Argonaut Motor Club Media
Crews from John Concha Motorsports and Garage126 Racing arrived in Johnson City, TN on Wednesday, September 11th, to kick off the rally week. Argonaut Motor Club (AMC) staffed a team of seven to tackle transport, prep, and service for two cars in as many classes (i.e., L2WD and L4WD), along with cooking and media.
Recce for the 400 mile event (130 stage miles) started early Thursday morning where crews quickly realized they were in for a tough and exciting event. The technical roads and long stage lengths would require maximum focus. For driver Sean Donnelly, this would be an opportunity to show growth and progress after going off the road on stage 7 during the regional event, Bristol Forest Rally, a year prior.
Recce continued Friday morning with some unexpected debris from an overnight storm. While not ideal for writing pace notes, a large recce vehicle paid off for this event.
The team met Thursday afternoon for a 5-hour testing session to dial in the car setups and get comfortable with the road conditions in the Cherokee National Forest. For driver John Concha, this was an opportunity to adjust to a new and improved braking setup in his AMC-built Ford Fiesta ST. The #126 crew was also adjusting. For the first time, they'd be piloting a 4WD vehicle in competition – the AMC Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
The rally officially kicked off at Parc Expose – located at the Newport Fairgrounds – Saturday morning, where 49 competing cars departed for Special Stage 1 (i.e., SS1).
Saturday evening ended at the Newport Raceway, where fans filled the seats to watch the Super Special Stage 7. Cars faced off for two laps on the banked oval track with dirt jumps added to the straights. Both AMC cars took the opportunity to put on a show for the fans.
The cars returned to service Saturday night with a bit of jump-induced damage. The team dove in for a long night of repairs and maintenance before packing up to move to a new service area for the following day.
On Sunday, the teams maintained cleaned lines through the twisty, flowing roads. A low tire pressure issue stifled car #126's Power Stage attack, but both cars made it to the finish line; a feat in itself considering how difficult this rally proved to be.
Overall, the event was a tremendous success for the Argonaut Motor Club team. John Concha and Matt Michell (car #348) finished in 4th place in the National L2WD class while Sean Donnelly and Zach Pfeil (car #126) took 3rd place in the National LN4 (combined L4WD and NA4WD) class.
This event wraps up the 2024 season for John Concha Motorsports and Garage126 Racing. Information regarding 2025 plans will be shared soon! In the mean time, check out the Garage126 Racing YouTube channel for more rally content.
