Rally America – Page 4 – OpenPaddock.net

2015 Lake Superior Performance Rally – Driver Previews 2WD and B-Spec

October 15, 2015 Matt Kalish

It’s October and that means one thing in sports. Football season heating up? Call me back in February. Rugby World Cup? America isn’t making it out of Group play, so who cares? MLB Playoffs? What’s a Chase Utley, some kind of dog with a glandular problem? No my friends, it is once again time for the best sport of them all, rally. Specifically, the Lake Superior Performance Rally, the final Rally America National event of the year. And what a rally it is shaping up to be. With the class…

PR – Trouble in Maine for Team RallyErika

July 27, 2015 Mike Shaw

Chelsmford, MA: Narrowly missing a spot at a Regional Podium on Friday, the team of Erika Detota and Mary Warren left New England Forest Rally disappointed and hungry for another shot. The 25th anniversary running of New England Forest Rally, July 17-18 was filled with excitement, competition and some unfortunate twists for many teams including Detota & Warren. The event featured more than 100 stage miles over two days of competition, which included a variety of stages ranging from jumps, smooth, fast, flowing to narrow and rough road conditions. Detota…

The 2015 New England Forest Rally

July 22, 2015 Mike Shaw

The 2015 New England Forest Rally was dubbed “The Battle of the Titans” with a list of entries not seen at a Rally America event in years. OpenPaddock.net teamed up with Andrew Pascarella of racedinanger.com to get us all the details of how the event went down last weekend… Higgins and Drew topped a stacked field at the 2015 New England Forest Rally. Their biggest rivals Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino fought hard to beat the top Subaru, but dry and dusty conditions on Friday turned into slick and muddy…

2015 New England Forest Rally – OpenPaddock’s Ones to Watch

July 17, 2015 Mike Shaw

Many have called this weekend’s 25th Anniversary New England Forest Rally the “Super Bowl” for rallying in America or even an All-Star event. And the big stars are what is drawing the initial attention to this event, however there is a lot going down at NEFR that goes well beyond the big names we all know so well. Okay, let’s start with those big names and get it out of the way. Yes indeed we have the return of Ken Block in his HFHV (Hybrid Function Hoon Vehicle) Ford Fiesta…

Ryan Millen Debuts New Rally RAV4 at Idaho Rally

June 12, 2015 Mike Shaw

Massive thanks to our friend Matt Kalish for providing this in-depth interview with one of rally’s most legendary racing family members. Ryan Millen: “It kind of feels like a perfect fit.“ When a driver named Millen decides to enter a rally in the United States big things are expected to follow. Ryan Millen, son of rally champion Rod and brother of Pike’s Peak legend Rhys has made a name in desert racing, most notably winning the 2014 running of the Baja 1000 in a Toyota Tundra. This weekend, he…

2015 Olympus Rally Preview

May 16, 2015 Mike Shaw

The Olympus Rally which takes place this weekend is thankfully back on the Rally America National Championship. National competitors were last here in the fall of 2012, when unfortunately the long dry summer meant that the risk of fire in the Green Diamond managed forests was a big concern. They ran the stages then only in the morning and late in the evening, bypassing the hottest part of the day. The event moved back to a spring schedule to remove those risks which caused some schedule conflicts at first, but now…

2015 Oregon Trail Rally – Part One

May 3, 2015May 3, 2015 Mike Shaw

One week since the Oregon Trail Rally and the rally hangover is starting to set in. So exactly what happened last weekend? Well, there was plenty of national competitor results that you probably already know, but what were the stories of Oregon Trail 2015? This is part one. I was working the PA system for one of the spectator grandstands near the hairpin on SS2/SS4, so I don’t have a lot of my own pictures to share. Thankfully local rally photog Greggar Helgeland was around snapping awesome pics from the service…

Rally – Jeff Seehorn… in His Own Words

May 2, 2015 Mike Shaw

Without a doubt Jeff Seehorn was the star driver of Oregon Trail Rally 2015. Seemingly coming out of nowhere in his 6th ever stage rally he startled everyone by finishing what would have been 3rd overall behind David Higgins and Adam Yeoman if he was registered nationally. I know I said before that we should keep an eye on this guy, but I certainly wasn’t expecting stage times like we saw last weekend. Congrats on such an awesome Oregon Trail Rally Jeff, and we look forward to seeing you at Olympus! …

Rally – Regional Voices from SS6 Oregon Trail Rally

April 30, 2015 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…

A Day Behind the Scenes at Nameless Performance

April 20, 2015April 21, 2015 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…