"Goooood morning Iowa!" I said to my friend Jerry as we filled up his super white Scion tC  at the Short Stop. It was a bit after 6:30 am and we were representing RallyNorthAmerica.com and Speed-Bros.com, en route to one of the biggest and most exciting rally events to take place in the country: the 2010 MidCoast Road Rally, an adrenalin-filled time-speed-distance competition rally involving more than 130 cars across the state of Iowa. As the sun began to rise and we pulled into the starting location, we were greeted by a black Lotus Elise decked out in MidCoast decals, a Dodge Viper, Holden Monaro, a few Subaru WRXs, Audi S4. And all this at only 6:55! Within a half hour, the majority of the participating cars rolled in, and I felt like a kid in a candy store. As event organizer Ryan Surber laughed, "Where else do you get Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martin, and Mosler parked next to minivans?" Follow the jump to see a ton of pics from this awesome rally.

Among the more than 130 cars that filled the parking lot was everything from muscle cars like the Chevrolet Chevelle and Pontiac GTO, to tuner classics like the Acura NSX, Honda S2000, Toyota MR2, and a sharp fire-red Nissan 240sx. There were also several exotics including a purple Lamborghini Diablo, Ferrari Testarossa and F430, Aston Martin DB9, Maserati Gran Turismo, and even an ultra-rare Mosler MT900 (my favorite). Of course there were a few other random funny vehicles including the “Top Gear Tahoe,” the Iowa Farm Mafia Cadillac Limo, an old Lincoln Continental dubbed the “land shark”, the burnout beast Honda Odyssey, and what’s a road rally without a General Lee Dodge Challenger? And these were only a fraction of the incredible vehicles, filled with fun-loving and eager people, ready to hit the road for a full day's worth of rallying.

After a short drivers' meeting that covered rules, routes, and how to use Trapster, everyone lined up to go. This time-distance-rally meant we had a set average speed for each road we traveled on. Go any faster or slower than the posted average speed and your overall time, and chances of wining the grand prize and trophy will evaporate. For the next few hours, I rode along in the passenger seat of the Scion, gps units running, radar detectors alert, and video cameras rolling, as we set off through the scenic state of Iowa.

At each checkpoint, we recieved either a poker chip or a blue ticket, which later on helped reduce our overall route time. Along the way were a number of fun challenges at some of the stops: “Find an ugly pumpkin,” we were instructed as the entire fleet of cars pulled off to the side of the road of a pumpkin patch, only to be later required to launch every one of the deformed orange globes off a bridge into the river. Cruising along on some of the best driving roads I'd ever seen, we tailed along with the Cadillac CTS-V, red Corvette convertible, and the older Mercedes S600 which we called ‘the dirty V12’ due to its thick dust-covered paint. At the next checkpoint we got caught up to by the red NSX, Viper, and BMW 5, and we took off through a maze of confusing roads, where we met up with the red 60’s Mustang and yellow Toyota MR2.

Another poker chip in hand, we headed off to find the third major checkpoint of the day. Trapster was warning “Dangerous intersection...dangerous intersection,” as we turned left on to a busy stretch of country highway.

Minutes later we pulled into a park where we spotted an older Birtish Land Rover and two guys dressed like they came straight out of a safari. Our new mission was find the two missing Jaguars. We spotted the black Maserati driving on the grass towards an older blue Jaguar E-type sitting in a corner near a tree. Autograph signed, we headed out to find the second Jaguar which turned out to be a black XJ behind some bushes. Mission accomplished, we tailed out behind the Viper, Subaru WRX, and Maserati.
We met up with some of our friends from the CheeseWheel 450 Rally (www.cheesewheel450.com) and the rest of the MidCoast rally crew in Lehigh, Iowa for lunch. Before crossing the bridge to the check-in, we spotted some teams stalling on the side of the road, making up for lost time due to fast driving.



As participants pulled into the restaurant and clocked in their time, we turned the small town of Lehigh into a car show. Rock music blared as we lined up for lunch which turned out to me good old bake beans, potato salad, and pork. Rally participants sat around picnic tables telling stories from the first leg of the drive. After a post-lunch announcement and update from the Road Rally Charities crew, it was time for burnouts! We all got the chance lay a bit of rubber down as we departed for our next driving leg. A Ferrari Testarossa went screaming by, old and new age muscle cars were frying tires, and even the Honda Odyssey minivan did a little tire screeching.

Driving through the farmlands of Iowa, we met up with the CTS-V, Jeep Wrangler, and the older BMW 3 series. Jerry and I got separated from the pack for a bit, and diverted onto a 3-or-so-mile long curvy gravel road in the middle of the woods. Jerry was pissed, but all I could think was, where's the General Lee Dodge Challenger team when you need 'em? We finally reached a familiar road and got back on track, and our next checkpoint was a fishing pier in a big park. It time to rodeo it up: only on the MidCoast Road Rally will you find six big inflatable horses for hopping around on, knocking each other off. Poker chip in hand, we tailed behind the yellow Lotus, and CTS-V.



The driving roads and scenery got even better as the day went on. We passed the yellow Lotus a few minutes later on the side of the road, pulled over by cop for speeding. Oh well: we were rallying for a good cause, some times you just get unlucky. After an hour or so we pulled into our next checkpoint to see the Subaru WRX STI and 240SX  pulling out. We walked over to a crowd of people standing around a big tarp and a few slippery raw turkeys. The goal? Throw the turkey as far as you can and knock off your opponent’s turkey. A little fall-themed fun is always a blast, especially when you’re surrounded by car enthusiasts.

We headed off towards our second-last checkpoint of the day, located by a lake. The sun was beginning to set and Iowa’s true colors were coming alive. Cars pulled in to this checkpoint, parked, and took a bit of a break to relax and enjoy the sights. The thundering roar of the Viper’s V10 followed by the yellow SSR, white BMW 1 series, and the chicken pair in the S2000 arrived. We met up with the twin brothers driving the yellow Toyota MR2 Spider and decided to tail along with them for the remainder of the rally.

After stopping at a vineyard and tasting some Iowa-grown wine, we received our final route card. The 2010 MidCoast Road Rally participants were on the homestretch to downtown Des Moines. Everyone was starting to join up on the highway, a convoy of some of the greatest automobiles ever built, headed for the finish line.  About twenty minutes from the exit towards downtown, I spotted the beastly new Camaro SS with the Hennessey supercharger kit in our rearview. Nice! Downtown Des Moines was not a place we'd hoped to get lost, and we pulled up next to the brothers in the MR2 to try to figure out where exactly to turn. We ended up going left,  and I got to see what was the first of many Hennessey Camaro powerslides through the streets of downtown. Props! For the next half hour, we would tag along with the Camaro, the red-white-and-blue AMC AMX, Toyota MR2, and a few others.

The sun finally set as we pulled into a whole street closed down for our VIP finish-line party. There were cars were lined up on either side, crowds of people, live music, food, drinks and more.  After a long, adrenaline-filled, exhausting day of rallying through the great state of Iowa, Team Scion made it to the finish line.  I stood up through the sunset as we rolled into the downtown party, everyone was hanging out, cheering, taking pictures, and celebrating. We handed in all of our checkpoint materials and poker chips, grabbed a bite to eat, and hung out with the other MidCoast rally teams. All the sudden, we thought we heard thunder; it actually to our sight, was the Isiserettes Drum Line. A talented group of teenagers from Des Moines marched in front of us, banging wildly on a variety of drums and percussion instruments. I’ve been a musician for 13 years, and let me tell you, the Isiserettes were probably the most exciting drum group I’ve ever seen, wow!

After their dynamite performance, Ryan Surber began the award ceremony. Sponsors were thanked and awards were given out for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places; best theme; best costumes; farthest drive award; and the “You Got Screwed” award. The grand prize for the first place team? The moonshine-drinking boys from the General Lee Dodge Challenger Team took home a $700 Rosso Corsa Contagiri Nero watch from 
Italy. This beautiful watch designed by Eric Serafini, is based on Italy's Mille Miglia Rallye competition winner Ferrari 290 #548. A pair of unique driving gloves was also thrown into this generous prize package put together by Speed-Couture.

Jerry and I said our goodbyes and thank yous, started up the Scion, and drove back east towards Chicago and Pennsylvania. To sum it up, Road Rally Charities puts on one the most professionally run, adventure-filled, road rally events you will ever participate in. If you want to hang out with a great group of people, do a bit of competitive driving with a fleet of amazing cars, and spend a weekend raising profits for a good cause, do the MidCoast Rally. It's an unforgettable experience. Check out RoadRallyCharities.com, CheeseWheel450.com, and RallyNorthAmerica.com to get involved in a road rally near you.