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!

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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.  

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FY Racing – NEFR 2015

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.  

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Tino Fortunato – Olympus 2016

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.

Steely and Osborn pushed to the limit on the final stage
Steely and Osborn at OTR

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.  

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Ryan Millen – OTR

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?

Keanna and Ole pushing their Fiesta 1.0L Turbo
Keanna and Ole pushing their Fiesta 1.0L Turbo at Olympus

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.

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Seamus Burke – NEFR

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:

Entry # Car # R/N Class Vehicle Driver Co-driver
4 31 R Open 2011 Subaru 31mtrspt sti Jeffrey Reamer Jeremy Jankowske
20 44 NR Open 2000 Subaru Impreza Henry Krolikowski Cynthia Krolikowski
26 199 N Open 2016 Subaru WRX STI Travis Pastrana Robbie Durant
27 75 N Open 2016 Subaru WRX STI David Higgins Craig Drew
31 888 R Open 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Jari Hamalainen Richard Vaught
33 826 R Open 1990 Eagle Talon Tom Immonen Tina Immonen
35 908 R Open 1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse EVO 0.5 Eric Carlson Camille Carlson
42 566 R Open 1990 Mitsubishi Eclipse Matt Huuki Janell Huuki
47 505 N Open 2009 Mitsubishi Evolution X Boris Djordjevic John Hall
53 810 R Open 1998 Subaru Impreza Bradley Hayosh Dmitriy Martynov
57 221 R Open 1988 Mazda 323 GTX Jimmy Pelizzari Kate Stevens
62 636 R Open 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX Samir Kaltak John Atsma
65 198 N Open 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage RS Arkadiusz Gruszka Lukasz Wronski
21 94 N Nat. Ltd. Open 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX sti Piotr Fetela Dominik Jozwiak
34 370 N Nat. Ltd. Open 2008 Subaru WRX STI Garry Gill Steven Harrell
44 475 N Nat. Ltd. Open 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX Adam Short Daniel Norkus
48 25 N Nat. Ltd. Open 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9 Seamus Burke Martin Brady
29 61 N Super Production 2016 Subaru WRX STI Agatino Fortunato Chris Kremer
30 22 N Super Production 2008 Subaru WRX STI Troy Miller Jeremy Miller
37 150 R Super Production 2002 Subaru WRX Wagon Ivo Draganov Vladimir Yanev
41 90 N Super Production 2009 Subaru WRX-STI Lauchlin O’Sullivan Scott Putnam
70 47 N Super Production 2015 Subaru WRX STI Timothy Rooney Alessandro Gelsomino
71 767 R Super Production 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X Sumit Panjabi Stephen Kurey
72 666 N Super Production 2000 Subaru Impreza RS (SP) Michael Engle Brian Arpke
74 121 N Super Production 2002 Subaru WRX Wagon (SP) Nathan Usher Marianna Langosch
2 99 N Group 2 2016 Toyota RAV4 SE Ryan Millen Christina Fate
3 584 R Group 2 1991 Honda CRX Zachary Rondeau Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin
8 423 R Group 2 1987 BMW 325 Michael Hooper Claudia Barbera-Pullen
10 58 R Group 2 2013 Subaru BRZ Justin Kollien Daniel Garant
15 870 R Group 2 2001 Volkswagen Jetta Jason Porritt Lori Clute
19 50 R Group 2 1995 VW Jetta VR6 Rocket Allan Dantes Brandon Snyder
25 162 R Group 2 2016 Toyota Corolla iM Colin Ravenscroft Brian Thurgate
28 723 R Group 2 1991 Volkswagen Golf GTi William Marenich Ian Holmes
36 82 NR Group 2 1974 Ford Capri Mike Hurst Michel Hoche-Mong
39 513 R Group 2 1983 Toyota Celica Jay Anderson Eric Anderson
43 328 R Group 2 1999 BMW 328is Santiago Iglesias Angela Cosner
45 78 N Group 2 2012 Ford Fiesta Dave Wallingford Leanne Junnila
51 201 R Group 2 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Adam VanDamme Bryce Proseus
54 400 R Group 2 2000 Ford Focus Dustin Masters Ashley Kraemer
58 573 R Group 2 2011 Honda CRZ Daniel McCarron Matthew Blake
63 83 R Group 2 2003 Pontiac Vibe GT Doug Gekiere Nicholis Fitzpatrick
68 477 R Group 2 1976 Volkswagen Golf Travis Wallick Cameron Carr
69 864 R Group 2 2001 Ford Focus Erik Hill Colin Vickman
1 262 R Group 5 1991 GMC SONOMA Steve Brockelman Erica Meier
17 134 N Group 5 2014 Ford Fiesta ST Steve LaRoza Alison LaRoza
24 824 N Group 5 2015 Ford Fiesta ST Cameron Steely Preston Osborn
46 128 R Group 5 1983 Mazda RX-7 Mychal Summers Janel Summers
49 74 N Group 5 1991 Porsche 911 Ramana Lagemann Nathalie Richard
56 627 R Group 5 1990 Ford Mustang Robert LaFavor Derek Beyer
6 721 N B-Spec 2016 Ford Fiesta Keanna Erickson-Chang Ole Holter
55 73 N B-Spec 2009 Honda Fit Rick Knoop Tracey Gardiner
61 735 N B-Spec 2015 Honda Fit Jordan Guitar Brian Penza
66 360 NR B-Spec 2012 CHEVY SONIC Jean-Pierre Rasaiah Matthew Hoffman
5 550 R Open Light 1993 Subaru Impreza RS Justin Pritchard Ryan Scott
7 228 R Open Light 1994 Subaru Legacy Zachary Jacques Ronald Jacques
9 267 R Open Light 2000 Subaru Impreza Dylan Helferich Drake Dunigan
11 211 R Open Light 2005 Subaru Impreza Andrew Dustman Rachel Beiler
12 440 R Open Light 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport Jacob Bryant Derek VandenBroek
13 890 R Open Light 2000 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport Ryan Rethy Rachel Bartz
14 304 R Open Light 1998 Subaru Impreza Peter Elliott Andrew Morrow
16 118 R Open Light 1996 Subaru Waghoon Clayton Millsap Gabriel Weiss
18 651 R Open Light 2006 Subaru Impreza Kristofer Yahner Tony Benusa
22 181 R Open Light 2001 subaru impreza Andrew Goss Vince Donan
23 299 R Open Light 1996 Subaru Impreza Adam Kimmett Adam Moore
32 321 R Open Light 2000 Subaru 2.5 RS Nate Ellis Elliott Sherwood
38 881 R Open Light 1997 Subaru Impreza Geoff Weide Derric Throne
40 463 R Open Light 1995 SUBARU IMPREZA Przemyslaw Widyna Piotr Boczek
50 163 R Open Light 1995 Subaru Impreza L Jason Shierts Mike Lindenfelser
52 906 R Open Light 1992 Eagle Talon TSI Johan Bjorkquist Ben Nikula
59 812 R Open Light 1996 Subaru Impreza WgN Eric Schlee Brian Battocchi
60 512 R Open Light 1994 Subaru Impreza Corey Holmes Jimmy Brandt
64 660 R Open Light 2000 subaru 2.5 RS ver3.0 Charles Surdyke Kim DeMotte
67 815 R Open Light 1994 Subaru RS Zachary Whitebread Allen Piper
73 666 R Open Light 2000 Subaru Impreza RS (L) Michael Engle Brian Arpke
75 121 R Open Light 2002 Subaru WRX Wagon (L) Nathan Usher Marianna Langosch

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