This year’s Missouri Endurance Rally was the largest ever. Twenty-four teams competed in what as to turn out to be a very challenging course. The day started at 5:30 a.m. on a very sunny Saturday, March 23rd. We held a quick driver’s meeting in the conference room at the Red Roof Inn in St Louis and then started out on the check run which took everyone to the riverfront in St Charles. After all the teams completed the check run, the 16 locations around the state were given out to the teams and the trip planning commenced. The locations were as follows: Ha Ha Tonka State Park, the Jesse James Wax Museum in Stanton, Henderson’s Drug Store in Glasgow, the City of Competition, Dillard Mill State Historic Site, Central Dairy in Jefferson City, Sandy Creek Covered Bridge, the Winston Churchill statue in Fulton, the “Naked Truth” statue in St Louis, Round Springs Cave, the Stonehenge replica in Rolla, Ft Davidson Historic Site, the old depot in Washington, Smally’s Motel in Van Buren, the old general store in Westphalia, and the Missouri Mines State Historic Site.

It was right after the check run that we lost our first team. Kim Tonry and Bill Hedrick couldn’t get their clutch to fully engage in their 71 Midget, so they bowed out of the race while the other teams headed out in search of their stops. In all, 6 teams DNF’ed due to mechanical problems. Creig Houghtaling and Craig Ingraham also had clutch problems in their 74 TR6. David and Michaela Lieb had some electrical issues in David’s 74 Midget. Casey Yunker and Nate Runyan had axle problems on their 77 MGB. Michael Schickler and Peter Chudy lost their odometer in the 62 Austin-Healey Sprite they drove. Even Mike Pentecost and I had to drop out (we were just participating for fun) due to ripping a hole in his radiator while driving a little too fast down a gravel road in the middle of nowhere (“nowhere” being an understatement!). There was, unfortunately, one accident. However, fortunately, it could almost be classified as a miracle. Mike and Marion Sherman in their 76 MGB hit a deer that had ran out in front of them. The miracle part comes in because they were braking so hard and hit the deer so low, that it threw the deer up and over their car without causing any injuries to either Mike or Marion nor any real damage to their car. Speak ill of rubber bumpers if you want, but they sure came in handy here!

Out of the 18 remaining teams, only six managed to complete all 16 stops in the allotted timeframe. Six others completed all the stops, but didn’t make it back in time. The remaining six did not complete all the stops before returning. This year’s winners were Bill Fox and Gary Hayes from the St Louis MG Club in a 72 MGB. They covered only 761.74 miles. 2nd place honors went to Ed Polonus and Bill Herring in a 75 MGB which covered only 779.62 miles and in third place, all the way from Michigan, were Mark J. and Mark Z. Michalak in their 1960 MGA Coupe which covered 794.99 miles. Fourth place was taken by Charlie and Paula Key in their B-GT covering 866.73 miles which just nosed out John & Carol Mangles who drove 868.25 in their 60 MGA. A difference of just 1.7 miles!

Well, that puts number seven under our belt and as with every year, we learned a lot of lessons which will hopefully make next year’s rally even better. So get ready because coming in March 2003, it will be time Annual Missouri Endurance Rally! Are you up for the 8th challenge?

Official Results - 7th Annual MER
The following is a list of teams and their placements:

Team:

1. Creig Houghtaling and Craig Ingraham (74 TR6) - DNF/Clutch
2. David & Michaela Lieb (74 MG Midget) - DNF/Electrical
3. Casey Yunker and Nate Runyan (77 MGB) - DNF/Axle problems
4. Mike & Marion Sherman (76 MGB) - 803.95 miles covered. 13 out of 16 stops completed.
5. John & Carol Mangles (60 MGA) - 868.25 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. 5th Place.
6. Mark Shetley and Bob Horzmann (69 MGC-GT) - 869.13 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. Late.
7. Dennis and Adam Scanlan (59 MGA Coupe) - 753.15 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. Late.
8. Charles Duckworth and Richard Radasch (76 TR6) - 744.50 miles covered - 11 out of 16 stops completed.
9. Carlos Cruz and Bob Brown (62 Austin-Healey 3000) - 844.19 miles covered - 15 out of 16 stops completed. 7th Place.
10. Michael Schickler and Peter Chudy (62 Austin-Healey Sprite) - DNF/Odometer failure.
11. Charlie and Paula Key (74 MGB-GT) - 866.73 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. 4th Place.
12. Rob and Ann James (80 MGB) - 885.64 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. Winner of Most Miles Covered.
13. Michael Pentecost and Robert Rushing - DNF/Radiator Puncture.
14. Mark J and Mark Z Michalak (60 MGA Coupe) - 794.99 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. 3rd Place.
15. Chad Stretz and Tony Zager (73 TR6) - 779.29 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. Late.
16. William Hoss and Steve Moore (59 MGA) - 766.73 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. Late.
17. Jason Buchek and Pat Hughes (TR3) - 770.75 miles covered - 15 out of 16 stops completed. 6th Place.
18. William Fox and Gary Hayes (72 MGB) - 761.74 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. 1st Place.
19. Kim Tonry and Bill Hedrick (71 MG Midget) - DNF/Clutch.
20. No Show.
21. Bob Benziger and Walt Murphy (74 MGB-GT) - 719.59 miles covered - 13 out of 16 stops completed.
22. Rick Ingram and Rick Varhay (74 MGB-GT) - 814.36 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. Late.
23. James and Thad Cousino (79 MGB) - 772.74 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. Late.
24. Ed Polonus and Bill Herring (75 MGB) - 779.62 miles covered - 16 out of 16 stops completed. 2nd Place.