28TH RUNNING OF SUSQUEHANNOCK TRAIL PRO RALLY IN WELLSBORO BRINGS TRADITION, NEW GENERATION OF RACERS TO NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

--This year’s STPR event, set for June 5 – 6, 2004, promises a record number of entries, fans to descend on Wellsboro, Penn. for auto racing’s romp through the woods--

WELLSBORO, Penn. – April 16 – From its first days in 1977 as an event for Rochester, NY-based car clubs to race through the woods of North Central Pennsylvania, to last year, when the event organizers won their unprecedented seventh “SCCA ProRally of the Year,” the Susquehannock Trail ProRally (STPR) has become both the entertainment and economic highlight in Wellsboro.

Sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), the STPR ProRally is a form of auto racing in which the cars race against the clock, one at-a-time, on closed public roads of the Pennsylvania State Forest, at times bordering on the famous “Grand Canyon of the East” near Wellsboro. Each car has a driver, plus a co-driver, or navigator, who reads from a route book and barks out instructions while the driver is negotiating the course at high speed. The teams compete on ten different roads – or stages – covering 125 miles of racing over a 14 hour period, with the team having the fastest time over the whole course winning the event. The excitement of two and four-wheel-drive cars traveling on gravel roads at more than 100 miles-per-hour – especially on a blind course where no practice has been allowed – is exciting both for spectators and competitors.

Debbi Segall, one of the organizers of the event for the Finger Lakes Region, thinks the record popularity of ProRally is due to two sources – both attracting young people to the sport.

“For the last ten years, STPR has been broadcast on national television, with this year’s event to be shown on The Speed Channel. With so many young people attracted to extreme sports, and The Speed Channel’s coverage of World Championship Rally, this exposure has motivated young racers to follow and participate in ProRally in the U.S. The other exposure has been the popular rally video games on the PC and Sony Playstation – another source of excitement that attracts young people to the sport,” said Segall, who lives in Rochester and has been involved with the Wellsboro event since 1978.

Segall also pointed out that, for those starting in motorsports, a first race in a formula car at a race track might net the new driver 60 minutes of racing time, while someone’s first ProRally typically provides more than six hours behind the wheel – usually at a much lower cost.

For 2004, STPR is Round #4 of the SCCA ProRally Championship presented by Hot Wheels, with festivities getting underway on Friday afternoon, June 4, with the 15th annual Wellsboro Charity Rally to benefit the local chapter of the American Cancer Society. This charity rally, which involves normal street cars going at legal speeds on public roads, is open to the public, and requires a driver and a navigator to participate. Those who can maintain a steady pace and follow directions closely can win prizes and help raise money to combat cancer. For details, log onto www.stpr.org.

The main rally, sponsored by Citizens & Northern Bank, the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce, and the citizens of Wellsboro, gets underway at 10:15 AM on Saturday, June 5, from the Wellsboro town Green. The cars will proceed to the first stage, which is also the most famous part of the STPR event, known as the creek crossing, where the finish line is in the middle of a creek where the cars enter at high speed. Sponsored by Penn-Jersey Subaru, this spot will be known this year as the Subaru Splash, and more than 3,000 spectators are expected to gather there.

Other spectator areas around the course will be included along with spectator directions made available during rally week in Wellsboro. Admission to all areas of STPR activity is free to the public.

Also, within the STPR main event, there will be two shorter rallies – known as ClubRally event – for those less experienced or those not seeking national points. The first one, which runs only during the daylight hours with stages 1 – 4, is called the Sherwood Forest ClubRally, named in honor of the former Pennsylvania State Forest area District forester, Jack Sherwood. The second ClubRally, which incorporates stages 5 – 10, is the Finger Lakes ClubRally.

Mary Worthington, executive director of the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce, said STPR provides a significant infusion of visitors to the area, and event sponsor Citizens & Northern bank estimates the event puts more than $2.5 million into the local economy.

For information:

Rally information and schedule- http://www.stpr.org/glance.html
Citizens and Northern Bank - https://www.cnbankpa.com
Penn-Jersey Subaru - http://classic.subaruusa.com/lancaster
Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce – www.wellsboropa.com
Sports Car Club of America – www.scca.org

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