rally cars seem to be like that on tarmac. We had registered last night, so all I had to do was make sure that Mike and Billy knew where they were going and what they needed to do. I had made them a list and even made myself an end of stage report, so I can improve my communication with the crew and become more aware of what’s going on with Anakin. Billy and Mike were wandering around in nervous anticipation, while Rebecca and I stuck to the shade, awaiting the start order and driver’s meeting. We said farewell to my mom and before long we were headed out ourselves to a long 40-mile transit. The first stage started way up in the mountains, just off of the Angeles Crest Highway, a very popular stretch of road with twists and turns and a great view. Everyone got held up at the start, for some reason and a whole bunch of us huddled in a clump of shade nervously making small talk. Everyone seems to get nervous before the first stage- you don’t know what to expect or how things are going to go. I was no exception. This would be Anakin’s first rally since I had been taking care of him. Would my repairs and modifications hold up? Was the sump guard strong enough? Would the wiring work? Luckily, I was able to test Anakin before the race, so I allowed myself to let go of my worries and focus on driving.

The first stage was tough. It was really sandy and with his stock cams, Anakin wasn’t producing more the 100 HP. Once again, we were the underdogs in Group 5. Anakin pushed in the sand and didn’t want to turn in, which at one tight corner led us to drive up a berm. Luckily, we were able to back out of it, losing no more than 30 seconds. Others weren’t so lucky. I picked my way through the rough stuff, remembering the lessons I’d learn from the rough stages at Rim. At the end of the four-mile stage, I was breathing hard feeling the heat. If this stage was any indication, the other stages would be very busy. This was certainly a driver’s rally and I would have to work very hard to fight fatigue and to maintain my concentration, making sure that I would race every corner instead of merely driving through. The second stage was canceled because one of the first cars out had a nasty flat tire that left him immobile and blocking the road. My mom was working at this time control. In the flustration before we headed out, I had forgot to get Rebecca and I some snacks. We were pretty hungry now and in our nervousness had drank most of our water. Mom, however saves the day bringing us fruit, water and granola bars. My mom rocks! Stage 2 was 11 miles long, a long transit that gave us a good idea of what we’d see after the service break. I liked stage 3 better than the first stage. It was less tight and reminded me of Rim. It was downhill, which usually scares me, but I was using the hill to my advantage, trying out new hand brake techniques and getting around the hill very quickly. Service was a pain! We were assigned a spot in a parking lot a good mile away from the main service area, so we couldn’t see our times and had to wait to get our re-seed placement. But there was more. The parking lot was created for an off road vehicle park, and had attracted a large number of ATVs and dirt bikes. Some head strong teenager had been popping wheelies and ended up dislocating his shoulder, so right as I came into service a HUGE helicopter (it was as big as a small commercial air craft) was landing across from my service area! It created so much dust that we couldn’t see and had to stop. It filled our service vehicle with dirt and further damaged my Easy-Up tent. We were pretty mad, to say the least. Nevertheless, Billy and Mike did a great job servicing Anakin. I gave them my end of stage reports and stayed to help them refuel and change the tires. Stage 4 was stage 3 ran backwards. It started off well until we got to the top of the hills. It was about 5:00 PM and the sun was in just the wrong place. I had flashbacks to Cherokee Trails where the sun was in my eyes and I nearly went off. I tried to block it out with my hand and used the hill for guidance. I was slower than I would have liked, but that’s rallying. We can’t turn the sun off. Stage 5 was the 11 mile stage that had been canceled. I actually liked the stage, despite the roughness and length. I worked on being aggressive on every corner and I had some really brilliant moments! Rallyists say that in one rally you will only have one perfect corner. That corner was on this stage. It was so tight that you ended up just driving through some parts, and were always dodging rocks. It was a rally of survival. About 2/3 of the way through, I started getting tired. I was losing focus, but I kicked my own butt into gear and was able to make a run for the finish. I was very happy with my time. We were a minute away from those around us and Anakin was running fine and my mom was glad to see us. Rebecca and I considered the final stage, that awful sand pit and rocky road with a few cool water splashes. We were in a pretty good position- having finished well at Shitepoke, we only needed to finish here to take over the lead in Group 5 in the Western States Rally Championship. A lot can happen in four miles in the dark, so we didn’t take any chances. We pushed through the sand and were squealing when we crossed the finish! We did it! We were now in the lead of the Group 5 championship! We met everyone back at the service area and enjoyed a Mexican buffet at the awards party. For rally food, it wasn’t that bad. We took third place honors in the Rally America Group 5 category and a career best sixth place in the California Rally Series’ Open 2WD, out of more than 15 entrants. We stayed up really late and went out to party in the parking lot. Although we had snatched the lead, we knew that it was always harder to defend the lead than to capture it and we were already talking about Gorman next month. Gorman would be an important race- on a personal level (of the two events that I’ve ran there, I have DNF’d each time) and an important event for securing my lead in the WSRC. We’re buckling down, rolling up our sleeves. With only four events to go, this is championship territory! Return to Diary of a Driver.