2015 Oregon Trail Rally – Part One

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…

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Rally – Jeff Seehorn… in His Own Words

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!  …

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Rally – Regional Voices from SS6 Oregon Trail Rally

Mike Shaw

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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…

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Episode 267 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFor Tuesday April 21st 2015, this is our big Oregon Trail Rally presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts Mega Preview episode with special guests regional Super Production driver Jeff Seehorn and his co-driver Michael Milos.  In other rally news we preview WRC Rally Argentina that also takes place this weekend and we’ll talk about all the IndyCar related announcements that came out of the Red Bull Global Rallycross Media Day in Long Beach.  In our F1 coverage we’ll talk briefly about China and Bahrain, and we…

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Video – Conor’s battle at Long Beach

John Olsakovsky

Friend of the show Conor Daly got a short-notice seat in Dale Coyne’ssecond car when Rocky Moran Jr. injured his thumb.  Conor made a great showing and even got a hard battle with James Jakes caught during a commercial break when they ran side-by-side. [youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRQ5oXRaY-c”] You almost had him going into the fountain, Conor.  

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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…

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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…

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Red Bull GRC Media Day Round Up

Mike Shaw

Yesterday was the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship Media Day held at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California.  The timing and location seemed fitting considering how many IndyCar teams and/or drivers are becoming associated with GRC as the area gears up for the IndyCar Grand Prix of Long Beach that takes place this weekend.   The biggest news we had already heard a few weeks ago, and that was the announcement of IndyCar team owner and overall motorsports mogul Chip Ganassi Racing joining the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship for…

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Episode 266 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFor Tuesday April 7th 2015 it’s back to John and Mike to cover the news of the past two weeks.  In Rally things are still a bit quiet unless you’re Irish.  Also some exciting announcements of two USA rally drivers going global and some international rally machines coming stateside.  In our Misc. Motorsports segment we discuss the surprisingly exciting F1 race in Malaysia.  Then we move on to the shrapnel laden season opener that was IndyCar at St. Pete.  We finish up with a few…

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Episode 265 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week is our IndyCar season kick-off with honored guest & former host Mike Whitesell!  In rally, we discuss WRC safety and some big news out of Red Bull GRC.  In our miscellaneous motorsports mayhem we’ll talk a little bit about the Grand Prix of Australia and other F1 news, along with a bit about Conor Daly’s impressive run at the Sebring 12 hour endurance race.  And we finish with the IndyCar and Mazda Road to Indy preview for St. Petersburg.  It’s been too long…

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