Back. Dear God does it feel good to sit on an object that's not hurtling through space(as LDR co-driver Dave Getchell is fond of saying). :-)

First off, we're not in Mexico. :-( The rental agreement was not as we had expected, so we decided to cancel and spend our hard-earned money elsewhere later in the season. We're hoping that Ken Block has a fantastic ride in his first WRC event in the Focus WRC! Wish we could be there in person, Ken! :-)

Missouri is a long way from Maine. About 3,000 miles round trip to be more exact. We do the trip down and back in 2.5 days each way, taking our time. The two days end up being 12 hours each, so it's not really a leisurely drive...

We arrived in Missouri as prepared as we were able to be. Day 1 saw the exhaust manifold break at a weld(no, not my weld!), leaving us with no boost, and a nice hot stream of exhaust gases blowing on everything under the engine. Worried about fire and other collateral damage, I decided to pack it for the day. The crew worked all night, and found another team that graciously welded the headers back up. Worried that the repaired headers might be too thin, the team sourced a stock pair of headers from a local Subaru enthusiast.

Friday had only given new(to the team) co-driver Adam Kneipp and I just two short stages to get acquainted with each other's styles.

Saturday dawned with promise and, although out of the Regional Rally Championship portion of the event, we were ready for the day's 100 Acre Wood Regional Rally.

Second stage saw us pull an exhaust slip joint apart, necessitating Adam yelling to me over the Peltor intercom. Slowed because of worry that something more sinister had happened, we gave up even more time to competitors Henry Krowlikowski and Chris Gilligan.

The giving of time continued through the day, despite us feeling as if we were giving a pretty good effort. Discouraging, but as I like to say, "A bad day at a rally is better than a good day at work." :-)

We ended the day third overall and third in class, with Henry first and Chris second. Not a bad showing and some points taken home, but definitely not the pace I'd hoped for.

But what had I expected? I had expected we'd be closer to Henry, but also knew that a new co-driver in the car would slow me somewhat. No matter how good the chemistry(and it was good), there's a relationship that needs to be built. It only happens with stage miles, and we didn't get a lot.

What's with the title of the blog then, JoMo?! Reflecting on the trip, it was an amazing time spent with friends. Getting to talk to fellow competitors and media folks I haven't seen in awhile. Watching the LDR crew coalesce into an amazing team was probably the most rewarding aspect. Drew, Drew and Zach took ownership of the team and equipment on site and simple made things happen. Maybe this is the first time I've actually given them the ability to do that? ;-)

Regardless, we had great team meals, team sauna time, team problem solving time. The only reason any of us were there was, "because," of the rally. The rally gave us all a framework to have these other experiences, and for that I'm grateful. :-)

The car is too slow, and perhaps I am too. We'll do some more work on the car and see what we can make happen between now and the next event. Until then, I'll keep smiling thinking of the smiles on the kids' faces as they sat in T-4 and the great times I had with my crew/friends and fellow competitors.

Cheers! John