Empire State Performance Rally 2017 Empire State Performance Rally (ESPR) took the cake again as one of the most difficult rallies to finish in North America. With 24 cars starting the event, only 10 of them finished. For the last two years, the common complaint was how rough the stages were, but this year, they could not use the same excuse. The organizers of the event spent many hours working on the stages to level out the big holes and rocks that were causing problems before. This allowed for a faster, safer, and more enjoyable rally. So why didn't many of the competitors finish? Most...
Black River Stages 2017 Earlier this week, I showed you all how the Subaru's roof was repaired. Doing that repair really cut it close to our next event, Black River Stages (BRS). We did a few modifications to the car since STPR, as well as some repairs: Modifications: Added a rally roof vent. Replaced the factory dash bar with a single bar made out of 1.5" x 0.095" DOM tubing. Replaced the stock fuel lines with -6AN stainless steel braided fuel line. Replaced the stock HVAC system with a motorsports/hotrod heater. Added a wink mirror to help with the poor visibility...
Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally 2017 If you remember from last time, I had to do quite a lengthy repair before our next event, Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR) in Wellsboro, PA. It was the weekend before the event that the engine was finally put back in the car, and it fired back up without any problems. Along with the frame rail repairs, I made the following modifications: Group N Engine Mounts Group N Transmission Mount Polyurethane Transmission Cross-member Bushings Polyurethane Steering Rack Bushings Swapped Pirelli K4 195/70R15 tires to Yokohama A035-E Soft 185/65/R15 Added Fog Light Covers and repairs: Warranty replaced the...
Sandblast Rally 2017 I always envisioned this rally to be my first full stage rally, and I'm glad it was. Sandblast is a very safe rally in my opinion. There are barely any dangerous spots, and the deep sand does a great job at stopping the car when it goes sideways. There was no recce, though, so I had no idea what to expect. The only help I had was through word of mouth and YouTube. Just like Waste Management Winter Rally tire choice was a big decision for us. I brought medium compound gravels and non-rally snow tires to the event. Since...
Waste Management Winter Rally 2017 Ever since last year, I've been waiting to do this event myself as a driver. Derek and I put down some competitive times last year in the 2 wheel drive class, and I felt that my co-driving experience from last year would carry over to this year. This year the event was even slushier than last year. The car was put back together the night before the event because I was painting the interior. Since it was my first time using an HVLP gun, it took much longer than I'd planned, but I'm glad it was finished just in time....
5 Reasons Co-Driving Is Better Than Driving Everyone wants to be a race car driver, but co-drivers have it made. Here are some reasons why co-driving is better than driving in stage rally. 1. You Don't Need A Race Car Think about it, building a race car is a lot of time and money. Hours upon hours of work goes in to building a rally car. If you can't dedicate time to building a car and don't have the cash to have someone build it for you, then driving in a rally may not be an option. Even if you do, think about all of the maintenance...
5 Things I Like About SCCA RallyCross Here are five things I really like about SCCA RallyCross. I say these things time after time to people I know in person, so I would like to share them here as well. 1. Anyone Can Race Bring your Grandparents, your kookie Mom, or even your 12 year old. Just about anyone can race in an SCCA RallyCross. You don't have to buy any special licenses ( except maybe the $10 SCCA weekend pass if you are not a member) or pass any sort of performance driving tests. Absolutely no experience is required. You can even share your car with your...
Understeer at BMR SCCA Rallycross January 7th, 2017. Kempton, PA. 20°F. This event was awfully cold to do a rallycross, especially without any snow. If you have ever been to an SCCA event you are probably familiar with the work and play system. Go out and work the course 50% of the time, and race the other 50%. Except, I was working a corner of the course where not many cars hit cones, so I was just standing around watching cars as the cold wind froze me. For $43 though, I am not complaining! If I didn't install the heater core the night before...
Who Is Racing Rebel? My name is Sergei Grishin. I created this blog to share my adventures, ideas, challenges, accomplishments, and struggles that I face in my crazy motorsport endeavors. I am building a rally car to compete in Rally America, American Rally Association, NASA Rally Sport, and Canadian Rally Championship events for the 2017 season. I first started out in rally by co-driving for Derek James. Empire State Performance Rally (ESPR) 2015 was where it all happened. Two guys - zero experience. It might sound scary, but it was actually pretty good because it placed extra pressure on teamwork. We made it out...