RALLY: 100 Acre Wood named ClubRally National Championship

SCCA confirms '100 Acre Wood' as SCCA ClubRally National Championship through 2005.

DENVER, Colorado The Sports Car Club of America's Performance Rally Department, and the SCCA Performance Rally Board, announced today the selection of "Rally in 100 Acre Wood" as host of the SCCA ClubRally National Championship (CRNC) through 2005. The CRNC is an annual gathering of the nation's top ClubRallyists, selected from the previous year's competition and results. This premium event is to Performance Rallying as the Valvoline Runoffs are to SCCA Club Racing, and will award National Champions in each of the five SCCA ClubRally classes.

Last year, 100 Acre Wood was a hit among the competitors not only for its challenging roads, but due to it's central location in Salem, Missouri, easily accessible for rallyists from all over the country to come and compete. The 2002 Championship Round is slated for February 20-22, 2003. Along with the CRNC round, the rally consists of two separate SCCA ClubRallys and will feature a total of 120+ stage miles, allowing competitors not invited to be in the CRNC to begin their points chase for 2003.

"With all the hard work from last years resurrection of The 100 Acre Wood, we are excited that the SCCA ClubRally stewards have given us this responsibility for the next three years!!", noted 100 Acre Wood Chairman, Kim DeMotte. "Currently we are actively seeking corporate sponsorship for the upcoming years in order to help support the ClubRally National Championship." Already, the Missouri Rural Electric Co-op has assigned an editor and a photographer to the event to write a 'local rural success story' which will be circulated to around 400,000 readers in the area.

"This is an important step in the evolutionary process for performance rally here in the U.S. We now have an impressive event like the reborn 100 Acre Wood being the 'anchor point' for the exploding ClubRally scene," said Kurt Spitzner, SCCA Performance Rally Director. "So far in 2002, the SCCA has sanctioned 58 ClubRally events, up from 47 in 2001, and 41 in 2000. With ClubRally growing at this rate, it is essential that we have a consistent, top-quality championship round for these competitors, with great roads, terrific hospitality, community support, and a central national location. Salem, Missouri and Kim DeMotte, along with his capable committee, are doing a great job of providing just that."

"Salem as a community is very excited! This means a lot economically for tourism development and the businesses here," according to Sharon Tubbs, who works for Salem Economic Development and Chamber of Commerce. "As an example from last year, our local Subway Sandwich shop had their biggest sales weekend of the year when the rally folks were in town. We really enjoyed them last year, and working with the SCCA folks again even now, we look forward to having those people and their exciting cars back for the next few years! This event is a good fit for our community."

Salem, Missouri, the "Gateway to the Ozark Riverways", is located in South Central Missouri - at the intersection of state highways 32, 72, 68 and 19. The town is located 20 miles from the population center of the United Sates and is just over four hours from Topeka, Kansas, the new home of the Sports Car Club of America. Salem is a town known for its friendly, honest, and hard-working people and boasts high quality services, scenic tourist areas, and a strong business base.

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