The MGs of Baltimore, in partnership with the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America, held the thirty-third annual running of the Get the Dust Off Rallye on Sunday, May 1st. As the name implies, the marque club held the event for many, many years as their first rite of Spring – to have their members get their sports cars out of the garage from their winter hibernation and get ready for the upcoming driving season. To raise interest in the sport (and to help cover insurance needs!) MGOB and WDCR joined forces several years ago to put on and sanction the event. (After all – SCCA has some of its deepest founding roots in Road Rally.)
As has been the case in the past several years, the event started and finished at the Dejon Vineyards and Winery in Hydes, MD. The sixty-mile rally route covered scenic country roads in northern Baltimore County, Harford County, MD, and southern York County, PA. This year’s event was a GTA (game/tour/adventure) run with thirty clues/questions to be answered, each requiring one to five words with spelling, punctuation, and capitalization to be correct for a valid answer. Each word in each answer was given a varying point score, with ten being the total for each question. It was easier to total the incorrect answers rather than the correct ones. Therefore, a perfect score would be zero, the worst minus three hundred. The route included an optional “tour” section of six miles, including an unpaved portion and Harford County’s only remaining open water crossing.
Thirty-two teams registered for the event, with twenty-eight competing due to the rainy weather forecast. Vehicles included cars from a 1955 MG TF through a 2020 Toyota Yaris, plus everything in between. Entrants were divided into two classes: Modern with 16 entries and Historic/Classics with 12 entries. Eric Salminen and Chris Horant served as Rallymasters.
Competitors’ answer sheets were collected remotely before entering the Finish destination so that teams could not collaborate on determining their best answers. While the scores were tabulated, the competitors were swapping tales (or lies) of their day’s adventures, checking their door-prize tickets for winners, and participating in the wine tasting (fortunately inside due to the promised rain). The winery arranged for a food truck and live music. Bottles of Dijon’s wine were awarded to the First, Second, and Third place finishers in each class. In the Classic/Historic Class, 3rd Place went to Dan and Tammy Mangan in their 1972 MGB with -133 points, 2nd Place to Eric and Cheryl Reitz sporting their 1979 MGB with -36 points, and 1st Place to Austin Reitz and Morgan Caroy in a 1976 MGB with -30 points. In the Modern Class, 3rd went to Neil and Terry Shovlin with a 2018 Mini at -76 points and 1st place – a tie went to Tom and Sue Herchek in a 2013 Honda Accord and Vince Myers and Chester Allen in their 2004 BMW Z4 – both teams with -40 points. “Dead last but finished” (and stayed for the festivities) was awarded to Nick and Robin Syropoulos with -246 points. In a separate “selfie” contest, Austin Reitz and Morgan Caroy won the award for the overall route selfie, and Glen Abbott and Bob Bates took the award for the water crossing adventure!
A GOOD time was had by all.
