I got the Torchbug in late August, just before the Ojibwe rally. And by just I mean I had it mailed to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, the town where the rally was based, and picked it up the afternoon before recce.
Torchbug helped me with my notes.
The next day Lil Torchy joined in the parc expose festivities.
We strapped Torchbug in so it could run it’s first rally.
That didn’t go so well
Torchbug was pretty dirty after two days of rally
After cleaning ourselves up we flew home to Massachusetts
Torchbug conferred with the rally cars, trying to absorb their good juju.
We only had four days home though, then it was back on a plane, this time Austin bound.
Torchy and Bacon the Dinosaur finally met Fluffy Bunny!
And the rest of the Puff clan
We saw the Batmobile
We had goooooooood brisket
We discovered Steffers is butt turrible at golf
We went kayaking
Then it was time to fly back to Mass (side note: I won the legroom lottery!)
A couple more work-filled weeks, then it was back on the road for rally, this time in Houghton, Michigan. We saw the Quincy Mine, made famous in Dirt 3.
Unfortunately the rally week was stupid crazy, so I didn’t get to take any photos. But if you look between the seats in shots like this...
What an odd silhouette...
Torchbug spotted!
The rally went well
Really well. Second place on the national podium. This time instead of dust Torchy was covered in celebratory champagne.
The next day, after a bonkers afterparty, it was back to Mass. Torchy briefly celebrated with the rally cars, then it was back in the mail and on to Uly.
Steffers stole Torchy a few times while I was in Austin so she could take it to things like the WEC race at CoTA. I’ll ask her to toss her photos in the comments when she has time.