2010 Montana 500 recap
by Tom Carnegie
For the fiftieth Montana 500 we decided to retrace the original 1961 route. The original run was from Missoula to Fairview, so the
fiftieth was from Fairview to Missoula. Sunday was inspection day. We met at Fairview where the town folk had a no host lunch set up.
On Monday we met in North Dakota. Since we had to run through Sidney under time, we decided to skirt the city on a truck route.
This route was longer than driving through town and was mostly 25 MPH. The route through town was shorter, but had several traffic lights.
It was explained to all drivers that they were required to drive the truck route. Even though, several drivers cut the corner and went
straight through town and gained an advantage of several minutes on the cars that followed the correct route. A discussion was held and
the directors decided to throw out the first leg and start over again. The first car at the end of the scrapped first leg was Sergio
Hernandez, with Garrett Green right behind him. Here are the times of the first leg, for those who are interested:
Sergio Hernandez 1:03:44
Garrett Green 1:03:51
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 1:06:01
Mike Stormo 1:06:24
Bill Mullins 1:07:39
Tom Carnegie 1:07:40
Nan Robison 1:07:58
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 1:08:04
Doug Langel 1:08:15
Jillian Robison 1:09:26
Rick Carnegie 1:09:28
Mike Cuffe 1:12:23
Mike Robison 1:14:40
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 1:18:16
Glen Mc Donald 1:22:40
Dave Huson 1:24:46
We started fresh with the second leg. It was a short run of twenty-five miles from Richey to Circle.
Second leg results:
Mike Stormo 0:30:21
Garrett Green 0:30:25
Mike Robison 0:31:02
Nan Robison 0:31:04
Sergio Hernandez 0:31:06
Tom Carnegie 0:31:10
Rick Carnegie 0:31:50
Bill Mullins 0:31:54
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 0:32:04
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 0:32:12
Doug Langel 0:32:14
Jillian Robison 0:32:27
Mike Cuffe 0:33:59
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 0:35:00
Dave Huson 0:37:06
Glen Mc Donald 0:38:55
(Actual) leg three (counted leg two) was from Circle to Jordan. About 62 miles. On this leg Stormo, Langel and Huson all
broke down. Stormo, stuck valve. Langel, Rod. Huson, head gasket. Stormo would later get back in, but Huson and Langel were done.
The first column will be (actual) leg three results, the second the total through (actual) leg three. From this point on I will refer
to the legs by their counted number only.
Garrett Green 1:13:21
Tom Carnegie 1:15:29
Nan Robison 1:16:29
Bill Mullins 1:16:44
Sergio Hernandez 1:16:55
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 1:17:30
Mike Robison 1:18:43
Rick Carnegie 1:18:58
Jillian Robison 1:19:05
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 1:20:45
Mike Cuffe 1:21:29
Glen Mc Donald 1:33:01
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 1:41:21
Leg two time
Garrett Green 1:43:46
Tom Carnegie 1:46:39
Nan Robison 1:47:33
Sergio Hernandez 1:48:01
Bill Mullins 1:48:38
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 1:49:42
Mike Robison 1:49:45
Rick Carnegie 1:50:48
Jillian Robison 1:51:32
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 1:52:49
Mike Cuffe 1:55:28
Glen Mc Donald 2:11:56
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 2:16:21
Accumulated time
Leg three was from Circle to Winnett, 74 miles. Again, the first column is the time for the leg,
the second is the overall time. At Winnett, Stormo removed his cylinder head and assessed his
stuck valve. We gassed up at the local stop and the folks there reminisced about the last time we had come through.
Garrett Green 1:24:57
Tom Carnegie 1:26:07
Mike Robison 1:26:11
Nan Robison 1:26:33
Sergio Hernandez 1:26:59
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 1:28:45
Rick Carnegie 1:28:58
Jillian Robison 1:29:08
Bill Mullins 1:29:50
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 1:30:47
Mike Cuffe 1:35:27
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 1:40:48
Glen Mc Donald 1:51:20
Leg three time
Garrett Green 3:08:43
Tom Carnegie 3:12:46
Nan Robison 3:14:06
Sergio Hernandez 3:15:00
Mike Robison 3:15:56
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 3:18:27
Bill Mullins 3:18:28
Rick Carnegie 3:19:46
Jillian Robison 3:20:40
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 3:23:36
Mike Cuffe 3:30:55
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 3:57:09
Glen Mc Donald 4:03:16
Accumulated time
Leg four was from Winnett to Lewistown, 52 miles was the last of day one.
We spent the night at the Yogo Inn.
Tom Carnegie 0:55:22
Garrett Green 0:55:22
Mike Robison 0:56:08
Sergio Hernandez 0:56:26
Nan Robison 0:56:58
Rick Carnegie 0:58:24
Jillian Robison 0:58:42
Bill Mullins 0:59:23
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 1:00:50
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 1:00:59
Mike Cuffe 1:01:23
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 1:14:30
Glen Mc Donald 1:24:42
Leg four time
Garrett Green 4:04:05
Tom Carnegie 4:08:08
Nan Robison 4:11:04
Sergio Hernandez 4:11:26
Mike Robison 4:12:04
Bill Mullins 4:17:51
Rick Carnegie 4:18:10
Jillian Robison 4:19:22
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 4:19:26
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 4:24:26
Mike Cuffe 4:32:18
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 5:11:39
Glen Mc Donald 5:27:58
Accumulated time
Leg five began on day two. Stormo was repaired and back in. This leg was from Lewistown to Stanford, 43 miles.
Mike Robison 0:51:09
Tom Carnegie 0:51:23
Nan Robison 0:51:32
Garrett Green 0:52:15
Mike Stormo 0:52:51
Rick Carnegie 0:53:03
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 0:55:00
Jillian Robison 0:55:15
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 0:55:17
Sergio Hernandez 0:56:53
Bill Mullins 0:57:13
Mike Cuffe 0:58:26
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 1:05:36
Glen Mc Donald 1:10:31
Leg five time
Garrett Green 4:56:20
Tom Carnegie 4:59:31
Nan Robison 5:02:36
Mike Robison 5:03:13
Sergio Hernandez 5:08:19
Rick Carnegie 5:11:13
Jillian Robison 5:14:37
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 5:14:43
Bill Mullins 5:15:04
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 5:19:26
Mike Cuffe 5:30:44
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 6:17:15
Glen Mc Donald 6:38:29
Accumulated time
Next leg was from Stanford to the construction at Belt, 37 miles. On this leg Green had a flat tire.
Tom Carnegie 0:38:00
Nan Robison 0:38:04
Mike Robison 0:38:25
Rick Carnegie 0:39:13
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 0:39:38
Mike Stormo 0:39:58
Sergio Hernandez 0:40:10
Jillian Robison 0:40:31
Bill Mullins 0:42:29
Mike Cuffe 0:42:47
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 0:43:18
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 0:45:12
Garrett Green 0:46:09
Glen Mc Donald 0:47:29
Leg six time
Tom Carnegie 5:37:31
Nan Robison 5:40:40
Mike Robison 5:41:38
Garrett Green 5:42:29
Sergio Hernandez 5:48:29
Rick Carnegie 5:50:26
Jillian Robison 5:55:08
Bill Mullins 5:57:33
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson 5:58:01
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 5:59:04
Mike Cuffe 6:13:31
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson 7:02:27
Glen Mc Donald 7:25:58
Accumulated time
The last leg of day two was from Vaughn to Lincoln, 74 miles. It was very rainy
on this leg. Hutch backed out because of engine noise and Jillian and Skeeter both lost rods.
Mullins stopped to replace a coil.
Tom Carnegie 1:22:20
Mike Robison 1:23:27
Mike Stormo 1:24:15
Nan Robison 1:24:36
Sergio Hernandez 1:27:30
Rick Carnegie 1:27:39
Garrett Green 1:27:44
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 1:28:28
Mike Cuffe 1:36:54
Bill Mullins 1:45:42
Glen Mc Donald 1:52:53
Leg 7 time
Tom Carnegie 6:59:51
Mike Robison 7:05:05
Nan Robison 7:05:16
Garrett Green 7:10:13
Sergio Hernandez 7:15:59
Rick Carnegie 7:18:05
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 7:27:32
Bill Mullins 7:43:15
Mike Cuffe 7:50:25
Glen Mc Donald 9:18:51
Accumulated time
The last leg was on day three. 69 miles from Lincoln to Bonner, just outside of Missoula.
We were joined by Mike Cain who had trouble getting his car to the run. Jillian repaired
her rod and was back in. Tom Carnegie had a bad leg and Nan Robison had a good one.
It was good enough to put her on top.
Nan Robison 1:19:23
Mike Stormo 1:20:07
Mike Robison 1:20:25
Sergio Hernandez 1:20:47
Garrett Green 1:21:52
Rick Carnegie 1:21:54
Bill Mullins 1:23:57
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 1:24:54
Jillian Robison 1:26:32
Tom Carnegie 1:28:08
Mike Cuffe 1:28:38
Mike Cain 1:37:07
Glen Mc Donald 1:38:58
Leg 8 time
Nan Robison 8:24:39
Mike Robison 8:25:30
Tom Carnegie 8:27:59
Garrett Green 8:32:05
Sergio Hernandez 8:36:46
Rick Carnegie 8:39:59
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop 8:52:26
Bill Mullins 9:07:12
Mike Cuffe 9:19:03
Glen Mc Donald 10:57:49
Accumulated time
At the subsequent teardown Mike Robison was disqualified for having an illegal carburetor
which moved everyone below him up one spot. Green's car was given a cursory examination.
His carburetor was found to pass the gauge from one direction, but the issue was not
put to a vote of the drivers by the inspectors. The final positions are listed on the following page.
| Pos. |
Car No. |
Name |
Hometown |
Total Time |
Average |
Miles Completed |
| 1 |
11 |
Nan Robison |
Spokane, WA |
8:24:39 |
51.84 |
|
| 2 |
7 |
Tom Carnegie |
Spokane, WA |
8:27:59 |
51.5 |
|
| 3 |
9 |
Garrett Green |
Orange, CA |
8:32:05 |
51.09 |
|
| 4 |
1 |
Sergio Hernadez |
Bell Gardens, CA |
8:36:46 |
50.62 |
|
| 5 |
8 |
Rick Carnegie |
Spokane, WA |
8:39:59 |
50.31 |
|
| 6 |
14 |
Sheridan "Sonny" Bishop |
Orange, CA |
8:52:26 |
49.13 |
|
| 7 |
13 |
Bill Mullins |
Spokane, WA |
9:07:12 |
47.81 |
|
| 8 |
6 |
Mike Cuffe |
Eureka, MT |
9:19:03 |
46.79 |
|
| 9 |
15 |
Glen McDonald |
Calgary, AB |
10:47:59 |
39.77 |
|
| 10 |
4 |
Jillian Robison |
Spokane, WA |
|
|
419 |
| 11 |
2 |
Ed "Skeeter" Carlson |
Cheney, WA |
|
|
331 |
| 12 |
3 |
Mark "Hutch" Hutchinson |
Spokane, WA |
|
|
293 |
| 13 |
5 |
Mike Stormo |
Davenport, WA |
|
|
279 |
| 14 |
17 |
Mike Cain |
Spokane, WA |
|
|
69 |
| 15 |
16 |
Doug Langel |
Rudyard, MT |
|
|
66 |
| 16 |
12 |
Dave Huson |
Berthoud, CO |
|
|
35 |
| DQ |
10 |
Mike Robison |
Spokane, WA |
8:25:30 |
51.75 |
|
Cars that did not complete the entire route's position is based on the number of miles completed, under time.
Ed Towe started the Montana 500 in 1961. He was on hand to flag us out in North Dakota and also
to flag us in in Missoula. In the background is a camera from a film crew that was on hand making
a documentary of the fiftieth running of the Montana 500.
President Mike Robison talking to George Fitzgerald during the lunch stop on day one.
George ran in the first run in 1961.
The hardworking timer girls. Jackie Stormo and Susie Carnegie.
Mike Cuffe drove his T all of the way to North Dakota, then ran the entire run, all without a
support vehicle. He had no problems.
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