Flatirons Rally

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Another Update From Scott Crouch

The Wednesday stages have come and gone and we are now preparing for the Super Special stage on Saturday. Wednesday was a day filled with a lot of ups and downs.

I always get butterflies before a starting stage but Wednesday's starting stage was preceded with big butterflies!! Stage One is only 3.17 miles so not a lot of notes but somewhat busy...a good way to get our feet wet in the new car. Everything will be coming at me much quicker. The stage went well the car is $%&^&&^ fast out of the corners with the turbo anti-lag keeping the turbo spooled up for almost instant torque. We had one big moment... I think a right 3- over crest that I may have been a little late on the call. We went off slightly with the car popping up on two wheels on Tanner's side. It was an "oh shit" from Tanner and I was waiting for the car to roll over. Tanner's stunt driving skills kicked in... the diff's did their job and the car pulled back on to the road. We finished the stage with the 2nd fastest time... unbelievable... it felt fast but... we beat Colin Mcrae by three seconds! Pinch me I think I'm in the middle of a bizarre rally dream. There were 8 more stages and 35 racing miles to go. Stage 2 is little longer at just over 5 miles. The car felt good and my note delivery to Tanner was improving. This stage included a fast section with notes like (from foggy memory) "jump 100 jump 150 big jump 100", the numbers indicating distance in meters to each instruction. Well the big jump was a really big jump!!! As we launched off it at over 85 miles/hour the car became quiet.... from my limited rally experience when I am able to "hear" the quiet of flight we have gone big!!! Unfortunately, we jumped passed the landing area and bottomed the car out. I was looking down reading the next note when we hit. My head was slammed into my lap, my glass's were popped up to my forehead, and wipers came on. I could feel the ligaments in my back and neck tweak. Normally, landings are surprisingly soft… this one was painful. As I type this I can hardly turn my head.

The electricity of the event is so apparent. Two helicopters follow us on each stage. There are 15 cameras on each stage to capture every moment for ABC's coverage on Saturday. At every start and finish cameras are instantly at the windows. We were 4th fastest on stage 2 putting us 3rd overall...8 seconds off the pace of Pastrana. Not a bad start. No doubt we will give up time on the more open stage's as the other VSC cars are open class cars with more horsepower.

We gave up a little more time on stage 3 dropping to 4th overall, 11 seconds of the pace. As we pulled up to the control zone at stage 4 we had a few minutes before our entry time so we jumped out to inspect the car. The front bumper was trashed and hanging down almost on the ground. We grabbed zip ties and quickly re secured it. We entered the control zone and were informed that there was a slight delay to the start. As soon as we got out of the car Colin (Mcrae), 4 cars ahead of us and slightly up hill called down on the radio "tanner have a look at your left front tire it looks a wee bit flat!" Sure enough we had a slow leak caused by small rocks jammed under the bead next to the rim. F$!#&!! our rally was over basically...to change the tire in the control zone is a ten-minute penalty. Pat Richard walked up and commented "hell, change it.. it's the x games, they won't penalize you.” We call Derrick on the radio and he consulted with the stewards at service and yes it would be a penalty. We discussed running the 5-mile stage with the flat, but after talking it over with Derrick, the teams head tech, we decided to start the stage with the flat and change it on course at the first safe pullout. No sense in risking further damage to the car or the occupants. We started the stage and with cameras capturing our every move Tanner and I changed the tire somewhere under 4 minutes, but our hopes of finishing in the top 5 were dashed. Forgetting stage 4 we finished the remaining stages: 5th fastest, 3rd fastest, 3rd fastest, 5th fastest, and taking away the tire change on stage 4 would have ended the day in 3 place overall. Oh well that's rally, Damnit!!!

The Rock Star Energy car performed beautifully… what a ride. On stage 8 I looked down at my speedometer:  119 mph with a 5- 200 meters ahead and helicopters on both sides; the black one out my window less than 100 feet off the deck  (or so it seemed).......whoa!!

Our plan is to hang it out on Saturday and give the crowd a show!!! More later!!!

view more photos at dcchavez.com

XGames update from Scott Crouch

It's Wednesday morning and we're getting ready for the rally stages that will be conducted on roads near Gorman, CA.

We stayed last night at the beautiful Best Rest Inn, really nothing more than a truck stop with a hotel
attached to it. Last night the seeded draw was done and we pulled 9th on the rode. Followed up with a lovely dinner at the truck stop buffet. Highlight was having dinner with Tanner and Colin McCrae (SP.) joined us !!  He's a great guy, very personable with a lovely Scottish accent. We talked about his passion for skiing.

Tanner has really connected with Colin, in fact he got the opportunity to ride in his Sobe STi on one of the test runs yesterday and than proceeded to take him to he oval track at Irwindale to drift with Hulk Hogan's son. Tanner is the first human to drift and rally with Colin McCrae on the same day.

While tanner was at the track I spent some time with Christian Edstrom and Alex Gelsomino Co-drivers for Pastrana and Block...great guys and we enjoyed sharing Co-Driver stories.

The Subaru team is made up of a bunch of dedicated and passionate rally "nuts' and it has been a life's experience to be a part of it. Tanner and I have 3 dedicated techs and our lead tech Phil from the UK is constantly asking for feedback on the car and making sure everything is perfect. Excited for the stages today.

Tanner and I were up late studying the notes... stages are for the most part very technical with many 2's and 1's should be a challenge for me staying up on the notes. But hey, this is the x-games we're in a Subaru and rock star energy drink sponsored, fully prepared STi and I am going to enjoy every minute of it!!

And... They're OFF!

Our rally team has headed out to L.A. for the XGames!
Here are some sneak-a-peek photos from flatovercrest.com that show pictures of our car.. getting ready  for the big event!
Stay tunned for updates from the co-driver himself.

Good Luck Flatirons!! (#429)

Press Release -- Hankook Motorsports

Tanner Foust and Scott Crouch
win Production GT at Maine and look towards the X Games

Boulder, CO (July 22, 2006) The Maine Forest Rally is one of the Rally America series roughest and most attended events. Based in Bethel, Maine, the event features tough gravel logging roads in Maine and New Hampshire that are infamous for their large rocks and tire killing conditions. For the Flatirons Rally Team the 2006 running of this long haul event was the first time they had competed, previously optioning to miss the event per championship rules.

“Maine Forest was a really important rally for us,” stated driver Foust. “We came to the rally with two objectives for the team; get ready for the X Games and gain ground in the 2006 Production GT championship. These stages have some really tight flowing sections and should be close to what we will see at the X Games, we wanted to work on pushing from the first second and get used to this kind of pace in the notes. It was also really important for us to finish this rally clean, the last two events we have damaged the car and we needed to find a clean and fast pace.”

The event started on Friday with four Special Stages. The competition in the Production GT class was fierce at the front with teams trading seconds on every stage. True to form rival Hankook driver Matt Johnson was on the pace from the start, “we have been seeing some great battles this year with the leaders in the PGT class, but Matt [Johnson] really stepped it up these last couple of events and was really pushing us,” noted Foust. After the first four stages, and just under 30 miles of competition Johnson lead the Flatirons duo by just .7 seconds.

Saturday morning saw the field take to the stages again. For the Flatirons Team the first stage each day was a major focus for strategy and X Games preparation. “The X Games Rally is going to require teams driving at 100% from the start, we wanted to really focus on starting days at 100% and I think we did that,” stated co-driver Crouch. On the first full stage on Friday the Flatirons team was able to beat rival Johnson by just under 12 seconds and were on pace to do so again on Special Stage 5, the first stage of day two.

Special Stage Six was cancelled. Special Stage Seven was a reverse running of Special Stage Five. Again the Flatirons Team found rocks kicked up by other competitors, this time crushing the exhaust and damaging a front wheel. “No matter what we did we seemed to find the rocks on stages five and seven. On seven we hit what I would call a small boulder that managed to hit the inside of the front right wheel breaking that and another that crushed the exhaust. The amazing thing was while we were hitting rocks bad enough to crack and break our rally specific wheels our Hankook rally tires managed to hold up and barely showed any damage,” exclaimed Foust.

Special Stage Eight proved to be the clincher for the Production GT battle. While the Flatirons Rally Team had been able to survive their wheel and tire problems with only a loss of about 20 seconds, rival Matt Johnson wasn’t so lucky on Special Stage Eight. About half way into the 13.7 mile stage Johnson suffered a flat tire and wheel damage. Johnson tried to drive the rest of the stage hoping to minimize the lost time but he ended up going off the road solidifying victory for the Flatirons Team.

Reflecting on the event Foust stated: “This was a really important rally for us as a team. The competition was so fierce with Matt that the battle we had for the win in Production GT was a great preparation for the X Games on August 5th. As far as the Production GT Championship is concerned we came here and got valuable points for the championship; the rest of the season will be very intense and we are looking forward to it. With Hankook Tires behind us along with the durability and performance of the tires, we are sure to do well for our home rally, the Colorado Cog.”

Bill Bainbridge
Marketing Director
Hankook Tire America Corp.

ESPN X Games!!

Flatirons is going to be competeing in this year's X Games!

Boulder, CO –
After over two months since the 100 Acre Wood National Rally the Flatirons Subaru and Tuning Rally Team traveled to the Oregon Trails National Rally in Portland, OR, to continue their defense of the 2005 Rally America National Production GT Championship. After taking commanding victories at the first two events of the championship, the Flatirons Rally Team was anxious to continue their season.

The 2005 running of the Oregon event was the first year that the Boulder, CO team traveled to the Pacific Northwest round of the Rally America National Championship. The Oregon Trails National Rally marks a unique challenge for championship teams. This long running Pacific Northwest event attracts a large number of experienced non-championship registered teams whom promise to figure into the overall results in their classes. “Oregon is kind of a tricky rally for the championship, you really have to drive smart and big picture. As a driver you don’t want to make a costly mistake or worse fail to finish the event because you were racing a team for event position that’s not registered for the championship,” commented driver Tanner Foust.

Event festivities got underway on Friday, April 21, when teams set out to tackle a total of six special stages held at Portland International Raceway. The Portland International Raceway special stages provide 10.4 miles and less than 10% of the total event mileage but the mixed surface stages can prove tricky and teams had to be careful to not make a mistake that could damage their vehicle. As luck would have it, two teams in the rally suffered crashes and other teams suffered mechanical damage on the stages, proving the risks the short stages pose.

For the Flatirons Subaru and Tuning Rally Team Friday night was relatively un-eventful. Driver Tanner Foust and co-driver Scott Crouch decided to attempt to drive smart on the Portland International Raceway stages. “Our goal was to be fast but not too fast. On such short stages it’s hard to pace yourself and we certainly didn’t want to start with a big gap to close but we didn’t want to take any chances,” noted co-driver Crouch. The strategy was evident in the stage times. Three different teams took their turn setting fastest time for Production GT over the 6 stages, with rival team Carolina Rally Sport driver Matthew Johnson taking three of the six stage class wins and a 2.5 second lead into the overnight stop.

Carolina Rally Sport driver Johnson has been a fierce rival for the Flatirons Team. Last year Johnson finished third in the class for the Championship but was the closest challenger for the team on several rallies. “Matthew has really put the pressure on us this year, we had some really close battles last year and it has been unfortunate that he has had the mechanical set backs that he has this year,” said Foust, who later added, “Matthew was really pushing out there tonight, hopefully we’ll have more of an answer for him tomorrow.”

Saturday started with the rather short Special Stage 7, a mere 5.00 miles. Just because SS7 isn’t very long doesn’t mean wasn’t challenging, teams experience a vertical climb of over 1,700 feet over a period of 4 miles making sure the Production GT teams stay honest and really push to keep their corner speeds and momentum high. Foust put his high altitude driving experience to use but it wasn’t enough to take the fastest time on the stage, that honor went to Canadian Norm LeBlanc, whom was the fourth driver to take a top time in the class. Foust and Crouch’s fast pace was enough however to put them in front of class leading driver Matthew Johnson. Going into the first Saturday service break after only one stage the Flatirons Rally Team found themselves in a familiar position, leading their class by 9.4 seconds.

Special Stages 8 and 9 were situated between a pair of services and marked a decisive point in the early portion of the rally. Special Stage 8 was a significant departure from the rally’s earlier stages at 19.68 miles in length. This long stage could prove to be decisive at this early stage in the rally. With less than 16 miles completed so far and the field already starting to settle into running positions it was key to come out pushing for the Flatirons Rally Team. Trusting in their sturdy Flatirons Tuning maintained Subaru WRX, the team set out to try to open up a bit of a cushion. “Special Stage 8 was a very important stage for strategy. Compared to the other stages run before, it was super long, we really had to push and pace ourselves and hope that it was enough,” reflected co-driver Crouch. The team nailed their pacing and took the stage by 24 seconds and the class lead by 45.1 seconds. With the momentum back in their corner the team returned to early season form and took Special Stage 9 by 13.6 seconds and extended their lead to just under a minute going back into the service area.

Special Stage 10 was 6.40 miles but that didn’t stop Quantum Motorsports Driver Eric Langbien from blitzing the stage and taking a class win over the Flatirons duo. Langbien had been on a mission to catch the Flatirons pair when he rolled on Special Stage 8. Only suffering a soft roll and no major damage the team continued. After almost being put a minute behind Foust and Crouch the Quantum driver was determined to claw his way back into threatening the leader.

Special Stages 11 and 12 marked the end of the second day of the Oregon Trails National Rally with 10.9 and 7.26 miles of competitive driving respectfully. After building up a comfortable margin in the earlier stages Foust and Crouch decided to “take it down a notch” and make sure that they made it to the end of the day with out damaging the car. Rival driver Eric Langbien and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey had been on a charge trying to close the gap and fight their way into first place. Their pace and determination was evident as they kept up the pressure up on Special Stage 11 and took the class victory. Matthew Johnson also made a resurgent effort as both finished ahead of Foust and Crouch.

Despite finishing third in class on Special Stage 11 the Flatirons Rally Team maintained their lead, but it was down to 50.1 seconds. Special Stage 12 was the last stage of the evening and while the Flatirons Team had gone back out in front, the competition was fierce on the special stage. Foust and Crouch took the stage class win but both rival drivers Langbien and Johnson finished within 4 seconds proving their pace and determination.

Unfortunately the pressure being applied by the Quantum Motorsports Team proved to be too much for the transmission in their Subaru WRX rally car as they damaged third gear, crippling the team’s ability to be competitive on the final day. Despite the transmission problems Langbien and Wimpey did however finish Saturday second in class and 54.1 seconds behind Foust and Crouch. Championship rival Matthew Johnson and co-driver Kim DeMotte were in prime position to take over the second in class position of Langbien and Wimpey. With such a tight championship in 2005 and the best 7 of 9 events counting for the championship in 2006, every point matters at all the events.

Sunday, April 23, 2006, marked the final day of competition. Flatirons Rally Team rival driver Matthew Johnson had come out strong on Friday but struggled all day on Saturday as he drifted back from the class leaders. In a showing of the camaraderie amongst competitors in the class Johnson looked to his championship rivals Foust and Langbien to help find out why he was off the pace. After conferencing with his rivals Johnson made the suggested changes to his suspension settings.

Special Stage 13 was the first of the last day at 9.51 miles. With the changes made to his competition vehicle after conferencing with his rivals Matthew Johnson blasted through the stage to take the stage class win by 4.5 seconds over Flatirons driver Tanner Foust. Special Stage 14 was a re-run of the same roads as Special Stage 13 and Johnson wasted no time again taking the stage class win in front of the Flatirons Rally Team winning the stage by 10.4 seconds.

As Johnson showed his mettle and proved the threat he poses to the defending class champions the
Quantum Motorsports team drifted back. Despite giving up almost 15 seconds in two stages the Flatirons Subaru and Tuning team was relatively secure in their lead of 1:13.00 over second place Johnson. With 38 competitive miles remaining the Flatirons team turned their focus to just maintaining a competitive pace and staying on the road instead of trying to get out in front of their rivals.

“We have a pretty big lead over Matthew, but we are having some issues with the transmission, it has slipped out of gear a couple of times and second sounds “crunchy”. If we lose a gear or the transmission itself the lead we have built would mean nothing,” commented driver Foust. Crouch later added “we’ll see how this transmission issue affects our times, it is now in Tanner’s head that there is a problem so maybe it will slow us down” reflecting on the mental challenge a mechanical problem poses.

The Flatirons Rally Team service crew had changed the transmission to a fresh unit before this rally and decided to flush the transmission during the service stop incase there was lose metal in the transmission case. Unfortunately the Canadian team of Norm LeBlanc and Keith Morrison had transmission problems in their Production GT Subaru WRX and decided to buy the last transmission available on the Subaru Parts Support truck so if the transmission has a gear fail the Flatirons Team may not be able to repair the transmission in time putting their lead in serious jeopardy over the remaining four stages.

Maybe it was fate, or the mental demons that a mechanical problem can cause but Special Stage’s 15 and 16 were disastrous for the Flatirons Rally Team. After about six miles on the ten-mile Special Stage 15 the team suffered sudden brake failure loosing braking to two wheels on the car and making the car very difficult to slow and unpredictable under braking. "Every time I touched the pedal it went to the floor and the car went sideways", said Foust. Complicating matters, the team suffered a right front puncture shortly after they discovered the brake problem, perhaps from the same incident that damaged the brakes. Either way the team lost 1:22.00 to main rival Matthew Johnson on Special Stage 15 and then lost a further 1:00.4 to Johnson on Special Stage 16 arriving to the service break unsure of the cause of their problem and 1:09.5 behind Johnson and just .6 seconds ahead of third place Langbien and Wimpey.

The team returned to service where the Flatirons Rally Team service crew set about repairing the damage to the car, anxious to evaluate the car and send the team out to the stages to make up the lost time. Luckily when the team experienced a flat tire and subsequent shredding of the tire and damaging of the fender the flailing pieces of rubber didn’t cause any un-repairable mechanical damage.

After getting the vehicle repaired back in service and the brakes back to fully working Tanner and Scott set out to make up the lost time from Special Stages 15 and 16. While Canadian Norm LeBlanc showed the pace he lacked earlier in the rally and took the stage class win on Special Stage 17, the Flatirons Rally Team was able to finish the stage 18 seconds faster than now class leading Matthew Johnson. Realizing the deficit would be too much to overcome with out a problem for Johnson the Flatirons Team set out aiming for a strong finish on Special Stage 18 deciding to “let the chips fall where they may”. LeBlanc took the stage win on Special Stage 18, but the Flatirons Team finished second in the class and a further 5 seconds ahead of Johnson and co-driver DeMotte.

When all the dust had settled and the times had been recorded the Flatirons Subaru and Tuning Rally Team finished second on the stages in Production GT behind rival Matthew Johnson and co-driver Kim DeMotte. Unfortunately for the Flatirons Team a penalty incurred during their mechanical difficulties on Special Stage 15 and 16 earned them a 10 minute penalty when they worked on repairing the fender in the start control for Special Stage 16, dropping them down to fourth in class for the event and third of the championship contending teams.

The Flatirons Subaru and Tuning Rally Team would also like to thank RallyNetCast.com. This event marked the first event of the season for the service, which provided streaming in car footage from various top teams to viewers over the Internet. Fans can now watch in car video of their favorite top teams in a variety of classes in an almost real time net cast, seeing every turn, spin, and roll. The Flatirons Team invites all of their fans and rally fans in general to join them over the Internet on rallies for the rest of the season!

The Team:
Flatirons Subaru, in Boulder, CO, is the largest Subaru dealership in Colorado and is proud to once again support the Flatirons Subaru and Flatirons Tuning Rally team. Vishnu Tuning, The Boulder Bump Shop, Beta Tools, Red Line Oil, and Sparco have again joined the team with sponsorship support for the 2006 season. The team is comprised of professional performance driver, stunt driver, Drifter, and Ralliest Tanner Foust, and Flatirons Imports General Manager and co-driver Scott Crouch, along with the excellent technicians at Flatirons Tuning who prepare the car and at times travel to events to provide technical support to the team in their quest to for excellence.

The Championship:
RallyAmerica Ltd. is based in Bethel, MN, and is the sole sanctioning body for the Rally America Championship. Rally America and its competitors are supported by Subaru of America, Racetech, PIAA lighting, and Hankook tires. The Rally America Championship is composed of 9 selected Performance Rally events, the best seven of which are scored for teams in the national championship.

100 Acre Wood

Flatirons Rally Team has headed out to Salem, Missouri for the 100 Acre Wood rally race. The event will be all weekend long. This race takes place next to the beautiful Mark Twain National Forrest and is said to be highly variable weather conditions this time of year.
We wish them the best of luck!

GO FLATIRONS!

For information on the 100 Acre Wood race, click here.

Flatirons Takes First Place!

Congratulations to the Flatirons Rally Team!!

Tanner Foust, Scott Crouch and the rally team placed FIRST in the PGT Class and 3rd overall this weekend at the Sno*Drift Rally!

Check back for the details by the co-driver himself!

Until then, check out the Rally America website for results, photos and more.

Sno*Drift Rally -- Pre-race Interview

Scott Crouch and the rest of the Flatirons Rally Team (Tanner Foust, Jon Brulet and Dominic Medina) hit the road yesterday for the Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan. The conditions will be treacherous; snowy, icy, and frozen gravel. As if that was not challenging enough, they will not be able to use studded tires!
I had the chance to chat with Scott while he was driving and ask him a few questions about this upcoming year. He is currently at the 800-mile marker out of about 1200.

What are your goals for this year?
Well, last year our goal was to win the National Championship and we accomplished that. So this year our goal is to defend our title and win again.
I would also like to improve our communication skills in the car. I want to boost Tanner’s confidence in my instructions; I think it will make us that much faster.

Have you done anything special to the rally car for this race?
Not really. We were lucky, after our last event nothing was really broken. We did lower it a little because it’s a snow and ice rally. Hopefully that will give us better traction.
We are going to be using a new Bridgestone ice tire. It’s supposed to be state of the art so we’re excited to see how it performs.

Who do you think your main competition will be this year?
Well, the team that finished second in the national championships last year (Matthew Johnson and Wendy Nakamoto-Robinson) will probably be our main competition. They said they were going to be at the Sno*Drift Rally, but now it’s looking like they’re not going to be here.
Also, Eric Langbein and Jeremy Wimpey will give us some good competition this year.
A lot of Canadians are coming down for this event. they love the snow and ice races. We haven’t competed against most of them, so it will be interesting to see who we’re up against and how we do.

Did you learn any lessons from last year’s Sno*Drift rally that you might change for this year?
ha ha… The biggest lesson was to DRESS WARM! It’s freakin’ cold up there!
Other than that, not really.
Tanner is very comfortable in these conditions; he used to teach at an ice driving school.
Last year we had our fair share of spins, I guess I’d like to be a little more cautious about the technical stuff this time.
It’s hard though, conditions can change at a moments notice. Things we learned last year may not even come into play this year.

Who’s on the Rally Team? What crew changes have you made for this year?
Jamie Miller, our head mechanic from last year, (who, by the way, did a great job) needed more time with his wife and the rally team was just taking up too much of his time.
So he’s not on the team this year. I just got this news about two weeks ago and have not had a chance to finalize a real crew yet.

Are you going to get any video footage of this race?
Yes. Actually, I just went to Car Toys yesterday and had them install two lipstick cameras. One shows what’s going on with the drivers, and the other is mounted on the front window to show what the road looks like.

Do you film these races so that you can learn from them?
That’s a good question. Tanner may use the footage more than I. For me, it’s not too helpful because when we make mistakes, it’s pretty blatant. I usually know what we did wrong right then. Every stage is different so you really can’t go back and correct your mistake. We use the cameras mainly for fun and showing people what it’s like in the race car.

For More information on this race visit the Sno*Drift Website

For more information about Rally America please click here