YESSSSSS! Well, today our new formula paid off and we achieved not only less than 1 minute error, but a very satisfying 15 second score! Of course, it was a low-scoring day for many teams, because the organizers elected to drop one leg that 'some teams' had difficulty understanding (isn't that the point?!). We did it just fine, but they make the rules. If they'd kept that one, we would have moved up more, but as is we went from 70th to 65th and from 17th to 9th in Rookie Class. In fact, I spooked alittle during the last leg, when we missed a speed change mark and the car behind (that didn't miss it) came charging up on us. Dave proposed an approximate correction (we couldn't know exactly when we missed that sign), but I thought we needed more - just because that trailing car (a Mercedes 190SL) was so close. I was wrong and though Dave acpeted my 5 second extra correction, we ended up 10 seconds early on that leg. If I'd stayed the course, we would have had 10 seconds today and won the Daily Rookie Trophy! Lesson learned. Today we ran from St. Louis to Springfield, MO. We had only two intermediate stops and it was another driver's day - with a real premium on steady speed control, rather than lots of rapid fire turns and speed changes for the navigators. Now that we're in the flats, the Imp is very happy and we'll be gaining on the little cars that out-manuevered us in the hills. Absolutely no mechanical problems so far. The oil was less than 1/2 quart down this morning. We still didn't get to that squeak, because we were parked in an urban garage last night (St. Louis) and it was an uninviting place to lie down and slide under. Besides, I need a curb to pull up onto to make room for my fat head to fit safely under. Whenever we pull in to a town for a pit stop or meal, we always line 'em up for the folks to see. We hand out picture cards to the kids and sign autographs. The Imp always has its top down (if no rain) so the folks can see the red leather, square steering wheel, pushbutton transmission, AND we always put out our 1:18 die cast model, bedecked with great race stickers, just like the real car! Very popular with he little folk! I'd like to tell you that there's pictures of us on the website, but so far I haven't seen one of the Imp there. The organizers favor the older cars and open-wheelers, perhaps as more evocative of the 1908 Great Race - Who remembers that movie? Well. I'm off to bed, psyched for another good run tomorrow (to Wichita), and the proof in the doing of our improved technique: to repeat our good scores as consistently as we began with poorer ones. jc
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