Category: North American Rally

News from the various stage rally organizations throughout North America.

Rally – Regional Voices from SS6 Oregon Trail Rally

Mike Shaw

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe hear a lot about the national entrants and I’ve got some clips from them as well that I’ll be posting later, but for now I wanted to shine the spotlight on the regional rally racers.  These teams make up the bulk of the entrants to every rally and drive just as hard as the national guys.  These clips are from the end of Special Stage 6, the first running of Big Boyd.  Big Boyd is the longest stage of the event and is fast, wide, and has…

Read More

A Day Behind the Scenes at Nameless Performance

Mike Shaw

A month ago I was given the opportunity to go up and visit the Nameless Performance shop and take a ride in the upgraded GT86 (Subaru BRZ) Rally “Beast” alongside 3 time Rally America 2WD Champion, Chris Duplessis.  This is of course not an offer one turns down.   I met up with co-owner Jason Griffith at their new location in Woodland, Washington.  Jason took me for a tour of the new facility and explained a bit of it’s history.  Nameless is growing, and a new shop was necessary to deal…

Read More

PR – Oregon Trail Rally April 24-26

Mike Shaw

PORTLAND, OREGON (April 17, 2015) – Circle the wagons! It’s time again for the most exciting motorsport in the world to make its annual visit to Oregon. Round 3 of the Rally America National Championship comes to town April 24-26, for the extremely popular and challenging Oregon Trail Rally presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts. Top drivers in several classes of competition vehicles will come from across the U.S. and world to drive on some of the best rally roads in America.   The event is the most popular on the…

Read More

PR – Chris Greenhouse Gets Redemption at Sandblast

Mike Shaw

    Chris Greenhouse takes convincing win at Sandblast Rally Chris Greenhouse completely dominated the 2WD field at Sandblast Rally 2015 in Cheraw, SC, USA. He, along with codriver Ryan Scott, won the class by over 7 minutes in their Dodge Neon SRT4. But the Weasel RallySport team also managed to finish the event in an astonishing 2nd place overall in an event with a record-breaking number of entries. Chris was elated at the team’s performance as he sought redemption for a poor finish at the 2014 event. “We came…

Read More

Rally – Sandblast Underway With Record Entries

Mike Shaw

One of the biggest events of the NASA Rally Sport National Championship kicks off today with a massive entry list.  46 cars and 47 “Rally Moto” (Dakar style motorcycle entries) are set to take on the back roads outside of Cheraw, South Carolina.  The one-day event features 70 miles of sandy soil flinging fun.  Although the southeast part of the country was hit with a deep freeze earlier this week, today the area starts out just above freezing and will warm to a much more comfortable high of 60 degrees.…

Read More

Day 1 – 2015 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood

Mike Shaw

The best description I’ve heard of the 2015 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood with its varying conditions and grip levels was a gravel version of Rally Monte Carlo.  Monte Carlo is well known for on a single stage for drives to go from dry pavement to ice to snow and back to try pavement again.  At the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood it isn’t much different.   Tire choice was critical as up and down the paddock teams were saying that at some points they would have really good grip from frozen gravel, but…

Read More

Rally – OpenPaddock On-Site at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood

Mike Shaw

Today kicks off round 2 of the Rally America Championship at the storied Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.  Based in the foothills of the Ozarks around Salem, Missouri the roads here are very fast and wide consisting mostly of hard packed dirt.  In previous years open class drivers have been so fast that they eclipsed the maximum allowed average speed for a stage.  That won’t be happening this year as the conditions are going to be very slippery with the a couple of inches of snow that fell overnight and temperatures…

Read More

Rally – Subaru Rally Team USA New Livery & Wide Body Kit

Mike Shaw

Subaru released images today of the updated body kit for the #75 2015 WRX STi rally car driven by David Higgins and co-driven by Craig Drew.  Of note is the wider stance in the rear of the car adding stability and the narrowed and more aerodynamic front grill.  The new livery is also much improved in our opinion.  This updated edition of the Subaru Rally Team USA car will be competing at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood this Friday and Saturday outside of Salem, Missouri.  What do you…

Read More

HELP WANTED! – 100 Acre Wood Rally in Need of Volunteers

Mike Shaw

With the addition of big names to the 2nd round of the Rally America National Championship at the 100 Acre Wood Rally, organizers are now in desperate need of more volunteers.  Ken Block alone can draw in considerably more fans and add to that a likely close battle with David Higgins and a 60 car field and the event will be packed.  All this means there is a need for more marshals to help keep the rally safe and fun for everyone. I’ve been volunteering at rally events for years and I…

Read More