Havir's research led him to cross paths with Scott Putnam, the fleet sales manager of Bloomington Acura-Subaru. Little did either man know that meeting would lead to the creation of CPD Racing, with Havir as the owner-driver and Putnam as the co-driver.

To get a feel for how the little blue car felt like in the real world, Havir bought a 2001 Impreza 2.5 RS from Putnam.

Even though it was a pre-turbo model [he did put another $10,000 in aftermarket equipment in it], Havir was now in the grasp of Rally fever.

But there was a problem with owning a car like the Impreza -- especially for someone who was used to running all out on a computer screen.

"You're just going to go out and get tickets," Havir said. A little more research later, Havir found out about stateside Rally racing.

Even though he could have specced the car for Rally, Havir was using it as a daily driver and said he didn't want to strip the interior and put a rollcage in it.

That led Havir to buy a second cart from Putnam -- this one a 2002 WRX Turbo -- after the $25,000 retail price and about $30,000 in modifications, Havir had himself a Rally car.

To get ready for actual competition, Havir spent four days at Tim O'Neil's Rally School, where he learned left-foot braking and the nuances of weight transfer techniques. Havir said the school's courses, "make you a better driver, period," and thinks they're also suitable for folks who aren't bent on driving in competition.

"If you live anywhere it snows or have gravel roads, you learn how the car handles close to the edge of performance."

But it was after only a few Rally events in his new car that Havir said, "I was hooked and I knew it."

That led him, once again, back to the showroom floor -- but this time, in England instead of Bloomington. Havir decided to go top of the line with Prodrive, a company that has won an incredible 100 international rallies and six World Rally Championship titles with Subaru vehicles.

For Havir, they started with a WRX and built him a world class Rally racer. At a sales price of $160,000, you understand the acronym of CPD Racing, which stands for "Carpe per Diem," or "seize the paycheck."

With Putnam in the co-driver position, Havir and CPD won rookie of the year in 2002. While he appreciates the honor, Havir said his first objective was "I didn't want to suck."

For Putnam, being CPD co-driver is an "opportunity to do something lots of people want to do."

As a hardcore Subaru fan -- besides his job as sales manager -- Putnam said Rally affords him the luxury of combining work and play.

"It's a way for me to combine my vocation and my avocation -- I love Subarus, I sell Subarus -- and 30 days a year I get to race Subarus," Putnam said.

Figuring in the Subaru news website he runs, Subaru.net, Putnam's total portfolio in sales, Rally and publishing qualifies him as one of the most knowledgeable car dealers around.

Even, it turns out, with some of the less glamorous aspects of cruising along gravel and mud roads at improbable speeds.

Last October, the CPD car took a bad hit -- the second crash in two years that put the car out of commission, in a sport that runs a 50% attrition rate per event, according to JB Niday of Rally America.

Putnam said crashing, rolling and other manner of mechanical breakdowns are part of the sport. "It's all fixable, even though going into a tree at 45 miles an hour is kind of violent, you kinda get used to it," Putnam said.

CPD was schedule to run in this weekend's Oregon Trail Rally, the first time they were back in the car since the wreck, but the engine rebuild proved not to be up to snuff.

"You expect to not finish a race a couple of times a season," Putnam said, adding that CPD expects to be back in action for the Susquehannock Trail race on June 4.

Despite missing this weekend's race, Havir said he's pumped to get back on the Rally circuit, because it's a sport that really is "about personal best."

"You're not out there scraping paint with the other guy," Havir said. "It really is you, your car and the road -- that's the part I enjoy about it."