Big Battles and Massive Entry List for Rally America Finale

One could easily forget that with the recent drama leading up to next season that the national championship has another rally to contest this season.  LSPR, the Lake Superior Performance Rally, takes place Friday and Saturday in the forest tracks surrounding Houghton, Michigan and it is going to be awesome!

This year’s LSPR should be a memorable one with an entry list tipping the scales with a last count of 75 entries with 25 of those entered as National or combined Regional/National, a number not seen in years.  Some of the big excitement leading into LSPR has been around local favorites Adam Yeoman and Jordan Shulze of FY Racing who will return for a one-off after a season away from the Rally America Championship.  The FY cast of characters and their humorous videos have always been popular with fans, and I’m sure they’ll be up to their crazy antics again this weekend.  

Even though the Open class championship has all been wrapped up for a 6th straight year by factory Subaru driver David Higgins and his trusty side-kick co-driver Craig Drew, he’ll still have a challenge against his teammates Travis Pastrana and Robbie Durant.  Other championships are still up for grabs heading into this final round though.  

In Super Production Agatino Fortunato is once again long hauling from the Pacific Northwest as he hopes to take home some big winnings in his new body 2016 WRX STI he’s been competing in all season.  Subaru’s contingency program has been fruitful for the NW All Fours Rally team and they are looking to secure a good finish for the season.  Leading the SP class by 17 points though is Troy Miller.  Considering his speed, it’s a good lead, however a mechanical issue or big mistake on stage could see his championship crumble.  The decider will likely be Lauchlin O’Sullivan who currently sits in 3rd.  With the limited events he’s competed this year, he isn’t in the running for another title, but his speed and likelihood of getting the top step of the podium this weekend will certainly limit the points spread available for Fortunato and Miller.

The biggest/closest battle this weekend that I think everyone is looking forward to has to be in 2WD.  The entire season it has been a back and forth battle between Cameron Steely and Ryan Millen.  They are are once again tied in points heading into this final round.  These two will be fighting for every 10th of a second all weekend and will certainly be the one to watch.  

The B-Spec championship is also up for grabs with Jordan Guitar in the Honda Fit leading Keanna Erickson-Chang by only 4 points.  Keanna and co-driver Ole Holter have been steadily increasing their pace now that most of their Ford Fiesta’s engine programming gremlins that plauged them earlier in the season have been resolved.  It’s Honda’s 1.6L normally aspirated Fit with a CVT vs. Ford’s 1.0L turbo with a manual transmission.  Who will have the edge on the slippery forest roads of LSPR?

And by far the largest count of entrants are the regional Open Lights.  These normally aspirated 4wd cars are by far the most popular class with 22 entrants.  The majority are 1990’s to early 2000’s Subaru Imprezas, but that doesn’t mean they are by any means slow.  Beyond the requirements of being normally aspirated, this class has few restrictions beyond using factory based engines that can be everything from stock to highly modified racing spec motors.  Additionally these machines can upgrade exhaust systems, brakes, suspension, pretty much everything to be either as affordable or custom race tuned as competitors want.  Keep an eye on this class, as there are likely to be some close battles throughout the field.

Other popular entrants include the return of Seamus Burke who won NEFR, Piotr Fetela  who had an and Adam Short in NLO, Boris Djordjevic from Canada in the Open class, and Ramana Lagemann with Nathalie Richard at his side in a 1991 Porsche 911.  I could go on and on, but it is fair to say the entry list is huge and the racing should be awesome!  The full list of entrants is below.

Entry List: