On May 21st, nine teams ran the third event of the seven-event Southern Indiana Region’s annual rally championship in Evansville, Indiana. The Another May Day Rally by Harold and Karen Davis would run 75 miles, have ten scored legs, and take about two and half hours to complete. Nine teams competed: two in the Equipped Class, six in the Stock Class, and one car in the Weekend Member Class.
The route took roads that hadn’t been used on SIR rallies in quite some time. The day was sunny and very comfortable; being out for a drive was great. The main road rules were simple: Left at Ts & Ys and Straight as Possible. That was a perfect combination and offered all teams an opportunity to enjoy a great day rallying and exploring southern Indiana.
For various and unknown reasons, most teams imagined seeing an emergency vehicle sign, and two route instructions later realized it was an “off” when the CAST dropped to 20 on a 40 MPH road. It was smiles and waves as rally cars passed nose-to-nose with those going wrong and encountering those returning from wrong.
The correct bit of road for the CAST 20 was easily recognized only after most teams had done the turnaround. It was a narrow road with the feel and look of a tunnel on a wooden roller coaster. The road was nice but could have been smoother. It had high dirt banks on both sides, with tall trees making a canopy over the road. It had steep hills. Picture the big drop in the middle of the biggest wooden roller coaster you can remember. Now, think of doing that at ONLY 20 MPH up AND 20 MPH down! The experienced teams recognized this as a trap to allow teams to quickly lose time on the climbs and gain time on the way down. All were sure it would not be a CAST 20 without paying attention.
Other notable bits of the rally included a SRIT “CAUTION MOVING SPEEDBUMPS” and the use of an outhouse on stilts. Thankfully, the speedbumps hadn’t moved, and an outhouse (on stilts at that!…’cause there aren’t many outhouses in southern Indiana) was only to be used as a confirming landmark.
At the end of the day, the son & father team of James & Jim Hurm finished with a 132 for the win in the Stock Class and the best Overall score in James’s 1959 MGA. They had a great day in the convertible. They also zeroed a control so they will collect Zero candy bars at trophy time. The Second Place car in the Stock Class went to Regional Executive Jonathan Crowe, who rallies with his nine-year-old daughter, Josie Crowe. They extend their streak of zeroing at least one checkpoint to three events. Terry Davis and Bob Sonntag finished First in Equipped with a bit more than 1000 seconds of margin over the other car in the class.
The complete event results are here: AnotherMayDay.pdf
Quincy’s Quest, the next Southern Indiana Region Rally, is July 23rd with an Evansville, Indiana, starting point. It will be followed by the world-famous Ice Cream Rally in Owensboro, Kentucky, on August 6th.
