JAMESON/SEARS PREVAIL AT SOONER CENTENNIAL The team of Dave Jameson and John Sears won Class E and first overall at the 2007 Sooner Centennial Touring Road Rally headquartered out of Locust Grove, Oklahoma. This top National team came all the way from Tucson, Arizona, to run the event. They were rewarded, but the win did not come easily. The first control was a surprise as it was only 0.40 miles from the end of the odometer check. Cynthia Loveall and Dave Belanger from the Kansas City area and the Houston area, respectively, scored the only zero of the event to take the early lead in their Class S Jaguar. Kansans Albert Weaver, of Prairie Village, and Rich Bireta, of Lawrence, wrangled their Class L Volvo into the control for a one. Jameson and Sears were next, collecting a two with their Toyota. First-time rallyists and brothers Pat and Tim Hampel of Benton, Arkansas, steered their 2007 Mustang GT into the control for a respectable nineteen in the SOP Class. Oklahomans Linda Young, of Broken Arrow, and Ingabee Redus, of Hugo, maxed the leg by arriving early in their Class S Jaguar. Maxes were not hard to come by as Garry Deaton, the rallymaster, made a max as sixty or more seconds off from the perfect time. Ten of the potential thirty control scores resulted in maxes. Leg two was a run of about thirty minutes through the Grand River valley that led to the first climb up to the W. R. Holway Reservoir. It was then down the hill to a the first and wettest of the five low water bridges along the route. The CAST was only 18 so the entrants had little trouble splashing through the 3" deep water. Jameson and Sears took over the lead for good a score of six for the leg. Weaver and Bireta were next with a sixteen. The rest of the field scored maxes. Leg three was another run of nearly thirty minutes that ended just a few feet from the midway rest break in Salina, Oklahoma. All the teams missed the first opportunity to turn left after the Salina Public Library and took the second, which meant it was a "who could recover the best from a mistake" leg. Jameson and Sears showed their National experience by using a bought time allotment to receive a four. Loveall and Belanger countered with a score of three to take the leg. The remainder of the field took maxes. Totaling the scores at the break revealed that Jameson/Sears led Weaver/Bireta and Hampel/Hampel by a comfortable 65 and 70 seconds, respectively. Loveall/Belanger had two minutes in penalties. Young/Redus had three minutes in penalties. Leg four was a short highway run that yielded the best scores for the event. Jameson/Sears and Hampel/Hampel tied for the best score for the leg with a one. Weaver/Bireta had a two. Loveall/Belanger were next with a ten. Young/Redus had their best score of the day with an eighteen. Leg five was the "feature" leg of the event. There were several elevation changes, three low water crossings and more curves, bends and kinks in the narrow roads than most folks could count. Jameson and Sears continued their single digit scoring parade with another one. Weaver and Bireta broke into the single digits with a six. Hampel and Hampel continued to amaze the experts by scoring an impressive thirteen. The other two teams struggled with maxes. The sixth and final leg was the longest at over forty minutes. It was a run from out of the Ozark foothills into the Grand River valley. For the final time Jameson and Sears took a leg. This time it was with a four. Weaver and Bireta were best of the rest with a nineteen. Loveall and Belanger scored a forty-seven. The other two teams finished the rally with another max. The scores were checked and re-checked. Dave Jameson and John Sears were first overall and the winners of Class E with a final score of 16. Eighty seconds behind but first in Class L was the team of Albert Weaver and Rich Bireta. Exactly one minute behind team Volvo were the "Mustangers" of Pat and Tim Hampel. Fourth place, 81 seconds behind the Hampels, was the team of Loveall and Belanger. Rounding out the field, but gaining valuable experience, was the team of Young and Redus who finished another 81 seconds back.
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