Hospitality in Alabama

On a beautifully pleasant Sunday afternoon in late October, the Alabama Region SCCA gathered for the first annual Helloween Night Rallycross.  I attended as a representative of the Atlanta Region, and an interested spectator.  With the Atlanta region in the planning stages of implementing a new Rallycross program, we thought it would be a good idea to see how other regions do it.

Having gone to the event, I can say that the good folks of the Alabama region are some of the most hospitable and amiable folks that exist.  I was given more ride-alongs, good conversation, and friendly invitations than almost anywhere I had ever been.

This particular event was the brain child of Rallycross National Champion Edwin Cunill, and went off without a hitch.  Starting fairly late in the day, the event was scheduled to run well into the night.  With work looming in the morning and a 3 hour drive back home, I did not get to stay through the finish of the event, but after 8 runs per driver with even more to come, I felt as though I had already seen three events put on.

Thanks to a lack of rain, non-existent wind, and a slightly sandy under layer of dirt, the second set of runs of the day, set just as the sun was setting were quite clouded with a low terranian fog.  During a few in car ride alongs, I could barely tell where the course was supposed to be, and some competitors did, in fact, get lost on course.  The glare from the sun was terrible, and the dust was difficult, but everyone came away with a smile on their face.

Edwin Cunill pictured tearing it up in his M2 BMW 2002.