2016 And a Leap

New Engine for 2016. 

Should I stay or should I go.....rallying!




Looking for interested crew members to help out.

Sno Drift rally - bonfire alley roof cam Nowicki/Rhudy

Sno*Drift 2014

Special Stage 20, Bonfire Alley.  Last stage of the 2014 event.  In car - compare to last year, much quicker in 14....less fire in 14.  Steve Nowicki/Scott Rhudy camera on top of car.  Will update with more information as it comes available.  Team finished second day of this years event 7th in class, 19th overall in regional competition in very difficult driving conditions!

 

 

Lake Superior Performance Rally

Another Normal Rally Weekend - This time in da UP, eh?

Three stages in 12 minutes of video. Only 3 usable gears. Looks faster from inside.

Two days, two regional rallies:  Friday - which ran into the evening, the Nowicki/Brandt team finished a disappointing 7th of 19 in class in the Ottawa Rally.  Disappointing because 6th place was just 3.2 seconds ahead, and dropped us on the last stage, and 5th place was just 8.7 seconds ahead at the conclusion of the competitive stages.

http://rally-america.com/events/2013/OTRR2/results

Saturday's event, the Lac Vieux  Desert Rally, was a slight improvement, with a 5th in class of 15 entries, losing out to a 4th place finish by just 10.1 seconds.

 http://rally-america.com/events/2013/LVRR2/results

There was some rally drama.  Before those minor details, I must say that the trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula was quite amazing.  One hour out of Houghton, towing with the rig was one of the most peaceful drives in recent memory. So relaxing, at a quiet and leisurely 60 mph pace on billiard blacktop, sun evolving into dusk, fall visuals in the air, rich, fresh and previously unheard music in the cabin, all the tension, stress and worries of a long day were put to rest. UPon arrival at the cabin I didn't realize that the weekend accommodations also purchased a full moon over the calm waters of Keewenaw bay.  A fantastic start to a weekend up north where cell coverage was spotty and email traffic was iffy.  Lovely.

Michigan Tri-Fecta - and Jimmy is Back!

While waiting for the UP to secede from Michigan, Jimmy Brandt comes back from his bike (as in motor bike) riding adventures and gets prepared to co-drive once again with Steve Nowicki, this time in the Lake Superior Performance Rally, just south of Houghton, Upper Peninsula.  Last minute covert operations kept entry details to the bare minimum, but it has been understood that the pair will once again compete in the trusty Mitsubishi built Fire Arrow, which was sold by Plymouth dealers in the USA THIRTY THREE years ago.

Typically a "home" rally for Nowicki, who was born and raised in Wisconsin, south of the line bordering the two states, this will be the first time since 2000 that he has returned to run the event formerly known as POR, Press On Regardless.  Last time, Nowicki and David Stone finished 8th overall and First 2 wheel drive in his Mazda RX-7 while winning the Group 5 class in the event.  This year, 13 years later, Nowicki and Brandt will be contesting the regional portion of the rally in Group 2, the biggest group or class of cars in the whole rally with 23 entries as of this date.  Needless to say it should be a hoot in Houghton.

The car is prepared and now ready to go.  After the last event, Magnum Opus, some serious performance issues were discovered which were thought to be the engine going south.  After the summer break of outdoor activities, cooler heads and cooler weather prevailed, and the exhaust system was inspected, thankfully to find a clogged flex tube and catalytic converter!  $50 bucks later and the car now runs a whole lot more respectable, and it appears that the engine is actually going north now.  An engine oil change, other minor repairs, a new exhaust tip, and some new stickers to add coolness and viola, rally time is near.

 

Look at the Pipe on that one! Chrome it Baby!

We are heading out early Wednesday morning to hit the UP in anger, hopefully to get a mountain bike ride in before the event if the weather cooperates.  That should be good preparation for coordination and endurance, which will be needed as the rally (or rallies actually in the regional portion - one Friday and one Saturday) won't end until Midnight or so Friday, and 7 pm on Saturday. See rally-america.com for more details on the event.  There are over 50 cars entered for the Lake Superior Performance Rally or LSPR, and the weather should be great with cool temps and hopefully some rain.

Nowicki's first rally in the UP,  With Jim Garton Co driving, at the 1977 Press On Regardless in a Datsun 510.

Magnum Opus 2013

The second event for the Nowicki/Brandt/Slocum Rally Team for 2012 at Magnum Opus in the UP of Michigan is complete.  Jimmy was away on a motorcycle adventure and couldn't make the rally, so with the help of Tim Maskus, rally co-driver extraordinaire Ben Slocum was extracted from his business duties, and the rally co driver couch to help the little Arrow get through the woods quickly and safely.  The result, a SECOND place in two wheel drive and 6th overall keeps the 100% finishing record fully intact. 

Photo Courtesy and copyright by Jason Swoboda

The event, run on the longest daylight day of the year, was as nearly perfect a rally as one could hope for (other than one position out of winning) in the sense there were no "gotcha" or scary moments during the 75 stage mile NASA event.  Some may say, "you are not going fast enough then".  I say, "you are right".  Well, some of the time.  Most stages we set some pretty representative times for the car's potential, without tripping over ourselves, and a few early on, well, I might as well have been in bed sleeping.  Early on the driver had to figure out the welded diff in the dirt, what the hell rallying was all about again since January, and listen to Benjamin Slocum esq. call the shots quite differently than I was accustomed to.  First off, this was NOT a pace note rally.  So called blind, the route book contained about 30 instructions per *average* 8 or 9 mile stage.  Significantly less than a noted rally, significantly more than an old school blind rally.  Hmmmm.  And what the hell is a "medium" left when I am accustomed to numbers?  So it took some time to figure it out.  And figure it out we did.

During the last half of the event, the Nowicki/Slocum Rally Team picked up the wick, and started posting some respectable stage times.  Although not first, since that was rarified air of a BMW M3 that pulled 4 or so minutes on the 2wd field, we were pretty much second quick at the end of the event.  The BMW had some mechanical issues that dropped it to third at the end, so the race ended  up being between the Huebbe Brothers, John and Mark in their super cool souped up Beetle and ourselves trying to make up the deficit we allowed at the front end of the event.  Not quite good enough for the win, but we fought best we could, and came away somewhat satisfied with second place.

Technically, the car ran flawlessly, save for a cracked exhaust connector that nearly produced noxious fumes for the crew, and surely slowed the performance a bit.  Otherwise, one quart of $2.00 20w50 Danica Patrick endorsed Peak motor oil and some tape on the left front tire to protect a slice in the tire, and we were laughing all the way.  The rally's 12 stages were pretty darn quick, averaging us 53.6 mph for the entire event.  Doesn't sound like much, eh, but from a standing start in soggy dirt and sand with maybe 120 horsepower, that is pretty darn tootin.  Some sections of the event were pretty darn scary, nearly 100 mph on a long one mile plus straight with little room to the left or right between the bushes, but we made it safe and sound, and not a single scratch on the car.  A lighter weight car by 80 lbs by removing the US spec big bertha bumpers allowed for better performance, mostly in the bumpy sections of the roads used for stages.  Some of these were pretty bad, old school even, with lots of ruts and water splashes, just like the Safari or Ivory Coast, where Mitsubishi Lancers had their day in glory.  Sorry Jodinger, we could only get second place, and will aim higher at the next event, later in the fall.

 

 

Photos property of and courtesy Jason Swoboda

Snow Drift Rally Action!

Video Courtesy - Geoff Lowery

Run Through the Darkness

The last stage of the rally was Bonfire Alley. Our average speed for the 6.0 mile stage was 50mph. We were 2 seconds off of the leading Group 2 car's pace on this stage - not really what I was expecting as this stage was pretty fast, and being the first time on this road, grip was excellent.  Nonetheless, we hung on for the win in the Drift Regional rally.  We had a pretty decent lead in class with 3 stages to go, and having decided to be conservative, that lead was trimmed and we needed to pick it up a bit.  The driving is pretty conservative and straightforward - meaning that I still didn't have the confidence to attack and throw the thing around entering the corners. A bit more of a road racing line I guess you might say. A far cry from the past-I have some work to do.  Hope that you enjoy.

WOW! WE WIN G2!

Jim and Steve won the Saturday regional portion of the Sno*Drift rally weekend, the Drift rally in the Group 2 class.

Film at 11 ( well, just wait, we will have some updates).   In an unimagined surprise, the old school Mitsubishi came home first, mainly by keeping on the road on the quite slippery stages.  in a reversal of last year, where we spent tons of time off the road digging out, we never had to pop out of the car to do any heavy lifting, while others struggled and either crashed out or slipped up and down the leader board.  Believe this_we BACKED out of this one unscathed! 

Photo by Evan Gill

More updates to come, in the mean time.....

http://www.rally-america.com/events/2013/DRIFT/results

Going Back, Going Forward

Whilst (love that little st thing) taking a break from getting the vintage motor car prepared for another crack at Sno*Drift, we were thinking back at some of the car oddities in rallying that you just don't get today.  Among current model vehicles. there are just a small handful of brands, and within those brands, an even slimmer choice of models that seem to hit the forest trails.  So just for fun, I felt the urge to throw this classic out there, a nice photo from my archive that I would like to share.

This is from the Marquette 1000 rally in da UP, 1976.  This was a scouting trip to see what the hell was going on in the woods, as it was my first rally to watch and spectate at, after working the El Diablo rally in Green Bay a month or two earlier.  From this experience, a vortex opened the money pit in my live called rallying.  Ain't it G R A N D!

Preparations for Sno*Drift

With the new +Rally America season nearly upon us, the Nowicki Brandt Rally team will once again contest the first rally of the year, +Sno*Drift in Atlanta/Lewiston, Michigan. One year older, three rallies more seasoned, the 1980 Fire Arrow won't have many of the planned updates due to some technical and scheduling issues, but that won't curtail the fun in the north woods. What better is there to do in late January other than some winter mountain biking or vintage rear wheel drive rallying?

Here are our two rigs for winter fun

We have been training hard for this years event, no doubt, and even have a few car improvements to roll out as well.  But as fate would have it, some are going to be last minute additions and won't have the time to be proven or tested before the big event, January 25 and 26th.  A few things got in the way, not the least a nasty stuck in bed virus over the Christmas break (generally a great time to head to the shop for tweaks and maintenance). 

 

Rally testing for Sno*Drift

 

We have been doing some testing nonetheless.  Last year it was duly noted that we could have ridden our bikes faster on some parts of the stages than the one wheel drive Fire Arrow was traveling.  Not Anymore.

We have a secret weapon, two actually.  Two wheels driven with a welded differential whereas we had to use an open diff last year.

Damn this is going to be fun this year!

New England Forest Rally

NEFR TT !

The Nowicki/Brandt Rally team treated the New England Forest Rally (NEFR) as an extension of the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR) in June.  With a long “service” between events, the 1980 Mitsubishi Plymouth Fire Arrow was set to go in similar specification for both events, with a few minor tweaks and improvements to help reliability and confidence on the stages.  Some of these “improvements” did nothing to insure confidence – such as the new starter that wouldn’t start the car 30% of the time.  What is it with re-build quality these days?  This is the second starter that we have had issues with, this one being completely unreliable and requiring parking on downhill sections waiting to start, or even getting a push out of the delayed start at a control! With OEM starters non-existent for the car, we have to find another source for the next event.  It was quite nerve wracking to play roulette with the starter key.  Nonetheless, we completed the rally, or rallies as it actually is since we entered the regional competition which split the full distance into separate events, finishing THIRD in class (Group 2) both Friday and Saturday.  Not bad for a fossil car, and dealing with a few minor distractions along the way.

First distraction was a low hanging header pipe that hit a rock and crushed one of the four downtubes nearly shut, and turned the 2.6 liter engine into an anemic 3 cylinder unit with 5 stage miles to go in Friday’s competition.  We were fortunate, as service was open for the evening, with no time limit placed on regional competitors.  Three hours of volunteer cutting, fabricating and welding a repair on the vintage header, and we were good to go for the Saturday event!  My special thanks to all who helped directly and in-directly with this repair, and allowed me to make the beer run!  Much thanks to my crew and supporters, Ken, Jim, Mason, and for the super welding support and get it done attitude, Jesse Lewis from Exhale Performance Engineering and his support group.  The service area was a pretty cool setup, as multiple teams that were nearby all worked together and shared equipment and tools to get everyone back on the road.  That was a highlight of the event, experiencing the team approach of multiple competitors!

Back to the rally.  Roads were great with the exception of the huge rocks to deal with in a few areas, especially the one that got our right front four miles from the stage finish on the second day.  We didn’t lose too much time but couldn’t make left hand turns at speed.   Tire changed in transit we were good to go to the end, with just fuel and minimal checks along the way.  We are happy with our third place finishes, and with Jim Brandt in the co-driver seat, we had a great run considering we didn’t get to to the reconnaissance due to a Delta issue getting him to Sunday River a day late.  Fortunately we were only a dollar short but made that up with some DMACK Rally Tyres coin from the US distributor Greasecar, and some Hawk brakes contingency!  Thanks Guys!

So with three rallies down, and three finishes, we have hit all the goals for this year.  Get back on the stages, be reliable, be quick and tidy with the driving, and finish in the top 3 in class.   Not sure what is next. Stay tuned.

Steve Nowicki in the Fire Arrow at STPR.

photo by Jason Swoboda

Finally had a chance to check the car's damage from Susquehannock Trail.  Really dented the skid plate on one of the Waste Management stages, to the point the oil pan is pushed in a bit.  So it is time to push it out, reinforce it again and run Maine, one more event before a new skid plate is designed and built.

The performance of the car at the end of STPR left a lot to be desired. We used nearly a full tank of fuel in about 70 miles, and it was touch and go just to get to the fairgrounds for service and the last stage.  Found out today, the carburetor adapter plate bolts were loose, as one of the carburetor mounting nuts was missing!  Obviously a vacuum leak, along with a dirty air filter caused some issues with performance, and must have caused the plugs to foul on the way to the last service.  After replacing the plugs, the car ran a lot better, but still a bit lethargic.  We will take care of this issue, along with the oil and coolant leak that started this investigation!

Tire wear was quite minimal, and expect to just swap the rears to the front and front to rears, possibly using the Rillfit to do a little experimental grooving.  Some minor tweaks to the front sway bar are in the works and other than a nut and bolt in addition to the above repairs, we should be good to go.  This will be my first trip to the rally in Maine, and should be a good hootin time!

Welcome Rally Fans!

Welcome to the new blog of Rally America's Nowicki Brandt Rally Team.

 

Somehow we will figure how to get this old school rally shindig up to speed, but in the meantime, let's introduce to the crowd, some old school pre-internet rallying!

 

Here is the car, a 1980 vintage "Mitsubishi Lancer" that was sold here in the USA as a Plymouth Fire Arrow - a hot car back in the day that chicks would really fall for.

 

 Here we are at STPR in June 2012.  We are Steve Nowicki and Jim Brandt - Nowicki Brandt Rally Team.  I found this pristine Fire Arrow out in Washington State, and turned it into a rally car.  Why a Fire Arrow.....stay tuned.

 In the meanwhile, enjoy a little road racing action...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJnP2eHjRNY&feature=relmfu