Barefoot Racing: Wrap Up

Barefoot Racing was more excited than ever for the 2009 Ojibwe Forest Rally because this year it was the final race of the MaxAttack! Series, a series dedicated to finding the fastest 2wd cars in North America.

On top of that, Paul is locked in a tight battle for the Rally America Central Region Championship with Chad Eixenburger and Chris Greenhouse. A good finish here would move the Barefoot Racing team up in the standings heading into the final rally of the season, LSPR, and could earn the team some welcomed MaxAttack! money.

Thursday kicked off with a few runs down the practice stage to get accustomed to the notes and get linked up with Heath. The first few runs were slow, but Paul and Heath were meshing well, so everything was going well. However, luck was on Barefoot Racing’s sideOn the last pass they decided to push a bit to feel out the grip and try to find the limit. They found the limit on a right six long, tightens resulting in a “puckering fishtail” that ended with one broken finish board and almost ended the rally, before it even began. However, luck was on their side and the #744 VW Golf was promptly loaded back on the trailer and the team was headed to Bemidji to get ready for the real deal.

Friday started late in the afternoon, leaving plenty of time to look over the car, freak out about problems that didn’t really exist, and prepare for the long night ahead. The weather was uncommonly cool and clear which brought a huge turnout to the Bemidji Speedway. The Barefoot Racing team kicked off the event with a decent run around the super special stage with no problems. Off to the forest.

The first real stages were dusty but Paul and Heath were determined to push hard right from the get-go in hopes of staying within grasp of the top guys, being close enough to capitalize on any mistakes.

Paul felt like he was able to push hard because of his H30 Polarized sunglasses that really cut through the glare of the dust, illuminated by the evening sun.

However, Paul didn’t have the confidence to run flat-out in some of the really fast sections, partly because of a poor ECU choice leaving the engine down on power and which didn’t allow the D-Squared VW Golf to run to its full potential.

SS2 In-car

At the first service, the Barefoot Racing crew was sitting in 5th in class and a ways out of the paying places in MaxAttack! but sitting in a good position to start picking off a few leading cars. Len worked hard to check over the car and change the ECU. He had us off for the night stages without a hitch. Paul and Heath were excited to get back out and start clawing back the time they lost during the day. The first stage after service was a long 22 miles and would surely be the deciding factor in Friday’s regional rally. The first stage after service was a long 22 miles
and would surely be the deciding factorRunning hard, Paul and Heath had a miss-communication leading to a missed junction and a little ditch diving, but luckily nothing was hiding in the long grass and they came out unscathed. A little shaken up, Paul unintentionally backed off a bit and finished the stage off the pace. The last two Friday stages were much better and the Barefoot Racing duo were back at a more competitive pace, finishing the night 3rd in class after a blown axle by Chad Eixenburger and Ben Slocum, and an unfortunate false start penalty for Chris Greenhouse and Don DeRose.

SS6 In-car

SS7 In-car

SS8 In-car

Barefoot Racing Spectator Video Clips

Saturday began at the Bemidji Tech College where Barefoot Racing was able to meet up with the Terra Firma crew and pick up some sweet t-shirts and swag. Terra Firma is a new clothing line developed by a few long-time rally fans, designing original rally apparel and posters. After chatting with fans and a little lunch, the crew was off to begin the second day and hopefully improve their standings in MaxAttack!

Heath pushed Paul hard right from the start and the duo felt like they were running much faster than the first day. As the day progressed, more confidence lead to even more speed as Paul was able to stay flat out in the fast 5’s and 6’s. The car was running perfect, and at the first service little was needed but pounding out dents in the rims from the unforgiving rocks, a signature of the Northern Minnesota roads.

SS15 In-car

The second leg of day two was fast and flowing and the Barefoot Racing crew ran hard having a lot of fun running to 3rd in class behind the Canadian team of brothers Jan and Jody Zedril and Chris Greenhouse and Don DeRose. forcing him to shift without the use of the clutch most of the dayThe Zedrils lead both regional rallies from start to finish and Paul was never concerned with trying to keep up with them. It was a little frustrating that they could not keep pace with Chris Greenhouse’s ailing Plymouth Neon that was suffering from a faulty clutch cable, forcing him to shift without the use of the clutch most of the day. Chris and Don must have been pushing hard and put in an amazing drive to put the troublesome car on the podium.

At the finish, Barefoot Racing was able to peddle the VW to two 3rd place finishes in class, a 5th overall on Saturday, and 6th in MaxAttack!, just one place out of the money, again. Barefoot Racing closed the championship gap to a mere 58 points out of first and with 100 points available at LSPR, they are in a good position heading into the last race of the season. Len did an awesome job crewing by himself all weekend and allowed Paul and Heath to focus on driving. Heath, again, did an amazing job co-driving, helping to put Barefoot Racing on the podium.

Thanks to Doug of DavenportRacingUSA.com for graciously lending the team a Hidja 300 Rally Computer, the thing was AWESOME. Thanks again to H30 Polarized sunglasses for their help, the glasses were really amazing, cutting through the sun and dust of the Ojibwe Forest stages. Thanks to Eric and Bill of Terra Firma for their support and supplying the crew with fresh threads for the awards banquet. Barefoot Racing is excited to see this new company blowup in the future. Thanks to Tony of DevneyDesigns.com for painstakingly maintaining the website and going above and beyond, attending the rally to take photographs and be part of the camaraderie. And, as always, thanks to all the great workers and the organizers who make this sport possible.

See you all in 5 weeks for the Lake Superior Pro Rally!