Ferrari has been staging a series of TSD Rallies (time, speed, distance) across the country. In a TSD rally, drivers and their navigators are given fairly difficult driving instructions to get from the infamous Point A to Point B. The 'trick' is to make the trip in as close to a "perfect time" as possible. That perfect time was developed by the Rally Master, the person who laid out the course. Drivers who go over the speed limit are (supposedly) automatically suspended from the rest of the event. Hitting that theoretical perfect time is all that matters. But things got out of hand on at least one of the rallies, the Ferrari Owners' Rally for Northern Oregon. AUTOBLOG reported that at least one participant was stopped by police for exceeding 125 miles per hour. Due to some personal connections, we received emails from participants in that particular Ferrari Rally which confirmed those high speeds. And more. At the same time, an OPEN ROAD RACE in Utah, which involves the closing of public highways to allow people to drive their own cars as fast as they want, saw yet another classic Ferrari destroyed. My take on these events is a bit different.
In September, 1988, the first SILVER STATE CLASSIC OPEN ROAD RACE was held near Ely, NV. 
This was the first time in America that anyone could remember the public roads being closed for an event which invited anyone to drive their own cars which, after a somewhat of an "inspection", were allowed on the "track". Cars left the start line at 2 minute intervals. Through some connections, I was the Public Relations person for that very first race. What follows is an email I wrote to my friends who participated in the recent Northern Oregon Ferrari Rally, and, I think much to their chagrin, I came down squarely on the other side of these events. Here's why:
I’m assuming you are discussing one of those OPEN ROAD RACES where people are allowed to travel as fast as they like, no matter whether they have any training or not. No matter whether their cars meet strict safety concerns or not. Whether they ever strapped-on a helmet or not.
And I know what I am talking about, probably more than anyone else reading these emails.
I did the Media Relations for the very first SILVER STATE CLASSIC, the first of these open road races. A man named Phil Henry, a very ‘interesting guy’ with a lot of ‘connections’ in Las Vegas, had convinced the Nevada Highway Patrol to close down a route of about 90 miles out of Ely, NV for a period of about 6 hours. Cars were released at 2 minute intervals and there were about 100 entries, if I remember right (this was about 20 years back).
As usual, there was a tie-in to some military or law enforcement ‘charity’, so everything was ‘ok’ (‘wink, wink’) and ‘legal’.
There were at that time a lot of whorehouses in the Ely area, and some of them even sponsored some of the race cars. The local hotel was right out of the 1860s, and a boom in local mining meant the gaming tables were full 24 hours a day with drunken and drug-high miners spending their BIG cash rolls.
What a scene.
Anyway, as the PR guy, the editor of HOT ROD approached me
and asked if he might get a ride in one of the cars. Of course I found a willing driver.
So I placed the editor of HOT ROD magazine in a red Camaro, I think it was, and off they went from the starting line.
About ½ hour later, the Nevada Highway Patrol radioed us that there had been a huge crash of a “red car” and that the passenger was DOA (dead-on-arrival).
For more than a few moments, it appeared that the fellow I had placed in one of the cars for the OPEN ROAD RACE ‘experience’ had been killed.
It turned out that a dentist (how ironic), driving his Ferrari, had gone off the road and his wife had been killed instantly. He was in terrible shape himself. Don’t know the outcome of his condition.
This latest crash and destruction of a Ferrari took place, I believe, in an OPEN ROAD RACE in Utah just a few weeks ago. The event was another ‘benefit’ for a ‘law enforcement charity’.
In any event, the experience I had in that OPEN ROAD RACE and the injuries, deaths and wrecks which have result from them over the years make NO SENSE AT ALL. This is not a matter of “different strokes for different folks”, this is a simple matter of COMMON SENSE.
Guys with fast cars want to drive way over your heads? RENT A RACE TRACK!
But no, you wouldn’t be able to do that … No track owner in their right minds would allow untrained drivers in potentially unsafe cars on ANY reputable track in the world…Guess it’s back to illegal street racing for all of you ‘kids’!
GROW UP! GET TRAINED AT A RACE TRACK BY PROFESSIONAL 
DRIVERS AS SO MANY OF US HAVE! AND KEEP YOURS PANTS ZIPPED ON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAYS!
Comments, anyone?
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