Dodge City Showdown

An early morning start from Kansas City allowed a small group of rallyists, including former MGTD racer from Canada Bob Mills, to swing by the Overland Park race track outside of Topeka for some laps around this wonderful circuit.



Kent Prather in Kansas
More pictures of his shop below



Then off for coffee, donuts and general car talk with past national SCCA champion Kent Prather at his farm west of Lawrence. Kent has repeatedly spanked the likes of much newer and supposedly more advanced race cars in the SCCA RunOffs, all while sitting behind the wheel of his 1962 MGA. He's now moved this car to the vintage arena and is building and supporting efforts with a much-modified Mazda Miata in the GTL class.

The drive through western Kansas turned out to be a real test of machines and several cars succumbed to the intense heat and sun. Morris never exceeded 85 degrees C on the gauge, despite a 65 mph pace. Eventually, we did suffer an ignition coil failure which limited speeds to 45 mph, even less with the strong westerly head wind.

Lunch in Kansas

Carrying a spare, I was able to make a roadside swap with the help and support of several other rally car drivers who pulled over to assist. Next to act up was the recently rebuilt SU fuel pump-- also a spare on hand. But in the parking lot of the Dodge House Hotel on Wyatt Earpe Blvd., the MG developed a disconcerting metallic knock from the upper part of the motor. Several very knowledgeable heads worked to diagnose and problem solve until about midnight when the consensus was that it would not be wise to try to push over the mountains risking a catastrophic failure.

Morris, on his own in Dodge City, KS. Good try, buddy!

Morris threw in the towel not far from the OK Corral, within sight of legendary Boot Hill. there in Dodge City, left in the hands of long-time Internet group acquaintance and recent friend, Jim Johnson.

Switching cars

It was a sad decision to make but probably the wisest. I have decided to continue the Rallye to Reno however and finish the challenge-- this time as navigator for Dick Lunney, editor of Classic MG Magazine in his MGB from Charlotte, NC. Now to figure out how to get a limping car and a little camping trailer from the OK Corral back to Michigan, 3-days drive away.

As a brief post-script: While helping competitor Jerry Foster fix some wiring in his 1959 MGA, I received a phone call from Jim Johnson, long-time Internet acquaintance and recent face-to-face friend, informing me he had made arrangements for Morris to be stored in the most secure location in Dodge: a 1950's era concrete Civil Defence bunker designed to withstand Soviet attacks in the absence of Wyatt Earpe or Matt Dillon. I gues we can all sleep more safely.

Prather's shop

Prather's shop