Louisville

Day 3, Stage 3 Monday, June 27, 2005 Hotel: Executive West, Louisville Weather: Very hot and humid, in the 90s, with afternoon thundershowers NEWS Flash: Sweet, Smooth and Sassy team gets their first ACE!
This was an intense day of rallying. We knew it was going to be tough when Dawn picked up the 31 pages of course instructions. Normally it is 18-22 pages. And before the day was over, she was convinced that John Classen was lying when he said the Trophy Run would be the most difficult day - this was definitely tougher. But the good news is that we continued to improve our score and we recorded our first ace. Our score of 38 seconds was 40th for the day and we are now 53rd overall but moving up. We did not get lost and the car is performing well.	Dawn picks up the day's instructions...
We scored our ace on the first leg, then 24 seconds on the second leg, one second on the 3rd leg, followed by 4 seconds each on the 4th and 5th legs, and finally 5 seconds on 6th leg. The second leg was the most difficult, lasting 2 hours and covering 52 instructions with 79 speed changes. The navigator was quite busy! She missed only one turn and that allowed us to add a data point to our performance charts. We now know that it takes precisely 19 seconds to slide to a stop from 45 mph, slam into reverse, burn rubber backwards for 100 feet, stop, and accelerate to 35 into a side road. We did manage to recover the time loss and scored 4 seconds on that leg.
We spent the entire day in the Kentucky backwoods on some very challenging roads. And these Kentucky folks know how to roll out the red carpet. The routes into and out of the pit stop at Maysville and the lunch break at Williamstown were lined with crowds of enthusiastic, cheering families. Maysville is a very pretty little town on the banks of the Ohio River and I think most of the town was at the reception for us. We had more food than at some past lunch breaks.	The pit stop in Maysville
In Williamstown, our gracious hostess, Tena Webster, gave us cold wet towels for our necks and made sure we were treated to a delicious lunch of "Kentucky Hot Brown", a specialty served at the Kentucky Derby. As we were leaving, the mayor met us, giving each of us a key to the city and issuing certificates commissioning all of us as Kentucky Colonels.	The Sweet, Smooth & Sassy Team with Williamstown hostess, Tena Webster
Our afternoon pit stop was in Sparta at the Kentucky Raceway. We gathered our cars in the infield pit area with the expectation that we would all get to drive around the speedway. However, some NASCAR cars were practicing and one had a serious crash just before we were scheduled to go on the track. By the time the driver was taken care of and the debris cleaned up, there was only time enough to allow a few of our cars to go around. And we did not make the short list. The finish line and the parc ferme were in the Six Flags theme park in Louisville.	Stopping at the Kentucky Raceway
So far we are having a wonderful time. This is certainly the experience of a lifetime which only a small percentage of people will ever get to do. It is so gratifying to be associated with the wonderful folks in this racing group and to interface with the many admiring fans and their families across the country.	A typical rally road in Kentucky!!

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