"Grommit"

Car #554

Press Release:

****  For Immediate Release:


Date:     October 24, 2001

Subject:  Buzzracing team ends the season with 2 top 3 finishes at LSPR
          and 2nd in Central Division Points

Location: Grand Rapids, MI.

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


Paul Fernandez and Mark Buskirk (The new BuzzRacing Team) headed to
Houghton Michigan for the Lake Superior Pro Rally.  The meanest, roughest, 
toughest rally lived up to it's name on a few stages Friday and first stage 
on Saturday.

The team arrived Thursday night with 2 goals.  One, register and get the
route book early and sign up for tech inspectioin.  Two, replace the
ailing back struts with new Bilstein Rally Struts.  Paul and Mark
accomplished both goals and now felt confident about tackling the rough
roads of Michigan's Upper Penisula.  Mark said, "I will sleep better
tonight knowing that the car is ready, now I know we are ready for
the roads".

Day 1:
=====

The weather for the weekend was perfect.  Especially for the UP.  Temps
in the mid 50's during the day and 40's at night made for great racing
weather and little to no rain during the entire weekend made the roads
fairly dry.

Friday was tech inspection for the team in the morning which went
without a hitch.  Noon was Park Expose better deemed "Park Expose
Yourself" for the local rally community to show off their cars and give
spectators stories of past events and car specs.  The first stage was
a "Super Special" at the Baraga Casino.  A half mile track with a 180
degree right hand turn before the finish.  Designed to give service
crew and spectators a view of the start and finish of stage which normally
consists of 8 plus miles through the woods.

After the Casino run, it was off to the woods south of Baraga and into
the night stages of the rally.  Friday night's roads are usually the
roughest and most challenging roads which was the case on stage #2 called
"Herman".  Mark was quoted, "Wow, I'm glad that stage is over, hopefully
we still have all 4 wheels attached to the car".  and later on the transit,
"I'm sure glad we changed those rear struts !!"

The last 6 stages with the same 3 roads run twice gave the team a good
rhythm with a selection of fast roads with technical turns to keep them
on their feet.  The service midway in Kenton, a town of maybe 100 people,
grow to 1000+ for the main service.  Cars, vans, trucks, tow vehicles, and
spectators lined the streets creating it's own city like atmosphere for
the short duration of the night before packing up and heading back to
Houghton.

Paul and Mark took 3rd in Group 2 on Friday night with a overall placement
of 10th out of 26 club competitors.  A good victory and keeping the teams
top 3 finish record intact.  It was time for a good nights rest before
tackling the roads to the North on Saturday.

Day 2:
=====

Saturday began with another Park Expose at the Sharon Center and then off
to the Keewanaw, north of Calumet.  Stage #1, "Thayer's Lake" had to the
worst rally road every driven by the team.  "It made the airport stage
in Munising (Magnum Opus 2000) look like a bike path", explained Mark.
But despite the roughness, the car handled the terrain and came out
unscathed.

Gratiot Lake and Delaware stages are by far the best stages of the rally
with extemely fast roads and linked corners.  Paul and Mark drove with
pedal planted on the floor lifting only to upshift and reaching speeds in
excess of 90 MPH on the dirt surfaces.  These stages were a true show
of horsepower and Mark and Paul were using all they had to make time
on the other ralliests.

A quick tire change in Copper Harbor to street surface tires for Brockway
Mountain brought the team to face a 3.69 mile autocross up the tarmac
road of Brockway Mt.  Mark noted to Paul, "This is the best part of
Saturday... think of it as a 3.5 mile autocross uphill with a great
view over Lake Superior".  With that said, they took the finish 3.70
minutes later averaging 60 MPH on the uphill, winding, yump infested
mountain.  Paul, "Wow !!!"

Now it was back to Copper Harbor to replace street tires back to the
Michelen gravel tires and finish the 3 remaining stages of the day
which included Gratiot Lake and Delaware backwards.  At the end of the
last stage Paul and Mark only had to complete the 32 mile transit back
to Hancock to turn in their score card and complete their 5 rally of the
year.

Taking 3rd in Group 2 again and 9th overall in the club rally and keeping
their 100% finishing record, the team retired to getting cleaned up and
heading to the awards banquette.  Their, they swapped stories with
fellow ralliests and friends about the weekends adventures.

The finishing of the LSPR rally gave the team enough points for second
in Group 2 Central Division Points for the year.  With only 5 out of 6
possible races run, the team fell short by 7 points agains the 1st
place Points team.  A new goal for next year to fight for 1st place.

Team BuzzRacing would like to thank Sharon Buskirk and Kerry Fernandez
for service crew and moral support during the weekend.  Art Burmeister
of Burmeister Engineering for delivering and helping fit the rear struts
Thursday night.  And all the workers and organizers of the Lake
Superior Pro Rally, Great Job Guys !!!

*  *  *  *

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

Mark Buskirk    mbuskirk@webstratum.com

Paul Fernandez  udflyer2@hotmail.com