Sarah Brodt Lenz
The 1998 Ojibwe Forests PRO Rally, held August 27th through 29th in Bemidji, Minnesota, was unmarred except for low-level anxiety by flyers and drivers who were victims of the Northwest Airlines strike. The weather was perfect and there were few mishaps on the course. Even though these roads have been used in various configurations since 1982, there are always new ways to present this well-known rally weekend.
On the Thursday night preceding the Ojibwe, the !!!Triple Caution RallyCross was held at the Bemidji Speedway, a quarter mile dirt track on the south side of town. The event was open to rallyists of all stripes and to the general public as well. Proceeds were donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Hard rain the day before the event made the track and infield a slippery mess; all the better for rally enthusiasts to strut their stuff. A good crowd turned out to watch several all-wheel drive cars slip and slide through the mud, hit pylons, and fall off the course. Times of finishers were slow, but steady.As the course dried off, the lighter weight front wheel drive cars acquitted themselves well. Fastest time of day was turned in by co-driver Allan Kintigh driving J.B. Niday’s underpowered Ford Fiesta (more about that later). Second place was taken by Kintigh’s regular driver, Doug Davenport, in a VW Golf GTI. Local rally hot shoe Steve Gingras finished third in an overpowered (at least for the rallycross) Eagle Talon.
Thirteen must be a lucky number for some folks. This was the thirteenth running of the Ojibwe Forests as a national class event. John Buffum, who has worn the guise of driver, national steward, and car owner, returned to the roads with co-driver Doug Shepherd, to win by five minutes over the Jamaican team of David Summerbell and Michael Fennell. Buffum won the Ojibwe in ’86 and ’87. He was here in the second team car, an Elantra, for the Hyundai team to make sure that manufacturer points were gained should the Paul Choinere Tiburon not finish the race.
Choiniere did experience some anxious moments just getting on the road. Co-driver Jeff Becker was called home on a family emergency, and the search was on for a right seater for one of the fastest cars in the U.S. Wayne Brooks, from White Plains, NY, vacationing in the area with his family, stopped by to see if he could help work the rally. He had actually co-driven for Choiniere in the mid-’80’s and was immediately pressed into service for the defending national champion. Unfortunately, a lost alternator belt put Choiniere/Brooks out of contention on Stage #1 of the event. Choiniere’s failure to finish and Buffum’s "spoiler" role had the effect of turning the overall points race topsy turvy. Summerbell’s second place finish, and Carl Merrill’s twelfth place finish (turbo problems) means Summerbell is leading the series by one point.
LOL’ers can be proud of Steve Gingras and Bill Westrick who finished first in the GT class in their Act II Popcorn sponsored car. Bill Malik topped the Group 2 class in a Volvo 240. Production class was taken by Jay Kowalik and Scott Embree in a Honda Civic CVT; while Group 5 went to Mike Hurst and Rob Bohn in a Mazda RX-7.
Other local favorites fared less well. Ken Stewart, an Oklahoman and LOL member, who comes to Minnesota annually, was the victim of a crash, while Mark Utecht and Doug Dill had a serious unfixable suspension problem in the GLH Omni. Mark Larson and Tim Winker lost the thermostat on their Eagle Talon while Craig Kazmierczak and Diane Sargent experienced wiring problems in the RX-7.
Accompanying the national events were two divisionals. The Friday 10,000 Lakes Co-efficient Two, run on Friday night, and the Paul Bunyan’s Ride Coefficient Three run on Saturday, have run in concert with the Ojibwe for the last several years. It was great to see so many new competitors and repeaters from the earlier spring Headwaters Divisional Rally run in nearby Park Rapids.
Many LOL’ers who were running their first or second rallies were successful in that they finished without mishap. Allan Kintigh, hero of the previous night’s rallycross, ended the night without incident while co-driving for Doug Davenport. John Adleman and Jason Lajon also completed 10,000 Lakes and swapped seats for the next day’s PBR. J.B. Niday and Kathy Freund also finished without incident (and also without second gear). Freund, who has been part of the local rally scene since her birth sixteen years and two months ago, has the sterling reputation of being a barfless navigator.
The outcome of the 10,000 Lakes was not necessarily predictable. The all-wheel drive class, and first overall, was won by the Gail Truess/Pattie Hughes Mazda 323 who were 11 seconds ahead of Chris Czyzio and Eric Carlson in an Eclipse, reversing their finishing positions from the Headwaters Rally held in May of 1998.
The over 2-litre class was taken by the Plymouth Arrow of Jeremy Butts and Peter Jacobs. They also did well at the Headwaters last spring at their first event in Minnesota. Finishing first in class and third overall was the husband and wife team of Wayne and Annette Prochaska in a VW Golf.Saturday’s PBR, the longer of the two divisionals, was marked by attrition that took out eleven of the 25 starters. Overall honors and first in the all-wheel drive class was taken by Brian Pepp and Jerry Stang in an Eagle Talon. The car had also been originally entered in the Ojibwe Forests PRO Rally, but failed brakes caused an early retirement. Mark Larson, who blew the engine in his Talon the night before, found himself the donor of a replacement master cylinder.
Over 2-liter was taken by the team of Craig Kazmierczak/Diane Sargent in 1979 Mazda RX7, who had originally intended to compete in the national event. A corroded connection in the wiring harness the night before caused considerable consternation to the co-driver who experienced a case of "hot foot" when a minor fire resulted. Repeating as champs in the under 2-liter class were the husband and wife team of Wayne and Annette Prochaska in a VW Golf.
Non-finishers among the LOL crowd included Mark Utecht and Doug Dill, J.B. Niday and Paul Schwerin, Jim Buchwitz and Charles Rudstrom, Paul Moorman and Suzanne Woottan, and Mark Larson and Tim Winker. Final note: Brian Scott and Jamie Quaderer, who rolled rather seriously on Stage #8, received medical attention at the local hospital, but were soon released. The car will never be the same again.
Copyright 1998, Land O'Lakes Region.
Last revised: October 3, 1998