THE RALLY and THE RALLY COURSE  

The Search for The Great Pumpkin is a TSD RoadRally, sanctioned by the New England Region of the Sports Car Club of America (NER/SCCA) in NER/SCCA’s 2004 RoadRally Championship, and hosted by the Touring Club of New England (TCNE).  The TSD competition in NER’s Championship Classes A, B, C, and S, and the non-Championship Novice Class D will include simple TIMING EXERCISES in 6 of its 16 legs.   The tradition of The  Search as a trap-loop rally will be retained by the simultaneous inclusion of several traps & failsafe off-course loops, which will present several opportunities in the 16 legs to visit/miss that Halloween favorite, The Great Pumpkin.   All of The Search's traps are based upon the 1996 NER/SCCA Road Rally Regulations (Amended), including additions and changes listed in the General Instructions.

These visits will be monitored by special passage controls along the route.  Whether or not the traps are executed correctly, and whether or not you visit The Great Pumpkin at these passage controls, TSD timing/scoring will not be affected.   While it is true that competitors may follow different courses depending upon their solution to the traps, the instructions and the alternate failsafe courses have been constructed so that all competitors have the opportunity to arrive at next timing control on time, independent of which course is followed, and independent of whether they visit/miss The Great Pumpkin at the passage controls.     There will be a separate scoring system and special awards relative to the visits to The Great Pumpkin at the special passage controls.

The Search for The Great Pumpkin will traverse about 155 miles of roads in northeastern Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts.  From the headquarters in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, the longer morning route (90+ miles) takes you southwesterly into Connecticut, then southeasterly to a morning break in Dayville, CT.  It continues south and east to Sterling, CT before heading west to a lunch break in Plainfield, CT.  The shorter afternoon route (65+ miles) continues west and north  through Scotland, Chaplin, and Ashford, CT to a brief afternoon break in Willington, CT.   The final portion of the route roughly parallels I-84 as you travel north and east back toward Sturbridge for some final chances to see “THE GREAT PUMPKIN”, and Search's first and only Do-It-Yourself passage control with its control slip printed in the Route Instructions.   

THE RALLY COMMITTEE  and VIPs

Chairman and Rallymaster                             Registrar:

Mark Rerick (aka The Head Beagle)                               Mary Beth Folsom 

181 Angell Avenue                                                              212 Castlewood Drive

Cranston, RI 02920                                                             Bloomfield, CT 06002-1370

(401) 942-1708                                                                     (860) 243-8557

search4gp@cox.net                                                        mbgfolsom@aol.com

Click this address to send e-mail                                                                            Click this address to send e-mail

Controls                                                    NER/SCCA Pre-Check

Barbara Ciesla                                                                       Barbara Ciesla

Course Advisor Emeritus                                          NER/SCCA Official Observer          

Jolyan Butler                                                                           tba

Passage Control Advisor 

Trusty the Beagle, Official Mascot of The Search