Tag: Rally America

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

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…

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Episode 277 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadPodcast #277 for Tuesday, August 4, 2015 This week we kick off rally with special guest Dillon Van Way former Rally America Super Production Champion who is now competing internationally in the FIA NACAM Rally Championship in Ford Fiesta R2.  We also call up our good friend Matt Kalish who was at the Red Bull GRC double header in Detroit.  In our F1 segment we talk about the surprisingly interesting race in Hungary, and then we finish off the show with the return of…

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

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…

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Ryan Millen Debuts New Rally RAV4 at Idaho Rally

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…

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2015 Olympus Rally Preview

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…

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Episode 269 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadFor Tuesday May 12th, 2015.  We kick the show off with a preview of the Olympus Rally with special guest Clerk of the Course Ron Barker.  Ron has been part of the Olympus Rally since it’s inception, including the days when the event was part of the WRC Group B era. We also have volunteer and enthusiastic rally fan Derek Johnson on the show to help with the preview.  Derek is probably best known for being featured in the hit rally documentary “Easier Said Than…

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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 – 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 264 – OpenPaddock.net Podcast

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadMega show this week!  We start out the first hour talking rally with special guests Matt Brandenburg and Elliott Sherwood from BRAKIM Racing!  Who are these guys and how did they get started?  Let alone, why are they turning a Lamborghini into a rally car?  In our second hour we “dive” into WRC Mexico and our photog extraordinaire Doug Patterson tells us about his snow filled experience at this year’s Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.  In the final hour of our mega (long) podcast we discuss…

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Rally Photographers – A Passion That Endures All Conditions

Mike Shaw

Before I post up the official Open Paddock review from the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, I wanted to say a little something about our good friend and photographer Doug Patterson and the other photographers at the event.  This weekend Doug, and many other media “photogs” drove many hours in icy conditions to then freeze their butts off (actually I think it is their hands that suffer the most) standing for many hours in the middle of the forests to capture the images that describe the action and atmosphere better…

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