The Moontower RoadRally was intended to be a tour of central Austin, Texas, by driving to each of the remaining 13 Moontowers installed in 1895 to illuminate the city. The city has always denied that these 165-foot-tall artificial moons were purchased to brighten the city after a series of murders in the 1880s. These murders were named by local author Sidney Porter, pen name O’Henry, as the Servant Girl Annihilator murders in which seven women and one man were killed. The serial killer, who preceded Jack the Ripper by ten years, was never identified.
and 2017 Ford Raptor of the Lou and Hanna Senko family and children.
Fifteen people signed up for this SCCA Lone Star Region event on MotorsportReg.com, and two people walked up during the registration hour preceding the event. Of these teams, 10 were SCCA members, and seven were not. Two of the seven non-SCCA participants had taken part in previous road rallies and will require Weekend Memberships, but five were new to our events. Laurence Fischbach and Christian Bufford should get weekend memberships. Among the participants were four passengers, three from the Senko family, and one was the military roommate of Molly Ellinger, who navigated for her brother in this event. Seven past or current veterans were included among participants, although there was only one combat veteran. One veteran was given partial credit for combat, having served in Washington, DC, for many years. 80% of participants learned about this event through the Region’s newsletter, but 20% learned about it through MotorsportReg.com.
Despite the 100-degree heat, the event went well, as only one vehicle dropped out because of the heat. That vehicle was a 1957 classic Cadillac without air conditioning which won the prize for the Oldest Vehicle and Most Unique Vehicle at this event. This vehicle was kept original by Frank Manzare, driver, and Colby Mischefsky, navigator.
and her husband Jeff Pollard, Frank Manzare and Colby Mischefsky on the right.
Our endpoint of this RoadRally was the Moontower Saloon in south Austin. Although this Saloon is nowhere near any of the actual Moontowers, its name is appropriate for this Rally.
Other awards given out at the social include:
• Youngest Driver to Liam Ellinger, and Youngest Navigator to his sister, Molly Ellinger.
• Youngest Participant award went to Greyson Senko, the youngest of three children in the Senko family.
• Oldest Driver award went to 83-year-old David Trezeciak, and the Oldest Navigator went to Candice Fishbach, who had also won this award on the Bluebonnet RoadRally run earlier this year.
• Oldest Participant award also went to David Trezeciak.
• Newest Car award went to Laurence Fischbach in his 2021 Subaru Outback.
• The awards for Furthest Car to Participate and Nearest Car to Participate both ended in ties. This is the first event where we have had any ties, and having ties in these two categories was surprising. In both awards, mileage was taken from their home starting point to our initial meeting point. Christian Bufford and Liam Ellinger both traveled 210 miles to participate. Christian had won this award at an earlier RoadRally this year from San Angelo. Liam was a first-time participant and came all the way from Richardson in the Fort Worth area. The two awards for the Nearest to Participate both came just eight miles to participate. These included the Lou Senko family from West Lake Hills and Bjarne Haug from north Austin.
Complaints about this event centered on the speed bumps that were mentioned in pre-event publicity. One driver said he had to stop and check his car after one impact. These speed bumps are on city neighborhood streets. Two people found typos in the route instruction. Everyone noted that two of the Moontowers, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were missing. The Austin Historical Society, which is right across the street from one of the missing Moontowers, will be notified. Hopefully, the two missing towers are just being repaired.