PORTLAND, OREGON (May 28, 2014) – The spectacular scenery of The Columbia River George, Mt.Hood and surrounding areas will be on display this weekend as The Oregon Trail Rally, held May 2-4, airs on NBC Sports Network this Sunday, June 1 at 3 pm PT.
Round 3 of the Rally America National Championship will feature rally racing from Portland International Raceway (PIR) and on the challenging gravel roads of Dufur and Hood River.
The one-hour show is jointly produced by Rally America and Rage Productions (Bend, OR) and will showcase top quality action sports coverage, including personal stories of national and regional competitors as they battle to overcome obstacles in their race to the podium. This is rally racing action as you’ve never seen it before.
David Higgins and Craig Drew of Subaru Rally Team USA won this year’s Oregon Trail Rally, for the fourth consecutive year. They were challenged all the way to the finish line by Subaru team mates Travis Pastrana and Chrissie Beavis. Pastrana was delighted to be back in Oregon, one of his favorite events on the Rally America Championship calendar, after a 4 year rally hiatus.
Local teams claimed wins in the Regional Rally events that took place in conjunction with the Oregon Trail Rally. Dave Henderson and Terrence McDowell, both from Hood River, took first place in the Trails End Rally. Mike Goodwin and Adam Kneipp from Aurora, OR took first place in the Shunpiker Stages Rally. The final regional event, Wagons Ho! Rally was won by Carl Decker and Adam Craig from Bend, OR.
Rally America is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Ford Racing, Honda Performance Development, Exedy Racing Clutches, VP Racing Fuels, Streetwise Parts and GoPro.
About Rally Racing
Rally racing is one of the world’s most challenging and popular motorsports. It is considered by many as the extreme sport of automobile racing and it’s often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” Unlike any other type of car racing, rally teams compete in any weather, on challenging forest, mountain or desert roads.
Racing takes place only on “special stages,” using demanding back roads temporarily closed by local authorities for the event. “Transits”, driven at normal highway speeds with teams fully subject to all traffic laws, connect the “special stage” sections together speeds. Vehicles can only be serviced and repaired at designated “service” locations and for set periods of time.
Rally vehicles are production-based cars and trucks from manufacturers around the world. All competition vehicles are installed with mandatory safety features to protect the competitors. They compete both for the overall victory and wins within a class structure that groups together vehicles with similar performance.
Each vehicle carries a driver and a co-driver/navigator. Using a detailed route book and a sophisticated rally computer, the co-driver keeps the team on-course and advises the driver of any hazards ahead. This role is as critical as the driver’s skill, since the team is traveling at full racing speeds over roads they have never before seen, in any type of weather.
About Oregon Rally Group
Based in Portland, Oregon, the Oregon Rally Group is a non-profit organization that organizes and promotes all forms of Rally (Stage Rally, Rally Cross and Road Rally) events in the Oregon and beyond.
About Rally America
Based in Williston, VT, Rally America, Inc. sanctions the Rally America National Championship, which consists of eight national-level events in 2014 located at a variety of venues across the country, from Portland, Oregon to Newry, Maine. NBC Sports Network is airing eight Rally America episodes. For more information please visit www.rally-america.com.
For further information contact:
Oregon Trail Rally Chairman: Matt Tabor, 503-638-7373 or otr@oregonrally.com
Oregon Trail Rally Media Officer: Robert Mahony, 503-987-0323 or robertm@oregonrally.com
Rally America Marketing/Media: Ananda Siverts, 206-302-8289 or ananda@rally-america.com
