It was an annual pilgrimage for car freaks from coast to coast. The Starlite Rally was a truly legendary event. Over a hundred cars blasting through the night over two lane back roads from Santa Barbara to Las Vegas. Once in a while you get a chance to relive history. Once again you can experience the excitement of driving into the parking lot full of exotic cars and knowing that for one night of your life, you’ll be testing your skill against theirs’ on wide open roads. Experience the thrill of competing with top notch rally teams. For twelve hours, you’ll be making memories that will live for a lifetime.
The Santa Barbara Sports Car Club put on the Starlite Rally every December from 1971 to 2000. It was not a technically difficult event. It was just an excuse to drive to Vegas for fun going over the best roads in the world. You didn’t need compasses or protractors or elaborate timing equipment. You didn’t need to follow boring “Left at T” instructions. You just find the next checkpoint on the map and drive there. It was a lot like the TV show “Bullrun” long before that was ever invented. Over the years, it got a little more competitive with timed checkpoints and became the Premier Monte Carlo Rally in North America. Some people who had no interest in competition brought out their nice cars just to make the drive. You ran with the best cars that BMW, Porsche. Jaguar, Audi and Mercedes could build. All the best Japanese machines were there with hot rides by Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Honda, Mazda and one very special black NSX. Every type of sports car has competed over the years, too, with one crazy team freezing their asses off in a topless red Cobra. There were muscle cars, pony cars, luxury cars and all kinds of modified machines running through the night. The banquet in a big ballroom in Vegas was also memorable. Prime rib dinners and an open bar and the funniest talk you have ever heard about the antics of the night. Huge bronze trophies were awarded to the winning teams. It was a legendary event with some legendary hangovers, too.
Here’s your chance to relive history. The Into the Night Rally Team is putting on “Stellar Luminescence” to celebrate the wonderful years of the Starlight Rally. It will have many of the same things we loved about Starlite with some differences to make it even more fun. If you think you’re a good driver, here’s a chance to prove it. If you’ve never seen the sun rise over the desert, you really should. If you just love driving your car, here’s a guided tour of the best roads you’ll never find on your own. It WILL be legendary.
Stellar Luminescence will run Friday night November 20th starting in Santa Barbara. The starting location is confidential at this time. More information is here:
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RallySnake
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