"Grommit"

Car #554

Press Release:

****  For Immediate Release:


Date:     May 11, 2002

Subject:  Buzzracing team goes to Head Waters and places 2nd in class
          and 6th overall.

Location: Grand Rapids, MI.

WebSite:  http://www.webstratum.com/buzzracing/

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Snow !!!  That's what the person at the front desk said when Paul
Fernandez and Mark Buskirk checked into the motel.  "Yup, they are
predicting snow flurries for the area for tomorrow (race day).", she
said.  The current temps weren't anything to write home about at the
low 50's with a brisk wind.

The team had arrived in town with enough time to register and go through
tech inspection with little troubles.  Mark and Paul with service crew
Jerry Brownell hooked up with Mayhem Racing's co-driver Jeff Secor and
long time co-driver Jimmy Brandt (just working this event) for dinner in
the famous city of Dorset.  Dorset has a population of 14; up from 12 last
year, with four restaurants.  The largest per capita of restaurants to
population in the world!

The race began on Saturday at 5:30pm with 31 cars taking the start line
with light rain ralling and temps in the low 50's.  Mark and Paul started
11th on the road with a team strategy of running hard on the first stage
instead of the normal warmup on stage one.  "In order to catch the fast
Group 2 guys, we are going to have to push hard off the start", says Mark.

The first 3 stages were very slippery and the Michelen tires just couldn't
get a good grip on the slimmy surface.  With rain falling almost constantly,
the roads just couldn't absorb all the water fast enough and many
turns had standing water before, during and exiting the corners.  "We had
to be careful on the turns not knowing how much water was standing, the
car would just rocket to the outside if water existed", says driver Mark.

After completing 3 stages, the team was down by 2 minutes from the first
Group 2 competitor and down by 1 minute to the second and a few seconds from
3rd.  The tire choice was hurting the team, but rain was showing signs
of letting up and darkness was coming quick.  At service, the light bar
was attached and mud scraped out of all 4 rims.

Stage 4 was much like the first 3 except parts of the road where draining
away the water and the tires were getting some grip.  On stage 5, the
road surface changed from slippy clay to grippy sand and the tires were
digging in.  The team caught a fellow competitor about 3 miles into the
stage and passed him on a square left.  Mark and Paul also passed
fellow co-driver Jeff Secor with his ailing car with broken gearbox.

With only 1 more stage left and not knowing how the others in Group 2 were
doing, the team pressed on hard.  "Starting stage 6 as 6th on the road
just behind a 4 wheel drive Evo was quite exhilarating", says Mark, "we
have never been this close to the front before".

When the scores were posted, the team was 6th overall and 2nd in class
and were the second finishing 2 wheel drive car behind national champion
Bob Neilson.  A great end to a long 6 stages of grueling slippery 
conditions.

Special thanks to Jerry Brownell for service.  Mark and Paul tried there
best and succeeded in keeping him clean for the event.  They would also
like to thank Colin McCleery for all the car prep and maintenance to
keep them highly competitive on the rally circuit.


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Web-Site link
http://www.webstratum.com/buzzracing/

Mark Buskirk    mbuskirk@webstratum.com

Paul Fernandez  udflyer2@hotmail.com