Some things in the universe are constant. The sun rises and sets. The moon goes through its magical phases. The tides rise and fall. The big wheel and the little wheel turn in their synchronous dance.
And, for the last 70 years or so, at 7 pm on the First Friday Night of each month in the parking lot behind the Bank of America at Devonshire and Sepulveda in Mission Hills, CA, there’s registration for a road rally – the Santa Monica Sports Car Club’s FFN (First Friday Niter). Lasting right at 2 hours from the 8 pm start, it can cover a good sampling of the great driving roads for which southern California is famous. It’s a social rally, and the newcomers and regulars alike can enjoy some automotive camaraderie, some tire-kicking, and some tall tales told in good fun.
On July 7, 2023, Into the Night staged a rally takeover of the FFN, and it was my honor to be the Rallymaster of this event. As is our style, it was in the Monte Carlo tour format, with no traps and with Car Zero Times and reference signs given at all 16 timed Checkpoints. On-Course Course Controls were peppered throughout the course after most major turns and potential places for navigational errors to reinforce the folks who have recently started rallying and because I think it’s fun to hear the Richta app say “on course.”
The emphasis was on good driving roads and safe Checkpoint locations, where entrants can see the signs well in advance and where there’s room to pull over off the road and calculate your time allowance if you’re running late or to wait/stop/creep if you’re early.
The route headed west out of the start. We used some relatively new roads skirting the north edge of civilization to work our way out of the metro area. These roads are mostly wide four-lanes with 50 MPH speed limits and minimal traffic and sideroad intersections, so even though they’re in town, they’re good rally roads. I used the old Santa Susana Pass Road to link the above-described sections together. There was a time when this was the only road out of the northwest end of the San Fernando Valley, and it followed the railroad part of the way and even went by the historic Simi Valley Station.
Then a short hop on the freeway took us into Moorpark, founded in 1900, and down historic High Street, the old main drag through downtown. As the course made its way out of town, the entrants suddenly found themselves on dark country roads. After a Restart on Shekell Road next to the site of the former Julius Goldman’s Egg City, once the largest egg producer in the entire United States, the course wound its way through the rural area of Ventura County before finally coming back into Moorpark for the finish at a local pizzeria.
Like most good Monte Carlo tour rallies, the faces at the finish were smiling, and everyone had a good story to share. Brian Bielanski (RacingWire Podcast Network Inside the SCCA podcast) raved about how much he and Alex Bielanski enjoyed the rally. It always feels good to get that kind of feedback. We want everyone to have a good time and return for the next rally. Hope to see you all there.
