Re: USRRC 2017 is now Legend, Lore, and Long Ago!

Greetings from USRRC Headquarters!,

Are you home now too? Gail Engblom texted that she made it into Anchorage at 1140PM Sunday night. We heard from Jake Engstrom, the Driver of Car #1, about 1147AM Monday morning that he had "landed in Tampa." Bill and I arrived in Anchorage Monday evening, after packing everything out from the Ocean Bluff B&B in Kasilof. After the lovely evening with Kathy Carlisle and a good night's rest, we were revived. We had heavy rains all the way into Anchorage, yet the scenery was still magnificent shrouded in clouds and fog!

That said, Daniel Felz , the Driver of Car #19, sent a photo of the sunset along the Turnagain Arm as they were headed in last eve, and it looks like you all had a spectacular sunset on your return into Anchorage!

A reminder that you can follow the travels of Jon Krolewicz as he heads off to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Sports Car Club of America's SCCA RunOffs via the scca.com site. I had encouraged him and Laura Adams to swing by the Tanacross Airstrip before they headed into Anchorage — after all, Targa Alaska could use a site for the HPDE event with the Autocross at the Nenana Airport, right? Hopefully, he found time on the way north!

There will be an event wrap-up mailer coming your way, yet we wanted to get the standings off to you this morning after our Tuesday meeting with Mike Thompson , our National Events Committee Liaison, to share with your rally community, Facebook pages, Region and Marque Club sites, as well as with friends and family! Click here to download the standings for the 2017 SCCA United States Road Rally Weekend!

I have traveled to attend road rallies in America and Hawaii. I know the flight time, costs, and time away from family and work to attend destination events. The dedication to attend was no different for our USRRC Clan — who drove down from Fairbanks, the two rallyists who flew in from the North Slope oilfields on Thursday to compete, those residing in South Central Alaska, teams who made their way up from the Kenai Peninsula, or those who crossed multiple timezones and spent hours flying to join us!

Congratulations to our United States Road Rally Challenge First Place finishers:

Cheechako Regional – Austin Betts (AK) and Jen Bersch (AK), Car #13
Cheechako – Jake Engstrom (AK/FL) and Jeff Lynn (AK), Car #1
Prospector – Bob Morseburg (WA) and Jeanne English (CA), Car #4
Sourdough – Justin Conners (PA) and Rick Beattie (PA), Car #21

On Friday, we had the North to Alaska Road Rally , which I billed as a day long Rally School, to give first timers a chance to get their feet wet and keep their team on course! For those rallying with us from other locales, it gave them a chance to learn how we write our route instructions.

Congratulations to our United States Road Rally Challenge First Place finishers:

Cheechako Regional – James Christie (AK) and Tracey Wollenberg (AK), Car #15
Cheechako – Rebecca Bastien (AK/NWT) and Leah Vik (AK/WI), Car #5
Prospector – Bob Morseburg (WA) and Jeanne English (CA), Car #4
Sourdough – Justin Conners (PA) and Rick Beattie (PA), Car #21

The Spirit of Road Rallying Award was voted on by the USRRC Clan – all who ran or supported the event cast their ballots. The trophy is an SCCA commissioned pewter sculpture entitled Taking the Curve, by Raymond Meyers of an MG/TC with a rally couple in the car; these were done in 1978. I called the recipients at 1050P Sunday evening and they were delighted with the news. I so wish they could have been present to receive it in front of all of you! When I shared they had also won their Class too, I got a response of, "Cheryl, are you pulling my leg? No way!" Excitement and laughter followed as I confirmed they had won their Class.They were thrilled with the news! So, to Jen Bersch and Austin Betts — Congratulations on being the recipient of the 2017 SCCA United States Road Rally Challenge Spirit of Road Rallying Award and bringing home a First Place in the Cheechako Regional Class! I am proud of you, and I smile when I recall your frustration of kilometers and odometer and factors and ...!

As Rallymaster, I thank you again for making the trek to compete in the SCCA-sanction USRRC. RPM Alaska, who sponsored the event, billed it as " America's Road Rally Weekend" and it truly lived up to being a weekend of road rally and, more importantly, rally camaraderie!

Safe travels,

Cheryl Lynn

Rallymaster, USRRC

From the USRRC Clan...

Gail Engblom —

I was so glad to meet all those who participated in the 2017 USRRC. I hope you enjoyed the adventure and meeting new Rallyists as much as I did.

Congratulations to all the winners – both those that took home trophies and those that made it to the end!

See you down the road...

Bill Demming —

I'm so pleased that we had all the outside rally teams come to Alaska! Having local representation of teams, both new to the sport and those that have rallied with us before added to the excitement!

Those 27 teams really challenged the USRRC Clan! It was fantastic to be part of rally history!

I was concerned but now happy that it worked out so well and we had excellent weather on Sunday. Congratulations to each of the Class winners! We hope to see you all again! Rally On !

Kim Ciccone —

I'm so proud to have been a member of the Checkpoint Clan for the 2017 USRRC in my home state of Alaska. What an honor to host an amazing range of people and show off the beauty and grandeur of this astonishing place.

It was a wonderful adventure traversing most of the Kenai Peninsula with people attending from places far and near. With so many folks having varying degrees of skill and experience with the sport of road rally, it was outstanding to see that people had appreciated their experiences along the route.

I'm glad to have met every one of you and hope our paths cross again in the future. Whether you consider it a route instruction or a life affirmation I say to you all: KEEP GOING!!!

The sunset at Ocean Bluff Bed and Breakfast Sunday evening as we relaxed and recalled the last three days of adventure and camaraderie!

Direct from the Kitchen at Ocean Bluff B&B –

Halibut Dip from Hostess Kathy Carlisle

Ocean Bluff B&B Halibut Spread

Halibut Spread

Chapter: Appetizers

Servings: 4

1 pound halibut

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese

1-1/2 tablespoon. garlic salt

3 stalks green onion

1 tablespoon. toasted sesame seeds

Cut halibut in 1" chunks, bring to boil in heavily salted (4 tablespoon. salt and sugared (1/4 cup) water. Drop halibut into water, when they float, dump in strainer. Let cool. Flake with fork. Mix into softened cream cheese, garlic salt and onions and sesame seeds. Serve with crackers.

Link to Ocean Bluff Bed and Breakfast - Send Your Friends 'n Family!

Kathy Carlisle, attempting to bribe some of the Checkpoint Clan along Skilak Lake Road with her nummo molasses cookies! A great cook, a cheerful rallyist, and a true friend to this very USRRC.

Update on Window Banners

We were asked by many teams about procuring another window banner. Reasons ranged from I'm changing out my windshield, want one for MY car versus the rental, want one as I was the Navigator. Yes we had them available and some teams have already taken theirs home. Should you wish to purchase an additional banner, please click below and the Rallymaster will reach out to you. They are $15 each.

Thank you for letting us know we can get one!!

Yes! I will purchase one additional banner at $15

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Yes! I will purchase two additional banners at $30

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Please, should you be making your donation to the USRRC Fundraiser — either directly or through solicitations of family and friends — please send in your funds by October 31st!

The USRRC 2017 is striving to bring awareness of the International Motor Racing Research Center , located in Watkins Glen, NY, and their enormous task of work with the SCCA Archives. The SCCA Foundation (501C3) has accepted our restricted donation that funds raised will be used for the digitization of the SCCA Road Rally archives (75%) and ProRally archives (25%), after the box-level inventory is complete.

Click the links below to learn more of our fundraising efforts! You can even set up a page for friends and family to support you and make a donation online at our USRRC2017.causevox.com page! We appreciate that some of you have committed to making an offline donation which saves us 10% in fundraising and credit card fees! We hope you will make a donation through our event or you could mail your check, payable to the SCCA Foundation to: RPM Alaska, PO Box 220108, Anchorage, AK 99522-0108.