SuperChampio

I accidentally started a rally championship this year.  See, roughly 12 months ago I posted this as a joke in a meme group on fb:

and before I knew it there was a scoring page over on https://sneakattackrally.com/ and people were figuring out their car values via a big discussion thread.  The SuperChampio was off and running, with scoring for every rally in the US and Canada!

I decided the simplest way to do some "coverage" would be a monthly update, so that kicked off in February with a couple images and a writeup- I would continue this throughout the year, and I'm just gonna plop them here in a few posts- by March we also had a scoring page for codrivers, which would rapidly turn into an incredible competition of who could score more rides in cheap cars.

February:

With only one, really slow, really icy rally, February SuperChampio standings are in! Kramer and Gingras in first and third respectively with solid stage speeds and relatively inexpensive cars, and Dantes sneaking into second with a little less speed but a few less dollars too. Honorable mentions to Downey for somehow sitting in the top 10 despite over 5hrs of stage time, Gabe for not being upside down in his first rally in a turbo AWD monstrosity, Sladek for not only rallying a freaking Passport but actually entering a value for the thing, and Sebot for hitting my car without damaging it.

March:

 

March SuperChampio standings are in! Barry Pilcher has moved into the lead with a solid finish down at Y’All Pines in an e36 made primarily of scrap and leftover buggy parts, followed closely at that event by VanDamme in a really pretty decent e30 and Seaman in JVL’s second favorite car. Al Dantes then managed to claw his way back into second place despite an incident with a tree in Winnie the Pooh land, with an extremely narrow WhaleFactor gap to close in order to catch Pilcher. Bret Hunter has slid into third by bringing the only car with an appropriate intake system for Southern Loop, netting him the highest WhaleFactor at that event with an extraordinarily small lead over Atwood with Grant and Coulter close behind.

In the (newly added this month because Nathan Usher is awesome) codriver standings, Bryce Proseus has a slight lead thanks to a trained resistance to vaporized coolant which allows him to codrive multiple Subarus, but is followed closely by Emily Schumacher and Melissa Sherowski, either of whom could take the lead with just a few more stage miles.

April

 

April saw the first SuperChampio points scored in Canada, with team Sharron/Holden earning some Quebecois WhaleFactor up at a cold thing nobody knows how to pronounce. Back in the USofA, at the Olympic Possibly Finland Possibly Jurassic Park Rally, Frentress/Brazer stomped the rest of the SuperChampio field with a commanding lead in a Yaris over Ramos/Freeze, Heredos/Kluge, and Chadney/Kroeze who were all in tight contention thanks to relatively similar car values.

In the driver’s SuperChampio, a late value input moves Mark Rokus into first thanks to results from earlier rallies, followed by Eric Frentress sliding into second with that previously mentioned dunk on the rest of the western champio field, and Barry Pilcher still hanging onto the final podium spot.

In the other seat, Tabitha Lohr tops the podium for the Codriver Champio by spending more time in a VW than anyone really wants to, followed by Chuck Brazer in second, with Bryce Proseus hunting for cheaper cars to sit in to re-ascend in the standings from third.

This is getting interesting- will Dantes get back on the driver’s podium? Are there lurking cheap vehicle codrive specialists preparing to storm the codriver champio? Is there a legitimate $3k car out there waiting to smash the results for everyone??

May

New for this month- total miles on your SuperChampio score page! Thanks to Nathan you can now see just how far you've traveled on your skidplates.

There were too many rallies this month and it's awesome- at McCreary, Bryce Proseus put himself on both sides of the scoreboard with a solid drive in Adam VanDamme's majestically cheap Golf, while simultaneously dunking on himself in the codriver champio and giving Kj Miller a huge boost in the standings. The Golf was followed by Dexter Clark in a B13 Sentra, Logan Siegel in an Impreza, and Adam VanDamme in an e30, all of whom were very close for this event but way behind the less expensive VW. Then at Bristol, top SuperChampio honors went to Nicholas Bukky in his first ever rally with a freshly built Fit, with Nathan Coulter, Matt Mcgee, and Kevin Brolin hot on his heels. Out west at the Oregon Dysentery Spectacular, another strong performance from Eric Frentress in the Yaris boosted him back into the lead, with Niels Kroeze scoring big just behind him, flowed by Alex Ramos . Then, somewhere up in Canada, Trevor Evenson scored his first SuperChampio points, with an excellent 90s Integra and some real speed and distance securing him a podium spot for this month, and with Ian Fry in a Legacy not too far behind.

Over in the codriver champio, Bryce Proseus has reclaimed the top spot after high scoring rides with both Nathan Coulter and Niels Kroeze, followed by Kj Miller with a wide array of hatchbacky things of varying craptitude, and Sarah Freeze in the RSX narrowly beating out a whole bunch of codrivers who are all one event away from claiming the podium.

Who will be the SuperChampio? Who will win the Yoctangle?? Is there a chance we get sponsored by Acura???

Over the summer, I opened up a paypal, which was originally for people to donate to a prize fund but eventually became a place for merch proceeds from the SuperChampio teespring store once I realized we weren't gonna be able to afford any trophies off of just donations and people wanted some goofy shirts anyhow.  https://sneakattackrally.com/MudWhaleSuperChampio/ was gaining entries like crazy, stickers were everywhere, and Travis Pastrana even ran a sticker on his car!

June

AS THE WEATHER HEATS UP SO DOES THE SUPERCHAMPIO- that seems like something "real" rally coverage would say right? First we had the Snakes of Ohio Forest Rally brought to you by CAR DADDY, where Adam Brock walked all other Champios by a mile in his Volvo with motor mounts made primarily of hopes and dreams, chased by John Arthurs in a Foxbody and Nicholas Bukky in a Fit. Only one week later, competitors headed north for the totally-not-just-where-Tower City Race Team-practices-every-weekend CUP rally, where Mark Rokus ran a back to back event after SOFR and put himself into the SuperChampio lead with the Golf. Dexter Clark scored second highest WhaleFactor for the event in a Sentra, followed by Al Dantes Jr. running Rexine in back to back rallies, most likely with structural ratchet straps still installed in the engine bay.

In fact, all three of the current leading SuperChampio drivers ran the double SOFR/CUP back to back challenge, and the Yoopers are suspiciously close, separated by only .001 WhaleFactor. Adam VanDamme could remove a $1 part from his car and pass Al Dantes Jr. if he really wanted to.

In the codriver standings, for the first time the podium is comprised entirely of people who seem to hop into every available codriver seat. We've seen Bryce Proseus and Kj Miller fighting for codriver champio honors for a while now, but Keegan Helwig has joined them on the podium and doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon.

July

The SuperChampio has a life of its' own at this point and I'm just trying to hang on for the ride. This month started strong with Nick Wood and Kj Miller flying a Datsun through some weird french rally in Canada. Then at the New England saFari Rally Josh Hickey earned top WhaleFactor in an e30, followed by Jesse Whitsell in a Rabbit, and Kevin Brolin in another e30 with an actual freaking MudWhale livery and a cassette of whale recordings playing through the factory tapedeck. On the SAME WEEKEND, over at Dust*Drift, Nicholas Bukky yet again dominated with the Fit, with Al Dantes Jr. close behind in Rexine, and Jimmy Pelizzari in one o' them fawkin Blubarus rounding out the podium. And then as if that wasn't all hard enough to follow, out at the million degree cowboy rally another different Fit put a big WhaleFactor gap on everybody with Radek Wlodarczyk at the wheel, with Bret Hunter following in a CRX and Alex Chadney blocking half the damn podium with his Impreza. Somehow this all translates to Al Dantes Jr. leading over Mark Rokus by a mere .001 in the overall driver standings and Adam VanDamme still within easy striking distance for a potential move up.

Meanwhile on the codriver side things are even crazier- Bryce Proseus is still leading after a 100mph dustbath with Anthony Burden and keeping Alex Chadney's car from overheating by sheer force of will; but right behind him Kj Miller is putting in ALL the miles riding with Derek James, found another damn hatchback ride with Radek Wlodarczyk, and smuggling weird Canadian juicebox flavors across the border. Also on the podium but with a bigger gap to close, Keegan Helwig hauled ass in the Alex Kuklov Rally Sport e36 compact but might need to find a cheaper ride to catch the leaders.

August

August saw not only a whole pile of rallies, but Kevin Brolin's WhalE30 on the first official SuperChampio beer!

First up and technically in July but whatever was the low mileage but high attrition MissouroZark Rally, where Erik Votipka landed highest WhaleFactor in his GTI followed by Ty Crawford in his mysteriously TRD colored Impreza, and Chris Martise in that glorious Camaro. Then some rally in Canada where apparently nothing happened. Next was the Ojibwe Lake LobsterPalooza, where Nicholas Bukky yet again took top SuperChampio honors with his Fit and moved into first overall; also, in what I'm pretty sure is the first ever Champio manufacturer podium sweep, the Hondas of Bret Hunter (the CRX, yes that one) and Nick Lyle (Civic hatch) took the other two top spots. Finally, up at the Hardwood Yoopers-Don't-Need-Notes Rally, Chase Blakely took the top spot by just .001 WhaleFactor in his VW over Derek Denti in his RSX, with Al Dantes Jr. putting Rexine into the third spot to retake the overall driver Champio lead from Nicholas Bukky.

Over on the codriver side, it is getting increasingly difficult to cram images of all the cars on the page. Bryce Proseus continues to extend his lead by finding the cheapest seat at every event, while Kj Miller has taken a bit of a drop by missing out on a ride this month and volunteered instead like a proper champio. KJ and Bryce are both closing in on 1000 codriven stage miles this year, and if we count driving and riding Bryce has exceeded 1000 stage miles total already. Keegan Helwig is narrowing the gap to second a bit with another ride in Rexine as well as one in Scott Parrott's glorious S10.
 

September

SeptemberChampio kicked off up north with Oui Oui it's Défi, Kurt Duddy taking home the top Champio points on a Sentra, followed my Margaret Sharron in an STI and Nick Wood in an incredible flying Datsun. Then back in the states at the Scary Trees Pleasedontcrash Rally, Greg Healey scored highest in his rolling retirement plan Outback Sport followed by Edward Best and Jon Kramer in rainbow and camo accented Imprezas, respectively. The month wrapped up with Tour de pleasedon'tsettheForestonfire, Karen Jankowski achieving the highest WhaleFactor in a Neon, Niels Kroeze taking silver in an e30, and Alex Chadney just barely grabbing third in an Impreza.

For the overall driver standings, Nicholas Bukky snuck back past Al Dantes Jr. but destroyed his Fit's entire engine bay in the process with the motor pinballing its' way around in there for the entire Waste Management stage. New to the overall podium, Kurt Duddy has snagged the third place spot by running every event with a french name on this continent.

In the overall codriver standings, Bryce Proseus continues to extend his lead with an ever increasing roster of gloriously frugal rides, while Kj Miller just barely stays in second place ahead of Keegan Helwig- STPR was a story of DNF vs DNF for them, with KJ and Texas Dave having a mechanical just one stage before the James World Rally Team Fiesta Keegan was riding in.

Who will take the driverChampio lead at LSPR? Who will go to Big White for late season points? Who is gonna hunt down that $3k Lada that was for sale a while ago just for the WhaleFactor advantage??

At this point, things were really scooting along- we had awarded some absurd 1000mi club shirts, and on an actual national rally podium no less:

We had a car on a custom beer can:

We had lots of competitors, and the standing on both driver and codriver sides had tons of action every event- there were even some dedicated Canadian competitors making their way up in the ranks.

Then, the night before LSPR, we lost Al Dantes Jr- a tragic and terrible accident, and complete surprise to everyone.  The rally community pulled together and helped support his family with a gofundme, and the SuperChampio sold stickers to raise money:

In the end we raised $4850 in total, and the gofundme crested 6 figures.  We all still miss him, and rally people continue to help his daughters out how and when they can.

October

 

This month we lost the Champio of Champios- Al Dantes Jr. was winning the SuperChampio before it had a name. Rexine's value has been reset to the original $7k, which is where it was before Al decided to play nice and give the rest of us a shot at catching him. The WWADJD sticker campaign raised $4750 for his family, thank you to everyone who bought one. We miss you Al, and I wish you were here to tell me how silly this whale/firebird mashup I was working on for your inevitable victory is.

At LSPR, Levi Johnson managed a win in the former Gabemobile E30, followed closely by Adam Brock in his glorious Swedish Brick and with Nicholas Bukky landing his Fit on yet another podium. Then at Charlevoix, Kurt Duddy scored yet another first place in his Sentra, with Margaret Sharron taking second place in her STi followed by Nick Wood in the worlds greatest Datsun 1200. Much to my surprise there was another rally I had never heard of this month called Kananaskis, where Steve Wadley was the sole SuperChampio entry in an Impreza.

As a result of un-sandbagging Rexine, Al Dantes Jr. sits in the lead of the DriverChampio with a truly nice 3.699 WhaleFactor, with Nicholas Bukky and Kurt Duddy trailing close behind.

On the codriver side, continued domination by Bryce Proseus means that I keep having to scoot his name over to fit more car images, while Keegan Helwig has moved into second place thanks to so many rides with Al, and Kj Miller is in third looking to move up if he can ever stop destroying every GD Impreza he touches.

November

 

Rally coverage loves the word "penultimate" so I guess here's the standings for the penultimate month of SuperChampio 2022. At Show-Me, Nick Lyle showed the ass end of his Civic to the rest of the champio field, with Ty Crawford close behind in his Impreza and Erik Votipka clawing his way onto the podium in his GTI despite a high speed unplanned bark sampling incident. Then at Lawrence Super(champio)Stages, Adam Brock's prancing moose just barely beat out early season leader Barry Pilcher's E36 to take the win, with first time driver Andrew Sims managing to secure third in a borrowed Fit. Next up was Rally Nevada, where Peter Guagenti took the only SuperChampio points in his E36. And finally up at Tall Pines, Kurt Duddy yet again came away with the win in his Sentra, followed by the Subaru of Margaret Sharron with Phil Wearn trailing behind in yet another Subaru.

The overall driver podium has not changed, and while both Nicholas Bukky and Kurt Duddy have upped their points, there are a few rallies left and a few cars just off the podium which could sneak on given enough stage miles. Al is still winning, naturally.

The overall codriver podium also looks about the same, with Bryce Proseus continuing to scoot further ahead after two more rides this month including a swedish brick win, Keegan Helwig attempting to tame the Honda Clutch Curse of Andrew Sims, and Kj Miller continuing his reign of Subaru-differential-based terror across the entire northern hemisphere. There is a real potential for another codriver to bump KJ off the podium with some late season travel.

Who will be Champio? What rallies remain that I'm totally forgetting? WILL THE $3000 LADA ENTER BIG WHITE???

There was no December update, in preparation for the season end awards slideshow thing.  We did sell some calendars though.

Today, I posted the year end awards- this is gonna be an especially image intensive post since it's like 25 slides.  This may not mean much to you if you're not involved in rally, but it means a lot to me.

So... there you have it, all caught up- trophies are still on their way although stuff is happening on that front.  If you don't understand what you just scrolled through that's fine, now I can pretend everyone knows what I'm talking about when I mention SuperChampio from here on out.

This is freakin hilarious and awesome!  How can I get some stickers?  I didn't see any on the creator-spring page.

In reply to Lof8 - Andy :

Gotta be at an event unless I find an easy way to dropship small quantities!  I hand them out during parc expose at events I'm at, the blue Vertical Disambiguation BRZ has them at some of the central/western events, and we try to get somebody a handful in between if neither of us will be at one- I'm actually almost completely out right now and will need to order more for Sno*Drift.

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

fair enough!  I love the whole idea and the fantastic graphics!  

Sure, I don't totally get it, but what I do understand is pretty awesome. Great work!

Also gives context, I believe I saw pictures of said beer a few months ago. Makes sense now. 

Watching this championship unfold has been the highlight of the rally spectating year for me.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

I accidentally started a rally championship this year. 

A lot of series get started this way, maybe it's the best way

You are one (unintentionally) ambitious motherberker.

That was fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing this. 

Chris, you stated that you'd never heard of Kananaskis Rally it's based in Canmore Alberta and you may have driven through there on your Alaska adventure.

In reply to Rons :

I am remarkably terrible at geography for somebody who likes driving across big stuff so much- I think we actually drove right through prime western Canadian rally territory but for reference, I didn't really know how far we'd gone until I looked at the map display on the plane going home!  Clearly I need a codriver.

Even though I know I'm missing rally inside jokes, this is awesome! I want to buy merch to support but it's showing up in euros... is that right?

In reply to AxeHealey :

It shouldn't, I have been looking at getting away from teespring for a long time because it's buggy and weird sometimes but they keep adding new items and I keep staying- when you go to check out I think it should fix itself.  Weird though.   Cookies or cache issue somehow?  VPN?

I think this comment from the NA Rally facebook group post says it best:

Starting a championship might not have been what you had in mind, but your goal was to have fun with rally friends, and at that you have succeeded wildly, so well done!

BTW, every time I read "Super Champio," it's in the voice of a South American futbol commentator

I have zero rally involvement or knowledge, but this just made my day. Very cool!

GameboyRMH said:

BTW, every time I read "Super Champio," it's in the voice of a South American futbol commentator

Now I can't unhear it. And it's good. Also could be in one of the sports announcer voices from Homestar Runner. 

In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

Could be VPN. I had it on earlier in the day and it sometimes stays on in the background even when I turn it off.

In reply to dculberson :

Lol my first thought was Homestarrunner too