Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? OK, then how about $500?

Les Konrad and Doug Marousek  heard that call, and then rallied with the appropriate “right stuff” to win a recent road rally in Portland, Ore., and cop the $500 prize for first place.

    Konrad and Marousek, both statisticians at the Oregon State Statistical Office in Portland with the National Agricultural Statistics Service, entered the road rally that was sponsored by a local car club.

     Konrad explained that in this particular road rally, contestants drive their vehicles along a pre-determined course of about 25 miles, which winds through both urban and rural settings. “But the purpose of the rally,” he pointed out, “is not to see who can complete the course in the fastest time--which could lead to reckless and speedy driving.”

     “Instead, the purpose is to see how close we contestants can come to the official time which had been recorded earlier for the two-hour event.”

     Marousek noted that his role was to navigate while Konrad was at the wheel of his 1979 blue El Camino.

     Marousek explained that the strategy was to follow the instructions handed out, which plotted the course, plus locate particular local landmarks and other sites that were referenced in the instructions as clues, not exceed the speed limit, avoid shortcuts, and locate and then check in at six checkpoints along the way.

     In addition, contestants could earn extra points by correctly answering trivia questions on such subjects as early automotive history and popular car-related songs of the '50s and '60s. “For instance,” Konrad added, “I knew the lyrics to 'Little Deuce Coupe’ by the Beach Boys and 'Little Old Lady from Pasadena’ by Jan and Dean, and Doug knew a lot about the early history of Ford and General Motors.”

     Marousek said that they ended up completing the course in about two minutes longer than the official time.

     Bruce Eklund, deputy state statistician for NASS in Portland, offered his own explanation for the success of the two in this road rally. “Our statisticians amass detail and then articulate it well to present the evidence needed to make the best possible estimates on such subjects as crop forecasts,” he observed. “And now,” he quipped, “I’ll shift into mega-spin-doctor-mode by offering that the analysis, and eye for detail, that our statisticians do in their jobs for NASS is related to the analysis and eye for detail that Les and Doug applied to their approach to winning the road rally, including acing out the trivia questions.”

     Konrad phrased his analysis a little more directly. “What did we attribute our success to, at the road rally?” he asked rhetorically. “Hey, it was just like being at work--it was another due-date to meet!”

     “Plus,” Marousek laughed, “there definitely was a lot of luck involved.”

     The spirit of James Dean would no doubt be proud.