USRC Series
2007 Schedule

Team Crashes While Leading in Oregon
Slippery Downhill Corner Puts Car on Its Roof

Hillsboro, OR. A slippery downhill section on the Reeher's Camp stage of the 2007 Oregon Trail Rally, a national/regional event sanctioned by Rally-America, caught out driver Ralph Kosmides, Newport Beach, CA, and codriver John Dillon, Thousand Oaks, CA. They were leading the concurrent "Oregon or Bust" regional rally by over 25 seconds when they clipped a bank and rolled their Ruby's Diner Subaru onto its roof. The crew was unhurt, although it took over a minute for them to crawl out of the car.

"We tapped the side of a hill with the right rear corner, which unsettled the car," reported Kosmides. "I really thought I'd regained control when suddenly it jerked right, which rolled us up a steep bank before flipping us over like a turtle."

Kosmides, the 2002 U.S. national Group N champion, and Dillon, the 2004 U.S. national Open champion, were unscathed by the accident, and hope to return to competion in four weeks for the Olympus Rally in Washington state. Crew chief Steve McNaughton commented, "The damage doesn't look too bad--it's mostly cosmetic. We'll have to change Ralph's door and a bit of glass [the windshield shattered] and maybe the roof, but mechanically it's still sound. See how the fenders are still straight," he said, pointing to the front of the car. "The Perforce Software stickers aren't even wrinkled!"

Doug Nagy of Streetwise Motorsports, who preps the car between events added, "Any time you can drive the car onto the trailer, it's a good thing. The Oregon Trail sweep and rescue team tipped the car back onto its wheels and towed it ten miles to the end of the stage, so we had an easy time loading it up." The rest of the crew, Pete Morris and and Rob Marssdorf, waited for Kosmides and Dillon at the finish in a rental car so they'd have a place to get warm and dry while waiting for Nagy and McNaughton to arrive with the trailer.

"We were out in the rain for a couple of hours after we rolled," said Dillon, "so we were delighted to see Pete and Rob sitting there with a nice toasty place for us to dry out." He added, "This was Ralph's first rollover in ten years, and my first since 2000 when I codrove for Anton [Musev], who flipped our Audi at the Gorman Ridge Rally while I was on my honeymoon with Donna. I'll be perfectly happy to wait another seven years for the next one!"

Primary funding for the Kono Motorsports/Widget Rally Team comes from Ruby's Diner, a southern California restaurant chain that offers "Only the best for our guests." Additional support comes from Perforce Software, makers of industrial strength software for programming professionals. The team insists on brakes by Porterfield Enterprises and utilizes the web services of Shults Dot Com for its internet needs.

Photos © 2007 Ronnie Arnold of Speed-Pics.

Streetwise helps Kono Motorsports finish 3rd
in truncated Reno Rally

Ralph Kosmides (driver, Newport Beach, CA) and Jeff Secor (co-driver, Hudsonville, MI.) faced the chilly winds in Reno to finish 3rd in the first “stage” of the race in the Ruby’s sponsored Subaru Rally car.  Two races were scheduled to run that day, but the second leg “Final Battle” was abandoned by the organizers because of road conditions. The rally was headquartered in Reno, NV at the Circus Circus Hotel and held over the weekend of December 1-2 under the sanction of Rally America.  The weather was cold but the scenery was incredible.

This would be the first time that Kosmides and Secor drove together – so they took it easy on stage one to get used to each other. Turns out that it would be the only stage run so they would get no chance to improve as a team.  After several hours delay at both Stage 1 and 2 starts, it was deemed the rally would be over with only 14 miles of it completed.  The team would finish 3rd overall.

The car was prepped and crewed by Crew Chief Steve McNaughton and Streetwise staff from our Rancho Santa Margarita, CA facility.  There were no mechanical issues and the crew had an easy day.
 
Additionally, Streetwise staff helped out Rally America by acting as the competitor registrar for the event.

Fast Facts: 

• Reno Rally: Final Round of the WSRC Championship
• Driver: Ralph Kosmides & Co-Driver: Jeff Secor
• 1 Day: December 2
• 2 Rallies: C2 – 3 Stages: 43.72 Miles; C3 – 5 Stages: 73.98 Stage Miles
• Class: Open
• Finish: 3rd
• Sponsors: Ruby’s Diner, PIAA, Streetwise

FYI – With the cancellation of the C3 rally the WSRC championship would not be decided on the roads.  All competitors were issued starting points for the C3 – Blake Yoon came out the champion.

Photo by Marni Nagy

Streetwise Sweeps up at X Games 12

The Streetwise team ran sweep during the Hungry Valley rally stages of the first-ever X Games Rally Car Racing event.  At the Games Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom won overall with Colin McRae and Nicky Grist close on their heels missing the Gold by only 0.52 seconds – even after a roll on the final corner.  Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino caught the bronze.  Although none of the top three had to use sweep services the group 5 Neon took a roll on a stage and had to be towed off the course.  The stage was then shut down and the three remaining cars re-routed to the next stage. 

The rally consisted of the 12 invitation only Open Class cars which were running for points and three other two wheel drive rally class cars running as an exhibition including “Cowboy” Kenny Bartram in a New Volkswagen Beetle.  The rally finished up the 8 stages at the Valley and then ran the final super stages at the Home Depot Center the following Saturday in front of an ESPN crowd of 112,000+. The X Games Hungry Valley stages were organized by Rally America with help from local event organizers. The stages used were some of the same stages that are used during the Gorman Rally later in the year.  Streetwise provides sweep services for several local rally organizers as well as preparing and maintaining several class leading rally cars.

The final results were:

Kono Racing claims 2nd on Olympic Peninsula

Ralph Kosmides (driver, Newport Beach, CA) and Alan Ockwell (co-driver, Stouffville, Ont.) raced across Washington to claim 2nd in the USRC Olympus Rally held May 18-21 in the Ruby’s sponsored Subaru.  The rally, headquartered in Olympia, WA organized by Northwest Rally Promotions and in memory of John Nagel and Gene Nielson, was held over the weekend of May 20-21 under the sanction of the USRC and run under FIA rules.  The weather was perfect and the scenery was incredible.

Competing in the Open class was a new step for the team.  It was determined after the Oregon Trails rally that the team would convert the Subaru for competition in the open class for Olympus – requiring many changes in only three weeks.  The team did a great job in accomplishing the transformation – greatly improving the performance of the Ruby’s Subaru.  Moving to the open class from Group N allows the car to be less stock and have a larger restrictor.

For the first day with the new speed everyone had a sharp learning curve, especially Kosmides.  He handled it very well – relishing in the new horsepower gained.  The increased power put strains on the other systems that in the past had not been an issue.  Saturday the team had to deal with a brake fade issue, but were able to rectify it for the Sunday stages.  The car did have a wrong slide and a power steering hose failure on Sunday – but still had enough of a lead to capture the podium.

Overall Kosmides and Ockwell were very happy with the car and with the results.  Kosmides has had many class wins, but this was his highest overall finish ever.

Fast Facts: 

• Olympus Rally: Round 4 of the USRC Championship
• Driver: Ralph Kosmides & Co-Driver: Alan Ockwell
• 2 Days: May 20 and 21
• 16 Stages: 132.10 Stage Miles
• Class: Open
• Finish: 2nd  
• Sponsors: Ruby’s Diner, PIAA, Streetwise

FYI – Washington has the 15th largest population and 9 seats in the US House of Representatives

             
            Photo by Arturo Volpentest                                 Photo by Jim Culp   www.prorallypix.com

Kono Racing finishes on the podium in the Beaver State

Ralph Kosmides (driver, Newport Beach, CA) and John Dillon (co-driver, Thousand Oaks, CA) teamed up again in the Ruby’s Subaru car to claim 2nd in Group N in the Rally America Oregon Trails rally held April 21-23.  This was the 3rd time the pair had driven together and they have podiumed in every one of those events.  The event started off at Portland International raceway on Friday night with a combination of tarmac and gravel roads and then moved to the challenging and hilly course through the Coast Mountain range.

Both Kosmides and Dillon were very happy with the car and with the reslts and enjoyed the weekend immensely.

Fast Facts: 
            Oregon Trails Rally: Round 3 of the Rally America Championship
            Driver: Ralph Kosmides & Co-Driver: John Dillon
            3 Days: April 21-23
            18 Stages: 125.13 Stage Miles
            Class: Group N
            Finish: 2nd  
            Sponsors: Ruby’s Diner, PIAA, Streetwise

FYI - The Oregon flag is the only one in the USA with different pictures on either side of it: the front has a scene depicting the industry (as it was in 1859) and landscape of the state and the reverse side has a beaver.

Widget Hits Racing Jackpot in Reno
Team Claims Overall Victory Third Time this Season

Reno , NV . Ralph Kosmides (driver, Mission Viejo, CA) and John Dillon (codriver, Thousand Oaks, CA) hit the jackpot at the Reno Rally on Dec 3-4, 2005, winning overall the combined two-day race in a 1999 Group N Subaru sponsored by Ruby's Restaurants and Perforce Software. Along the way they set five stage records on the new event. The rally, headquartered in Reno, NV but centered near the town of Gerlach, was organized by Dave Hackett with help from Rally-America stewards and staff members.

Reno was the second rally for Dillon to codrive for Kosmides. In the first, the 2004 Treeline Rally near West Covina, CA, the team also won overall.

"These roads were rally fast and smooth," according to Ralph "On two separate stages our instruments showed a top speed of 111 MPH, and we ran one 22 mile stage in just over 19 minutes. You really have to concentrate because there are always 'gotchas' just over the crests!"

"It was nice to get back in the car with Ralph," said Dillon. "He knows how to drive smoothly even while wrestling through the tricky bits. We were hoping to reprise our Treeline victory here in Reno; clearly our efforts paid off for us." He praised the car's mechanics as well. "Steve [McNaughton] and Doug [Nagy] understand the sport and know how to prepare the car for rough conditions. Not only that, they recognize the things we'll need as soon as we pull into service. They were on top of everything, leaving us free to enjoy lunch and 'talk story' with the other racers."

Not everything was rosy out on the mountain stages for the team. They took their time on the first stage as Ralph reacquainted himself with the car (he hadn't raced in almost seven months) while John adapted to Ralph's requirements for the "calls." (The codriver reads instructions to the driver from a book provided just hours before the start of the race, so the timing of the calls is critical to keep the team safely on the road.) Their leisurely start cost them valuable seconds, but on the second stage they returned to the fray, coming within one second of fastest time.

On the third stage, the team once again proved quick, setting fastest time (by one second over the Hintzes). Their Widget teammate, Blake Yoon, was less fortunate. In his first time behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Evolution VII (formerly owned by Leon Styles), Yoon crashed into a bank after getting caught out by a blind crest. Though he and codriver Vartan Davtyan were unhurt, the car suffered serious damage to the frame and drive train. The rally's early race leaders, the Hintz brothers in another Subaru, retired at the end of the stage because of transmission problems.

Capitalizing on the retirements of Hintz and Yoon, and worried by the proximity of Andrew Sutherland/Chrissie Beavis just behind, Kosmides and Dillon hammered hard on stage four to claim the overall lead. On the day's last stage, however, they hit a rock and flattened a tire, dropping them to second overall, sixteen seconds behind Sutherland's Group 5 Neon.

The Hintz brothers returned on Sunday, but Kosmides kept his foot hard on the throttle to take the first stage win of the day. "We launched the car on one of the big jumps and landed at the bottom of a wash," remarked Kosmides. "Man, we really flew a long ways, but the landing was soft considering (how high)."

Unbeknownst to the team, the landing loosened a fuel fitting in the trunk of the car. They struggled through the day's second stage, losing eighteen seconds to Sutherland. "Ralph told me afterwards he was getting a little dizzy from the fuel odors. He said he drove terrible lines in almost every corner. I know I didn't feel as confident in my calls either." Fortunately between stages Ralph and John were able to tighten the fittings and on the next stage set another stage record, a feat they duplicated on the last stage of the rally.

At the end when the numbers were all finally added up, the Widget crew finished almost a minute and a half ahead of the Sutherland/Beavis pair, with the Hintz brothers once more withdrawn, this time because of a broken A-arm. "We looked forward to battling to the end with Dave and Rick [Hintz]," said Kosmides. "John is racing again next weekend in Laughlin, but this is my last rally of the year. It's good to end the season on a high note."

About the Sport
Rallying is the ultimate team motorsport where street-licensed cars are raced at high speed on dirt trails with two people in the car, a driver behind the wheel and a codriver describing every bend in the road. Competitors are not allowed to pre-run the roads so they are racing "blind," navigating from a route book provided just hours prior to the event. Cars can easily reach speeds above 100 MPH as they snake between trees and along the edges of cliffs in this sport of strength and stamina.

About the Team
The Widget Rally Team, that "serious team with a whimsical name," is supported by Perforce Software (www.perforce.com), makers of high performance software for computer professionals. The team insists on brakes by Porterfield Enterprises (www.porterfield-brakes.com) and utilizes the web services of Shults Dot Com (www.shults.com) for its internet needs. Ruby's Restaurants provides support for Ralph and his Ruby's Subaru.

CAPTION: Ralph Kosmides and John Dillon win the Reno Rally in a Subaru WRX. Photo © 2005 by Ronnie Arnold of Speed-Pics Photography. If you'd like a high-res version of this picture, please let us know and we'll send it along.