RIMMING WITH EXCITEMENT FOG, RAIN COULD MAKE AUTO RACE `MORE INTERESTING'.Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer PALMDALE - Rally drivers from around the world are racing along fire roads in the Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los this weekend between Palmdale and Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, in the annual Rim of the World ProRally. Organizers say this year's race should be more interesting than in the past because of the weather. ``We're expecting rain and a little fog, which will make it a bit more interesting,'' said event organizer Paula Gibeault. The event's 20th running kicked off Friday night from Pelona Vista Park at the corner of Rayburn Avenue and Tierra Subida Road and will continue through today with an awards breakfast at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Palmdale Holiday Inn. Pickup trucks, sports cars and compact sedans race along narrow dirt roads dirt road n (US) → camino sin firme dirt road n → chemin non macadamisé or non revêtu dirt road dirt n , get airborne on bumps and dips, and skid around curves bordered by chaparral-clad slopes in the race through the back roads of the High Desert and Angeles National Forest. The rally is designed so that the cars race one at a time against the clock on forest roads closed temporarily to other traffic. The cars recording the lowest total elapsed time e·lapsed time n. The measured duration of an event. Noun 1. elapsed time - the time that elapses while some event is occurring at the end of the event are the winners in each class. This year's race is highlighted by the intense competition between Mitsubishi and Subaru factory teams. ``Mitsubishi and Subaru are just in a death battle,'' Gibeault said. ``They are determined to beat each other. I have never seen that kind of determination.'' Among the drivers are Doug Shepherd, a Chrysler engineer from Detroit, who has been racing in rallies since 1973, when he was 18. He now races a 250-horsepower, front-wheel-drive Dodge SR24 compact for Mopar Performance Parts. ``I like the rush of adrenaline adrenaline (ədrĕn`əlĭn, –lēn): see epinephrine. that you get racing through unknown roads, trying to slow down in time for corners, there's nothing like it'' Shepherd said. ``This is the way I relax, to do something stressful.'' Shepherd won last year's Rim of the World Rally in his class. The race was to kick off just after 7 p.m. Friday and finish its first day after midnight. The racers will begin departing de·part v. de·part·ed, de·part·ing, de·parts v.intr. 1. To go away; leave. 2. To die. 3. at noon today from Pelona Vista Park for the second day of racing, which will continue until just after 10 p.m. Other activities include the 9 a.m.-to-noon display of cars at the park. There will also be a vendor fair with 20 top-performance parts companies on site, a Subaru owners ``Show Down'' car show, Mitsubishi owners car displays, and radio-controlled cars A radio-controlled car (R/C car) is a powered model car driven from a distance using a radio control system. Inputs from joysticks (or a wheel and a trigger) on a transmitter are sent to the car's onboard receiver. . The event will also feature a charity auction at 10:15 a.m. At 5:30 p.m. racers will reach the Lake Hughes Community Club for dinner. At 6:40 p.m., the first car will leave the community club for more night racing. At 11:15 p.m. there will be a champagne ceremony at the finish ramp at Pelona Vista Park. Besides watching the racers at noon today near the park, spectators can view the racing at three spectator Spectator, English daily periodical published jointly by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele with occasional contributions from other writers. It succeeded the Tatler, a periodical begun by Steele on Apr. 12, 1709, under the pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff. locations set up along dirt roads in the Angeles National Forest. Parking at the spectator areas requires a Forest Service Adventure Pass, which will be sold by rally workers for $5. The first spectator area is off Bouquet bouquet a structure resembling a cluster of flowers. Canyon Road at Coarse Gold Road, north of Saugus. Racers will come by twice: starting about 12:45 p.m. and on a return trip starting about 2:10 p.m. The second spectator area is off Spunky spunk·y adj. spunk·i·er, spunk·i·est Informal Spirited; plucky. spunk  i·ly adv. Canyon Road east of San Francisquito Canyon Road. Racers will start on that stage about 2:45 p.m. The third spectator area, which will give spectators a view of both daytime and nighttime racing, is on Forest Service Road 7N23 off Pine Canyon Road, west of Lake Hughes. Racers will pass by after 4:30 p.m. and again after 7:30 p.m. The racers will stop for dinner at 5:30 p.m. at the Lake Hughes Community Club on Elizabeth Lake Road in Lake Hughes. Spectators can buy a hamburger dinner for $5 and watch repair crews in action. Maps and directions are available from the rally headquarters at the Holiday Inn. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) The annual Rim of the World ProRally event pits cars against the clock on forest roads closed temporarily to other traffic. (2 -- color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour SAC Sac: see Sac and Fox. SAC - 1. An early system on the Datatron 200 series. [Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)]. edition only) Media members watch as a rally driver tries to remove his car from a pile of dirt during a practice run for the Rim of the World ProRally. The race began Friday and will conclude today. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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