Subaru Drive Performance Magazine

On the Oregon Trail with Subaru Rally Team USA

Regardless of how often I've gone to a rally, each one seems to offer something new. That has to do with the nature of rally. These events will take spectators to places you most likely would not find or even seek on your own. You drive obscure roads well away from well-traveled thoroughfares. If the rally is away from your region of the country, you'll see powerfully beautiful sights that are far beyond what you'd expect from a rally weekend.

The May 4-6 weekend marked only the second time I've attended the Oregon Trail Rally. The first time was a few years ago, and the stages were set up to the west of Portland. I was enthralled by that area's boldness and the size of the trees. New to rally at the time, I was learning how to time my travel to the spectator areas and what and how to watch.

This year, the super special stages still took place at Portland International Raceway as they did the first time I attended, but the stages, service areas, and parc exposes were to the east of Portland approximately 60 to 80 miles along the Columbia River and to the south.

I wasn't prepared for the beauty of the land and its power. The drive along the Columbia River to The Dalles was one of the most scenically stunning that I've ever seen -- even in the rain. Wooded cliffs stand as sentinels along both sides of the Columbia. They visually match the power that the river's water must have as it bounds toward the ocean.

During the weekend, I saw kiteboarders, sailboarders, sailboats, and cargo boats ply the waters. Up and beyond, travelers along Interstate 84 get glimpses of the snow-capped peaks of the mountains that rule the area -- Mount Hood, Mount Adams, and more across the horizon. Other spectators were as much in the dark as I was about which mountains were which. (I've got to do a better job studying geography before going on these trips!)

Look up the town of Dufur, Oregon. Dufur is the epitome of the places you’ll find when following a rally -- out-of-the-way places that are the heart of rural America. River towns, farming towns, mining towns, logging towns, ski resorts (off-season) -- they lie dozens of miles from the nearest urban center, and, generally, the roads surrounding them are marvels to drive for their scenery and/or their fun factor.

Dufur was the center of much of the action during the Oregon Trail Rally -– on Sunday, in particular. The town is the location of headquarters for a U.S. Forest Ranger Station, the Historic Balch Hotel that seemed renovated, and an agriculture museum. Mount Hood is its backdrop, and the town opens on to the high plains to the east. Multicolored crop and grazing lands, orchards, and vineyards spread boldly across the foothills. A thresher in the middle of town advertizes a threshing bee (do you know what that is?).

Photographers have ample fodder for subject matter because abandoned skeletal-like buildings, grain bins, horseback riders, and vast, breathtaking landscapes are easy to find nearby. But plan ahead for water, fuel, and food, because there isn’t much out there for dozens of miles.

Roads range from pavement to dirt. Local roads -- even state highways -- have no shoulders and often drop precipitously into a gully or down a canyon wall. There’s no margin for error. None.

We parked our vehicles in fields for the spectator areas as we followed the rally. For one (Fir Mountain), spectators took a shuttle up and down a one-lane trail that gave them a good idea what the stage roads were like. Other areas were fields right next to the trails used for the stages. A couple were subsidized land areas that were difficult to walk because they hadn’t been farmed in quite some time. Others were wheat fields that still smelled of dry straw, especially in the heat of the day.

The views from some of the spectator points would inspire anyone’s muse. Mount Adams and Mount Hood were backdrops for most of the stages. You could see for miles, across valleys that had roads we couldn’t see. But we could see the dust trails of the rally cars and trace their progress on stages miles away. By tolerating a little cold and a lot of dust, a rally spectator lives an adventure, views skilled driving, and visits what could well be considered exotic lands.

By virtue of their remote locations and inordinate beauty, these rally venues should be called exotic, and the roads surrounding them generally rate highly on any fun-to-drive meter.

Even if you’re not interested in following the rallies as a racing enthusiast, you can enjoy the areas defined by the events as a traveler. Use the Rally America schedule to find the spectator guides for the individual rally events. They’ll lead you to some unforgettable places and memorable drives. The spectator guide for the Oregon Trail Rally is here.

Those who came for the rally witnessed amazing displays of driving throughout the weekend. Many teams fielded Subaru WRX and WRX STI models.

 

 

Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) finished 1st by a comfortable margin. Driver/co-driver David Higgins/Craig Drew continue to lead in the Rally America National Championship -- by 35 points at this writing.

SRT USA Performance in the 2012 Rally America National Championship
Round/Date	Event/ Location	Driver	Finishing Position	Driver Standings
Round 1 – January 27-28	Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, Michigan	David Higgins	1	1
Round 2 – February 24-25	Rally in the 100 Acre Wood Salem, Missouri	David Higgins	2	1
Round 3 – May 4-6	Oregon Trail Rally Portland, Oregon	David Higgins	1	1

 Find more details about the rally here.

So come out and follow rally. You can find the schedule here. If you can’t come out to cheer for SRT USA, visit the areas and drive the roads. I think you’ll like them!

-- Ric Hawthorne

Subaru Road Racing Team – Hot at Homestead

On April 24, warm, sunny weather greeted the Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the third round of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) season. 
 
Through two days of practice, the #35 Subaru WRX STI ran strongly each session, consistently putting out top-five times. Even some mechanical issues couldn’t keep this team back; they were ready for battle.
 
Out for the qualifying session, Bret Spaude turned his quickest laps of the weekend. At the end of the 15-minute session, the Bushnell, Florida, native had posted the second fastest qualifying time, placing the blue #35 on the front row for start of the race.

After tech inspection, the #35 team was awarded the pole position, and Spaude walked away with the CTSCC Grand Sport class qualifying record.
 
Race day began with overcast skies for the final practice session. The team pulled out of the session early, that day’s sign that the Subaru was perfect – and ready to rumble!
 
A few hours before the scheduled start, the rain began. A heavy downpour soaked everything and everyone. As #35 took the green flag, the rain still sputtered down, but the wet track worked for Spaude as he opened up a lead over the competitors. 
 
The rain soon stopped completely, and the cars dried up the track, minimizing the all-wheel drive advantage of the Subaru. An early pit stop to change tires put Spaude back to 10th, and the driver change brought Andrew Aquilante out of the pits at the back of the pack.
 
Known for skilled and aggressive driving, Aquilante worked his way back to the front of the pack. With many teams still needing to pit to do the required driver change, much of the competition ended up behind Aquilante and out of his way. He worked his way up inside the top 10. With the help of several yellow flags bunching up the field, Andrew was inside the top five with about 15 minutes to go. But he still had more. With three laps to go, Andrew passed for fourth place, and on the last lap Aquilante took away the third, placing the team on the podium. 

 

 

 

Read more about the CTSCC race.

Check out more images of SRRT from Homestead.
 
 

Watch video of the #35 Subaru WTX STI in action at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
–Melissa Carlson

Milestones

Life has been quiet since driving south to the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood at the end of February, but it's starting to liven up again. The last few days have involved a few milestones.

Milestone #1: Returning the Drive Performance WRX to Subaru

Next week, I leave Milwaukee to meet Subaru Road Racing Team at Barber Motorsports Park near Leeds, Alabama. I'll drive the DP WRX through the weekend, then meet with other Drive Performance staff members who will swap cars with me. They'll take the DP WRX, and I'll have a pre-production BRZ for approximately 48 hours for a test drive. I don't plan on getting much sleep.

We've already shipped to Subaru all the original parts that we took off the DP WRX -- exhaust pipe and mufflers, rear deck lid, rear interior shelf, shift knob, nuts, bolts, and various other items.

From our publishing base in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we've been all over the country with the car -- Maine, Florida, Alabama, Michigan, Utah, and everywhere in between. It will have almost 40,000 miles on the odometer -- not too bad for having been driven on only 18 major trips and being stored most of the time.

I'll turn over both sets of keys somewhere near Roanoke, Virginia.

We'll let you know where it's going as soon as we know!

Milestone #2: Production Begins on the BRZ

Last week, the first production BRZ models came off the assembly line at the Subaru Gunma Main Plant, Ota-city, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.

Keep them moving!

Milestone #3: Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA) Celebrates 25th Birthday

On March 17, SIA kicked off a year of events commemorating its 25th anniversary of incorporation. SIA, the home of North American Subaru production, assembles Legacy, Outback, and Tribeca models.

For more about SIA's 25th, including an open house in July, click here.

Milestone #4: STI Prepares Subaru BRZ GT300 for SUPER GT

The first round of Japan's SUPER GT season takes place March 31-April 1 at Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka city, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. In preparation for the season, the Subaru BRZ GT300 race car participated in testing two weeks earlier. For more, click here. 

-- Ric Hawthorne

 

Global RallyCross Championship Announces Schedule

Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) and other teams have been preparing for the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship, which has issued its schedule for 2012! Find it and other information about the series here on the Global RallyCross Championship site or here on SRT USA's site.

Except for the X Games races, all will be held in conjunction with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series or IZOD IndyCar Series events.

Here's an update to the schedule that we published in Drive Performance Version 9.1:

May 26 Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 9 Texas Motor Speedway
June 30-July 1 X Games Los Angeles
July 14 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept 1 TBA
Sept 29 Las Vegas Motor Speedway

SRT USA driver Dave Mirra and the rest of the team will be there!

-- Ric Hawthorne

DP WRX Journal -- Seventeenth Drive (Sixteenth Round Trip)

Purpose: To follow Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) and other Subaru teams at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood around Salem, Missouri, February 24-25, 2011

Start/Finish: Drive Performance headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Distance: 1,516.4 miles round trip

Distance: 

• According to mapping services -- 1,016 miles point to point
• Actual (with drives to Parc Expose, service, and spectator stages both rally days) -- 1,516.4 miles

Major routes to Rally in the 100 Acre Woods:

• Wisconsin: State Trunk Highway 83, Interstate 43, Interstate 90
• Illinois: Interstates 90, 39, 55
• Missouri: Interstates 55, 44

Fuel consumption: 59.8 gallons

Mileage: 25.4 mpg

I've attended this rally four years in a row. Weather has always been a factor in the form of rain or snow.

For 2012, we contended with clear skies and breezy conditions. The stars appeared unusually bright along with the sliver of a moon in the clear sky Friday night. Only the cold hampered spectator comfort. (It figures that the thermometer hit the 70s the day before the rally and the 60s the day after. Temperatures were in the 40s on rally days.)

SRT USA driver/co-driver David Higgins/Craig Drew battled Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino all weekend, finally finishing 2nd only 29 seconds off the pace and almost 9 minutes ahead of the 3rd-place car. Find details and complete results at the Rally America site and video coverage on YouTube. For videos, photographs, and articles about SRT USA at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, go to the Subaru rally website.

SRT USA Performance in the 2012 Rally America National Championship
Round/Date	Event/ Location	Driver	Finishing Position	Driver Standings
Round 1 – January 27-28	Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, Michigan	David Higgins	1	1
Round 2 – February 24-25	Rally in the 100 Acre Wood Salem, Missouri	David Higgins	2	1

After two rounds in the Rally America National Championship, open-class driver Higgins leads the Drivers' Championship over 2nd-place Subaru racer Travis Hansen (competing in the Super Production class) by 15 points.

There are four rounds to go, with the next one in Portland, Oregon, May 4-6.

Travel in the Drive Performance (DP) WRX

This was one of the last trips that we'll have in the DP WRX. The first third of our trip south from Milwaukee took us through a rainstorm that would eventually dump 7 inches of snow back in Milwaukee. The rest of the trip took place on dry roads of various surfaces -- from paved interstate to one-lane gravel. The winter tires pulled the car through the water and gravel with ease, and I was happy to have them on the car.

However, southeastern Missouri has some great fun-to-drive roads that don't stop twisting, turning, climbing, and descending. Travel to the different stages throughout the weekend routed us onto some of these roads. I suspect you could drive that part of Missouri for weeks before taking on all of them. They made me yearn for the summer tires sitting in the closet back at headquarters.

Taking to the road in the DP WRX also reunited me with the sound of a subwoofer while playing music in the car. I've missed the bass notes provided by the Genuine Subaru Accessories® 10-Inch Powered Subwoofer in the car's trunk. Many of the miles traveled during the trip were spent listening to my favorite travel music.

High wind played a large role in the weekend's travel -- especially for the return trip to Milwaukee on Sunday. Most of the day, the wind was behind the car. As a result, it achieved more than 28 miles per gallon at interstate highway speeds. (According to the car's computer display, it was more than 31 miles per gallon for most of the ride through Illinois.)

I didn't want to park the WRX in its storage space on Monday. Part of my reluctance was the familiarity with the car and enjoying how it drives. Another part had to do with weather; a winter storm was predicted, and I like how the Bridgestone Blizzak™ tires handle in the snow. The car has carried me more than 35,000 miles, and I have become emotionally attached ...

Side Trip to Ha Ha Tonka State Park

In some extra touring before the rally started on Friday, I drove northwest of Rolla to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It's worth a visit if only for its name!

The park features a number of trails, waterfalls, natural stone formations, and the stone walls of a burned-out mansion. Built in the first decade of the 20th century, the mansion was eventually leased as a hotel. It burned in 1942.

Like the roads encountered following the rally stages, the ones leading to Ha Ha Tonka are also worth the drive.

-- Ric Hawthorne

 

 

 

Subaru Motorsports Teams Start Their 2012 Seasons

Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) and Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) both have made promising starts to their 2012 racing seasons -- SRT USA in the Sno*Drift Rally in Michigan and SRRT at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

SRT USA

Driver David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew have returned to defend their Rally America National Championship in stage rally. The team's first event took place the last weekend in January, when Higgins/Drew began the season with a dominating win.

Read about SRT USA at Sno*Drift here, where you can link to the team's video about the event!

The next round of the Rally America National Championship takes place in Missouri February 24-25, 2012. We'll be attending in one of the last trips in the Drive Performance WRX.

SRT USA Performance in the 2012 Rally America National Championship
Round/Date	Event/ Location	Driver	Finishing Position	Driver Standings
Round 1 – January 27-28	Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, Michigan	David Higgins	1	1

 SRRT

As part of a 40-car starting field at Daytona International Speedway, SRRT placed well in practice and on the starting grid. Starting 7th, drivers Bret Spaude and Andrew Aquilante took the #35 WRX STI as high as 3rd. The race ended with an on-track incident on the last lap that knocked the team to 28th.

Read more about the weekend here.

The next round for SRRT in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will take place at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama, March 30-31, 2012. We'll be attending that race in the Drive Performance WRX's final round trip out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the magazine. Watch for us!

SRRT Performance in the 2012 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport Class
Round/Date	Event/Track	Location	Drivers	Qualifying/ Finishing Positions	Team Standings
Round 1 – January 26-27	BMW Performance 200 at Daytona Daytona International Speedway	Daytona Beach, Florida	Andrew Aquilante/ Bret Spaude	7/28 (DNF1)	28

¹ Accident

SRRT Driver/Team Member/Consultant Don Knowles Receives RRDC's 2011 Bob Akin Award

Veteran driver Don Knowles has been recognized by the Road Racing Drivers Club with its top motorsports award as a driver who best exemplifies the qualities and characteristics that the late legendary sports car driver Bob Akin represented. These include "... a passion for motorsports and automobiles, a high level of sportsmanship and fair play, and who has contributed to the sport of motor racing." (From the RRDC press release of January 26, 2012.)

Read more about Don Knowles in the RRDC press release here.

-- Ric Hawthorne

 

SRRT Ends 2011 Season at Mid-Ohio

The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) ran its last race of the 2011 season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

 

 

 

A key aspect of this track is staying in control and not getting caught up in a wreck. During the 15 minutes of qualifying, I watched most of the cars take turn 9 at the north end of the track on three wheels. At least four different cars lost their handling and barreled through the gravel straight for the outside fence.

This track has tire barriers in front of many of the concrete walls and guard rail sections, but walking the track I could see spots where the guard rails had been bent from hard contact.

The drivers ran strong practice sessions, and Bret Spaude qualified the #35 WRX STI in 15th place. The race began with a caution. A total of seven race cautions collected many cars and eliminated some from a series title.

 

 

 

I was asked by a fan where to watch the race from. Being my first time to the track, I could only point them to the spot I had just came from, the Esses.

Spin outs, a blown engine with a fire, and nose-to-tail racing added plenty of excitement to this season finisher.

 

 

 

We asked Phillip Ly, a first time attendee at a Subaru Road Racing Team event to comment on what he experienced, “I had a blast,” he said. “The guys in the pits were very friendly and encouraged me to get close to the action.”

 

 

A well-timed pit stop put #35 out front for 8 laps. The #35 WRX STI went in for another pit stop right before caution came out, moving the team to the back of the pack. Aggressive driving brought the Subaru back up through the field to finish 15th – a great team effort to end the season.

 

 

 

View more images from the race.

Click image below to view the SRRT 2011 Season Performance Chart.

 

 

 

 

-- Melissa Carlson

Subaru Enthusiasts Heat up Drag Strip

The Subaru Shootout was held August 27, 2011, at Byron Dragway near Rockford, Illinois. Previous experiences at other drag strips in the Midwest had prepared me in general for the event, but this one focused on Subaru racers.

From the line of cars waiting to enter at the front gate, I knew this day was going to be a busy one.

Passing among the many Subaru vehicles in the parking lot, you could see that the majority of them had numbers written on their windows because their drivers had registered to drag them.

A number of fans were on hand to watch, along with those with good intentions who changed their minds because they “couldn’t get their Subaru home if they broke it.” Groups of friends gathered under canopies and over grills and enjoyed a great day.

  

 

 

The Subaru Shootout followed typical drag racing protocol:

• Cars raced each other in pairs.
• Non-all-wheel-drive vehicles spin their rear tires in water, cleaning the tire surfaces and heating them for traction.
• When lights on the tree went from yellow to green, drivers accelerated down their 1/4-mile lanes.
• Reaction time to the green light was posted on the timing board.
• At the end of each run, racers collected their time printouts from the booth.
• Subaru drivers then posted their times on the Tower of Power.

  

 

 

 

Among the Subaru cars competing was a GC8 Impreza from Ontario, Canada, which had solid run times of 10 seconds.

Also, P and L Motorsports ran its STI, which posted times of approximately 9.5 seconds, reaching more than 150 miles per hour. Of interest to P and L’s story is owner Paul Szuba. Born without legs and with only one arm, Szuba is behind the drag car that holds the honor of being the fastest manual Subaru STI in the United States.

 

 

 

Although this event targeted Subaru vehicles, other racers were using the track for test and tune. Among them was the lone female car driver of the day, an 8 year old in her junior dragster.

 

There were only a few car casualties that Saturday. One of the drivers who was anxious to get on track early that day blew a head gasket (at least). Through the help and teamwork of strangers, he was able to fix his car and take more runs. Also in the mix was a Corvette that caught fire at the end of the strip and a few blown engines.

 

 

 

The day ended with Subaru drivers taking home trophies for top times in their respective divisions.

View more images from this event. Watch for more about drag racing in Drive Performance Version 9.1, which will be mailed during March 2012.

For more about this and upcoming Subaru Shootouts, go here. Check out this video teaser produced from the event.

Thanks to Subaru Shootout organizer Philip Ly for the invitation to attend!

-- Melissa Carlson

 

 

 

DP WRX Journal -- Thirteenth Drive (Twelfth Round Trip)

Purpose:

• To take the Drive Performance (DP) WRX to the 6th Wicked Big Meet at Stafford Motor Speedway (Stafford Springs, Connecticut)
• To attend meetings at Subaru of America, Inc. headquarters (Cherry Hill, New Jersey)
• To spectate and photograph at the Mt. Washington Climb to the Clouds Hillclimb (New Hampshire) with Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) 

Start/Finish: Drive Performance headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Distance:

• According to mapping services -- 3,015.7 miles
• Actual (with commutes to/from hotels) -- 3,280.0 miles

Major routes to Stafford Springs, Connecticut:

• Wisconsin: Interstate 94
• Illinois: Interstates 94, 294
• Indiana: Interstates 94, 80
• Ohio: Interstates 80, 90
• Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts: Interstate 90
• Connecticut: Interstate 84

Major routes from Stafford Springs to Cherry Hill, New Jersey:

• Connecticut: Interstates 84, 91, 95
• New York: Interstate 287
• New Jersey: Garden State Parkway, Interstate 95

Major routes from Cherry Hill to Mount Washington, New Hampshire:

• New Jersey: Interstate 95, Garden State Parkway
• New York: Interstate 287
• Connecticut: Interstates 95, 91, 84
• Massachusetts: Interstates 90, 495
• New Hampshire: New Hampshire Highway 16

Major routes from Mount Washington to Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

• New Hampshire: various state highways, including 140, 106
• Vermont: various state highways, including 9
• New York, Pennsylvania: Interstate 90
• Ohio: Interstates 90, 80
• Indiana: Interstates 80, 94
• Illinois: Interstates 94, 294
• Wisconsin: Interstate 94

Fuel consumption: 72.3 gallons

Mileage: 28.0 mpg

The focus for the 14-day round trip was the DP WRX. I thought it was going to be the events that I attended, but, in retrospect, it was mostly about the car.

Wicked Big Meet

The first stop was Wicked Big Meet (WBM). There the DP WRX stood proudly between new Subaru models at the Subaru of New England display right at the entry to WBM from the parking lot. Thanks to all who stopped by to talk about the car! I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you.

I'm impressed by the enthusiasm of WBM's participants. They were lined up to enter the speedway when I arrived, and I was more than two hours early to help set up the Subaru display. Later, I took a couple walks through the parking lot and between the two rows of cars entering the speedway. The supply of Subaru vehicles entering the venue seemed never-ending, and the amount of time, effort, and money spent on the vehicles was apparent. One unique set of modifications followed another, and, underneath it all, was that Subaru exhaust rumble. It seemed like a heartbeat all day.

I enjoyed the variety of vendors, too. They all work hard to meet customer demands, and they share a brotherhood of technology, it seems.

There was something at WBM for just about everyone: tuner car rides, an exhaust competition, T-shirts and stickers, knowledgeable vendors, raffles and giveaways, lots of Subaru vehicles to see and hear, and camaraderie.

Find observations about WBM here, and watch video of the exhaust competition. Learn more about WBM here.

Meetings at Subaru

It doesn't matter what we plan to meet about at Subaru, we spend a good part of our time together talking about the DP WRX. Kudos to Subaru for putting the car together! It's been a valuable tool for starting conversations with enthusiasts all across the country.

Where have I driven it? Who did I see? What are people interested in? These are some of the questions the people at Subaru headquarters have for me. Plus, they had not seen the car since early in the year, when all of the modifications had not been done. So we walked around it pointing out the changes.

Mt. Washington Climb to the Clouds Hillclimb

I had a day to drive from southern New Jersey to the upper part of New Hampshire. You wouldn't think that the drive would take all day, but it did. I've always enjoyed driving through New England, especially in the spring and summer. I like the green of the forests, and there's more forests than you might think, if you've never been there.

Mount Washington is one of my favorite stops in New Hampshire. My family and I drove to the top a couple of years ago, going from bright sunshine at the base of the mountain into a cloud about three-quarters of the way up the 7.6-mile Mt. Washington Auto Road. I anticipated a clearer view from the top this trip, and I chose the right day for the drive. (See all five 2011 Climb to the Clouds Journal entries, beginning with the one dated July 28. 

I also looked forward to driving the DP WRX up the Auto Road. In the other cars I've driven to the top, I had enough power. In the WRX, power wasn't a concern. The climb to 6,088 feet was effortless, but as much from the car's handling as from engine power. Tours like this reinforce the nimbleness of the WRX and how much I look forward to driving it.

Notes from the Trip

Putting more than 3,000 miles on a car's odometer in 13 days doesn't set any records for mileage per day, but it does give a person time to reflect. Much of the scenery through New York and New England encouraged reflection. Three days on a mountainside contribute to that thought process, too, even if you are working. In general, touring like this contributes to my peace of mind.

On both long legs heading east and then returning almost two weeks later, I hit complete traffic blockage. One was due to an accident, and I think the other was from construction. In both cases, traffic stopped completely for more than 30 minutes. Long ago, I came to terms with these experiences. When participating in long-distance travel, traffic is like weather -- you can't do anything about either of them.

Other notes:

• I saw this sign: "290 ENDS 3 MILES EXPECT STOPPED TRAFFIC AHEAD" If the road ends, ...
• Lodging in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, was near the path that a tornado had taken not long before, doing terrible damage; I saw a hotel that had been ripped apart and thought it was under construction until I saw the twisted and broken trees across the road
• Spending some time on Vermont Highway 9, I saw numerous references to Molly Stark; I had to Google her to find out that she was the wife of an American Revolutionary War general who led his men into battle saying that they would win "... or Molly Stark will sleep a widow tonight," according to a number of sources
• One of my routes took me past the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a facility I had visited shortly after its opening in 1990; it seems a lot less isolated now
• The license plate on a senior couple's sports car: B 4 2 OLD

Next trip with the DP WRX: To New Jersey Motorsports Park (Millville) for Subaru Road Racing Team in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge July 22-23.

-- Ric Hawthorne

Welcome to Wisconsin -- Part One

Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) ran at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, a week ago. The four-mile track is located only two hours from home, so it was easy for my family to join me to experience road racing together.

On the first day, my stepson, Johnny, and son, Matt, set out in the cold rain to find SRRT in Road America's paddock. We walked in circles among the other team haulers and had no luck finding the Subaru team. Finally, after a hard downpour, we returned to the car for shelter. Although the #35 WRX STI would be on track soon, I couldn't take pictures in such a rain. After practice, we followed the car toward the team trailer.

We found the team hidden away with a few others. There were a lot of competitors at Road America for the weekend. I introduced the boys to team owner Joe Aquilante, and we checked out the #35 WRX STI Sedan and the work area.
 
After lunch, it was dry enough for photography. The boys spectated from Turn 5 for the second practice session of the day. The track has fencing around a lot of it, so getting shots without the fence takes some planning and considerable walking.

Practice the next morning resembled deer hunting in the woods. There were a lot of orange (photographers') vests visible through the trees. Matt assumed his usual position -- taking pictures from the fence behind me.

Later that day, the rest of my family -- my husband, Mark, my daughter, Madalyn, and my step-daughter, Lily -- joined the boys and me for the race weekend. Everyone put on their Drive Performance T-shirts, and we walked down to the main paddock area and the Subaru trailer.

Madalyn wondered what happened to all the stuff from inside the car. I explained that the team removes everything to make the car lighter and to make room for the roll cage. 
   

 

 

Before each Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race, fans are allowed to walk pit lane, meet the drivers, and ask for autographs. The girls played bashful, but Lily wanted the Subaru drivers to sign her shirt. This was her very first time at a race, but she was getting the hang of it quickly.

SRRT's race took place late in the day, and one of the interesting aspects was viewing the cars driving at night. Following the headlights around the turns once it turned dark was a unique experience.

 

 

Spending time with the team made me feel like I was a part of it. The kids were just as excited for Subaru Road Racing Team. They even spoke of the car in terms of "we."

SRRT had its first top-10 finish of the 2011 season, coming in 6th place.

Find more images from SRRT at Road America here.

But we weren't done supporting Subaru teams for the weekend. After the road racing at Road America, Madalyn and I headed to Wautoma, Wisconsin, to follow the Subaru Trek Mountain Bike Team racing in the Subaru Cup. Read the journal from that event on the Subaru Drive magazine website here.

-- Melissa Carlson
 

P.S. One of the places I chose to shoot was the Sargento bridge, which has a natural association with Wisconsin -- cheese. During the race, I realized that only in Wisconsin would you most likely be able to find cheese and sausage bridges at the same venue.