Rally in the 100 Acre Wood has come to a close.  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
The champagne has been sprayed, the awards have been given and the scores are final at the 2008 running of 100 Acre Wood. The next stop on the Rally America National Championship schedule will be the Olympus Rally in Washington April 18-20. Make sure to tune in, the Championship is just getting interesting!

Regional Results  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Tresspassers Wil' Regional Rally (Friday)
Overall and PGT:
Car 684, Markut / Nordlie

Open:
Car 110, Cassidy / Getchell

Group 2:
Car 70, Duplessis / Headland

Production:
Car 708, Zedril / Zedril

Group 5:
Car 83, Utecht / Bohn

100 Acre Wood Regional Rally (Saturday)
Overall and Open:
Car 44, Krolikowski / Krolikowski

PGT:
684

Group 2:
Car 70, Duplessis / Headland

Production:
Car 708, Zedril / Zedril

Group 5:
Car 83, Utecht / Bohn

Carnage in the final stages of the rally.  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
The final stages of the rally claimed quite a few cars, some were able to finish, others were not so lucky.

Car 14, BeberVanzo / Volger, went off and hit a tree on SS13; the team was OK but the car is at the finish of the stage and the crew will need to get it.

Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb, hit a tree (or maybe trees?) on SS14. They did significant damage to both the front and rear of the car, they were able to finish...and in fourth place nonetheless.

Car 40, Mirra / Ockwell, was reported off with a crash on SS14. The crew is OK, but the car could not be driven from the stage.

Car 614, Wiktorczyk / McAllister, came into the final control of the night with some damage from SS14; they were leaking coolant and missing the left light pod.

Car 684, Markut / Nordlie arrived at the final check in dragging their skid plate. The team hit the same water crossing that damaged many other cars on SS14. They thought they suffered a flat, but that somehow "healed itself". The team won the Tresspassers Wil' Regional Rally yesterday and took second in today's 100 Acre Wood Regional Rally.

Car 690, Bartram / Hotson, were pulled form the water crossing and to the stage finish by Car 708, Zedril / Zedril, then later when the car wouldn't restart Car 83, Utecht / Bohn gave them a tug. They were able to get the car restarted, but ended up with a very soggy water filter in the process. They finished, but back in 21st place overall.

Verdier wins PGT  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
After a difficult rally, Car 429, Verdier / Crouch were able to finish at the top of the PGT podium. But, they wouldn't have made it without the help of fellow PGT competitors Car 523, Hanson / Hanson. Verdier hit a tree about three miles into the final stage of the rally. They were able to make it to the finish by coasting on the straights to keep the temps down and driving as fast as they could through the rest of the stage without overheating. At the stage finish, the Hanson's graciously offered to tow them back to the finish of the rally. The sportsmanship in the PGT class is one of the things that makes it so special; if Hanson had not towed them in, they would have won the class.

Finishing third was Car 59, Moro / Rossey. They had a rough day one; they had the suspension set up wrong and were driving "too conservatively". Today didn't get much better, they had four flat tires on the last six stages. But perseverance paid off, their never give up spirt earned them the third place position in the PGT class.

Regional Rally Championship Podium  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
This is the provisional podium of 2007 Regional Rally Champions

Open Class
Henry & Cindy Krowlikowski 1:53:02.8
John Cassidy/Dave Gretcell 1:56:10.2
K. Pudelek/Bartosz Sawicki N/A

Group 5
Mark Utecht/Rob Bohn 2:02:41.1
Richard & Juanita Miller 2:36:54.2

Group 2
Chris Duplessis/Martin Headland 1:54:09.6
Chad Eixenberger/Adam Kniepp 2:24:25.3
Dan Adamson/Chris Gordon 2:27:48.4

PGT
Yurek Cienkosz/Lukasz Szela 2:09:26.8
Martin Menning/Ryan Schnell 2:19:23.8

Production
Jan & Jody Zedril 1:59:30.0
Jim & Marianne Stevens 2:15:53.2

A win for Jim  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #44 Henry and Cindy Krowlikowski have won the Open Class Regional Rally Championship. Pushing hard all day long Henry paid particular praise to his General Tires, which are not a known brand usually among the rally community, but the did the trick.

Riding with Henry and Cindy was a special guest. In a small capsule on the rally cars key ring are some of the ashes of his 10 year crew chief, Jim Buszek. “For once he got to ride in the car.”, mused Henry as he enjoyed his win with wife Cindy.

Johnson rounds out podium.  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Taking only his second National Overall podium, Car 46, Johnson / Wimpey finish in third place. "The last stage was the most work of the entire rally" said Johnson. The first podium for Johnson was Ojibwe 2006 in a PGT car where he felt like he didn't really 'drive' to that podium, more like he survived. This rally, Johnson really felt like he "mostly drove fast enough to deserve this one". With strong finishes at the opening two events of the season, the team is in good position as the series moves to the West coast.

Pastrana takes second  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Shortly after the start of SS13 Car 199, Pastrana / Ringer suffered a flat front tire, but they were able to drive it out of the stage and finish in second place. Pastrana has been under the weather all weekend; so the second place finish, although not quite what he wanted, will do. "We as a team decided not to push, it wasn't worth the risk to DNF" said Pastrana. They will again be pushing for the win and valuable National points at the next round in Washington.

By the competitors for the competitors  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Under the direction of Ben Slocum (ironically an open class navigator this event) who has been trying to arrange this for several rallies now all of the Group 2 the drivers and navigators have banded together to make their own prize fund. So far the fund for the winners consists of a universal light pod, about $300 in cash, autographed boxer shorts from Ben Slocum and Beer. So far with two stages remaining the Duplessis VW is leading the regional Group 2 class and stands to win the whole booty.

BeberVanzo thankful for Rockstar mentors  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #14 Amy BeberVanzo/Aubrey Volger are having a learning curve weekend here in Missouri. On the Friday fuel stop after stage 2 the fuel the team added was contaminated causing power issues throughout the rest of the night, sometimes she has power, sometimes not. Then in the stage 5 today she had a four gear spin that luckily resulted in no damage. The rest of the stages today have been learning the Subaru and trying to unlearn old habits from her Mitsubishi Evo. Amy stated, “I am very lucky that I have such great mentors in Tanner and Andrew, this Rockstar team is making the transition easier.” She also adds that the support of her son, Lucas has been added bonus to the experience.

On a rim and a prayer  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #59 Patrick Moro/Mike Rossey came into service on a flat left front. Moro told how two miles into the 10-mile stage 11 he flatted the right front and decided to drive it out to the end and changed it. Right at the end of stage 12 the other front tire went down, at the end of the stage the team drove the short distance to service.

Block takes third 100 Acre Wood win!  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
In difficult conditions, Car 43, Block / Gelsomino made it to the finish of the rally relatively unscathed and in first place. They came into the final control on a flat right rear tire, but it wasn't enough for them to lose their sizeable lead. The win is very special for Gelsomino, this was his 100th rally start of his career. Block hopes to carry his momentum to the West coast rounds where he historically has not faired as well.

Pinker out  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
It has been reported that Car 2, Pinker / Durant has retired at the finish of SS13. He evidently made a spectacular pass on Car 117, Corry / Kihurani at a downhill spectator area earlier in the same stage. It is unknown what caused the DNF at this point, we will do our best to get some answers.

The cars are arriving for the final service of the rally.  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
We will be heading back to meet the teams at the finish back in Salem. The first cars are expected to arrive to the finish shortly after 8:00 pm. Make sure to check back, there are many classes and events to be decided here in the 100 Acre Woods!

Corry having a good run in the snow  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car 117, Corry / Kihurani have moved up steadily throughout the rally. "The conditions are just fine as we are well practiced since running SnoDrift" said Corry. The team is having trouble with their front diff and they believe that Pinker slipped ahead of them on the last section of the rally.

Car 54 retires  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car 54, Tuglu / Wright have had a difficult rally which ended after the first service of the day. It all started when the service crew got stuck in Boston due to the weather, so they have no crew. Next, their snow tires were mis-shipped and didn't arrive until this morning which made for an interesting Friday. They were one of the teams that were unable to climb the hill last night on SS3, but they were able to continue. They really enjoyed the stages this morning, that is, until they lost 5th gear on SS7. They worked on the car at service, but on their way to SS9 they ended up ONLY having 5th gear! Despite their problems, they've had a great time at the rally, "we'll definitely be back" said Wright.

Retirement updates  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car 319, Greenhouse / Nichols retired before SS9 with a blown motor.

An update on the earlier reported retirement of Car 686, Nunnemacher / DeMotte; although they lost time, they were able to continue. They are looking to make up some time on the last six stages of the day.

Update on 198  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
On SS6, Car 198, Gruszka / Dorman, rolled their 2005 Subaru WRX on a left handed hairpin turn about 1 mile into the stage. Unfortunately, they were unable to continue due to a broken windshield. The team is fine and they are back in Salem; they are sponsored by Art Logistics, Freight Kong, and Arpac.

Regional Rally Championship Update  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
The leader board after eight stages:

Open: Krowlikowski
Cassidy

PGT: Cienkosz
Menning

G5: Utecht
Miller

G2: Duplessis

P: Zedril
Stevens

An update from Shepherd  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Co-Driver Karen Wagner dropped off a team update:
"After Car 52, Shepherd / Wagner, was rolled at SnoDrift it went through a fast and extensive repair to make it this weekend. A special thanks to Dave Z., Pete G., and Tim E. for all of their help and support to get it fixed in time. We have the best service crew out there, they keep us on the road and happy! Since the team barely made the rally due to flight issues, no recce or practice was done. We are excited about this weekend and the re-built car, so let's have some fun. A special 'hi and we miss you' to Toni and Douglas who were supposed to be here this weekend, but their flights were cancelled. After a steady and slippery run yesterday, we were looking forward to warmer conditions today. The car is working better today, especially as it gets warmer. The driver and co-driver are having a blast and are looking forward to the rest of the stages today."

Foust out  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Unfortunately, Car 4, Foust / Beavis, was unable to continue after their problems on SS7. It is still unclear if they had an off or a mechanical failure; we will try and get the details on what happened.

Subaru meet tree. Tree meet Subaru  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #486 Menning/Schnell incurred damage to the drivers door on stage 6. A downhill right turn caught the team out causing them slide into the tree. The incident cost them about 15 seconds. The team reports that the car is performing well and they are continuing to try to close the two-minute gap between them and Cienkosz/Szela.

Johnson in third  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car 46, Johnson / Wimpey, sits in third place, but only 25 seconds ahead of fourth place, Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb. With such a large gap to move up to second place, Johnson feels it's unreasonable to think he can catch Pastrana, but he will need to push hard enough to stay in front of fourth. Johnson should have some good "rally karma" coming his way. He spent the morning helping out his last years fellow PGT competitors with suspension settings and tire choices. Johnson also towed in fellow Open class contender Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb, last night, who without his help, may have been a DNF instead of nipping at his heels on the leaderboard.

Open Class Regional Championship  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #110 Cassidy/Getchell arrived at the first service unhappy with their morning. A flat tire on stage 5 cost them about a minute, and the driver doesn’t feel he is performing as well today. Earlier today in the parc expose Cassidy said he wasn't entirely comfortable with his lead in the championship knowing that the Krolikowski's were lurking behind two minutes and 25 seconds.

Block maintains lead  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
With over half of the rally complete, Car 43, Block / Gelsomino, still has a 30 second lead over the rest of the field. Although Car 199, Pastrana / Ringer, is comfortably in second place with a three minute lead on third place Car 46, Johnson / Wimpey, it is unknown if he will challenge teammate Block for the lead. With a DNF at SnoDrift, Pastrana needs to collect as many points as possible here at 100 Acre Wood.

More stage 3 hill refugees  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #687 Eixenberger/Kneipp were also casualties of the stage 3 hill. They were on gravel tires as well and are as well today however the team has tried added small grooves into the tires for some help gripping the slippery surfaces expected in the first few stages.

Upon arrival at the first service of the day the team was happier. Their gravel tires are digging through the slushy road conditions drivers are reporting.

Looking to improve  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #44 Henry & Cindy Krolikowski are looking for great improvement today and have no intention of letting the Regional Championship leading team of Cassidy/Getchell take the title without a fight. Henry said of the first day roads, “It was just the driver, the grip was pretty good I just couldn’t gain confidence in the roads.”

Arriving at the first service of the day the Krowlikowski's learned of the Cassidy/Getchell flat tire. They are happier with the speed they are carrying today as Henry stated, "It's scarrier going faster."

Trouble in the front of the pack.  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Foust has lost time, but he is still pressing on. Reports are that he went off on SS7, but was back on the road trying to make it to SS8 and back to service. We have also heard that Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb, are having transmission trouble.

Service is about to begin, I'm sure there will more to many of these stories.

Hi Ho Silver, Away!  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #701 Richard & Juanita Miller were able to use the horsepower in their Mustang to get up and over the stage 3 hill that claimed several two wheel drive cars. Later in stage 3 the team tried to help out a stuck vehicle but there was insufficient traction to pull the car out of a ditch. Richard said of the rally so far, “At start controls I am getting up into third gear spinning the tires before we even move away from the start line.”

Zedril brothers drive to defend title  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Canadian brothers Jan and Jody Zedril were leading the Production class charge at the start of Day 2 of the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.

The duo said they began Day 1 a little off the pace as they felt out the changeable surface, but hoped to pick up speed on Day 2.

“We want to go faster today,” said driver Jan Zedril. “We’re expecting there to be more traction because of the sun – hopefully we’ll see some more dirt showing through.

The Manitoba-based brothers are running the full Canadian Rally Championship in 2008, with selected events planned in the United States.

They are the defending North American Production class champions and hope to regain the title in 2008 in their Mitsubishi Lancer rally car.

Winter weather at 100 Acre Wood  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Late season ice storms wreaked havoc throughout the region this week, shutting down airports, closing schools and delaying team arrivals.

The Rally in the 100 Acre Wood continued anyway, but many teams had to battle just to get to southern Missouri.

With flights in and out of St. Louis grounded, crew members, race volunteers and competitors sought last-minute travel arrangements, flying in to whatever city would allow them to land and making a long drive to the event.

Veteran driver Doug Shepherd, for one, was forced to make the 11-hour drive from Detroit on Thursday after his flight was cancelled outright.

Crew members from various teams also reported landing in far-flung cities like Kansas City, Cincinnati and Chicago and making the long haul by road.

Volunteer marshals and other race officials were also in short supply on Day 1 as icy roads and school cancellations stranded many at home. Day 2 dawned bright and sunny, though, and Saturday morning Parc Expose saw plenty of fans and volunteers on hand.

Saturn Team Undaunted  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car #628 Adamson/Gordon were casualties of the now infamous stage 3 hill. The team decided to pull out of the rally after multiple attempts to get over the hill to save their hard earned speed factor. Your speed factor is rated by your stage times and the higher your factor the closer to the front of the field you start. This can lead to less headaches passing vehicles in stage at later events. The team is back today for the regional rally with recently acquired ice tires.

Arriving in service the team reported the new tires were working well, however they did have a spin at the downhill right that caught out Car #486.

More retirements from stage 6  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
It is being reported that Car 686, Nunnemacher / DeMotte is off and OK near the start of SS6, also reported off and OK on the stage is Car 198, Gruszka / Dorman. We hope to see these team later to get the whole story.

Early retirements  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
It has been reported that Car 725, Carapetyan / Amato has stopped on the transit to SS5 with a mechanical problem. It has also been reported that Car 19, Penasack / Bosley are off and OK just prior to the finish of SS5.

Verdier leads PGT  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Car 429, Verdier / Crouch lead the PGT field by a minute and a half going into day two. The team started further up in the order yesterday than many of their PGT competitors, which they believe was a definite advantage due to the deteriorating road conditions. Today, they will be closely followed by the rest of the PGT field, which should level the playing field as far as conditions are concerned. Aside from the tricky conditions, the car is perfect; the crew has done a great job. The plan of the day, to keep the car of the road!

Block leads at the start of day two...  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
and he plans to stay there! Over the first four stages, Car 43, Block / Gelsomino, were able to amass a 30 second lead over second place, and Subaru of America teammates, Car 199, Pastrana / Ringer. Block took the stage win on three of the first four stages yesterday and has no plans to to back off of the pace. "The roads here are fast, faster, and fast with jumps" said Block, and we all know that he likes to jump! The road conditions are anyone's guess this morning; Block feels that at least the early stages will be as slippery as last night's roads. Choosing the right tires today will challenge for even the most experienced teams.

Sunny Parc Expose starts day two  - Saturday, February 23, 2008
Teams spent the morning signing autographs for a sea of spectators at a sunny Parc Expose in downtown Salem. The weather is a welcome change from the snow and ice the area has seen over the last two days. Car 43, Block / Gelsomino, will lead the field of 53 competitors to run the first four stages of the day; teams will then have a 50 minute service break in the town of Viburnum before running four more stages; one more service break and two more stages will round out the rally before the finish back in downtown Salem tonight.

The cars are expected to arrive for the first service shortly after 1:30 this afternoon.

Stay tuned for the finish!  - Friday, February 22, 2008
With only four of fourteen stages complete, there is plenty of rally left to run. The day will start with Parc Expose in Downtown Salem at 8:45 am. The teams will contest nearly 70 stage miles throughout the day before the event will be decided.

The weather is supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow; teams hope that the "crunchy top layer of frozen stuff" and glare ice will thaw, and they will be able get some traction. Check back tomorrow for the latest results and news.

Regional Rally Championship  - Friday, February 22, 2008
This report is based on unofficial results; however this is how the battle for 2007 Regional Championships is shaping up.

Car #110 John Cassidy/Dave Getchell are leading open class in their Subaru by 2:25 over the Subaru of Henry and Cindi Krolikowski.

Christopher Duplessis/Martin Headland are the sole Group 2 contenders left running in their VW Golf of the three starters.

Jan and Jody Zedril have a lead of six minutes in their Mitsubishi Lancer over the Jim and Marianne Steven Suzuki Swift.

Mark Utecht/Rob Bohn are leading the battle of the Mustangs substantially over Richard and Juanita Miller.

In PGT, Yurek Cienkosz/Lukasz Szela have their WRX two minutes ahead of Marton Menning/Ryan Schnell in a Subaru Impreza.

Tomorrow is the longer day and with a possible change in the weather all contenders have vowed to fight as hard as they can until the end of the event.

Picture courtesy of www.lastditchracing.net

Duplessis leads Group 5  - Friday, February 22, 2008
At the end of the day, Car 70, Duplessis / Headland, lead Group 5 in the National; they also lead Group 2 in the Regional rally and the Regional Rally Championship. Yes you read that right, they are entered in two classes in three events, all in one weekend; confusing, but it is allowed. Things are going well for the team and they are having lots of fun. "We're glad it snowed this weekend" said Duplessis, "the only chance we had at being able to catch Shepherd was if it was slippery".

Duplessis is currently the Eastern Region Overall, Group 2, and 2WD champion, as well as the National Group 2 Champion. "Right now, I don't feel a pressure to back up those championships with another. I am not sure what this year will bring. For now, we are taking it one rally at a time."

Day one results  - Friday, February 22, 2008
At the finish of day one here is the leaderboard:

Rally in the 100 Acre Wood National
Open and Overall:
Car 43, Block / Gelsomino
Car 199, Pastrana / Ringer
Car 4, Foust / Beavis

PGT:
Car 429, Verdier / Crouch

Group 5:
Car 70, Duplessis / Headland

Production:
Car 708, Zedril / Zedril

Tresspassers Wil' Regional (Provisional)
Overall:
Car 684, Markut / Nordlie
Car 110, Cassidy / Getchell
Car 198, Gruszka / Dorman

Open:
Car 110, Cassidy / Getchell

PGT:
Car 684, Markut / Nordlie

Group 2:
Car 70, Duplessis / Headland

Production:
Car 708, Zedril / Zedril

Group 5:
Car 83, Utecht / Bohn

Regional Rally Championship
Open:
Car 110, Cassidy / Getchell

Group 2:
Car 70, Duplessis / Headland

Production:
Car 708, Zedril / Zedril

Group 5:
Car 83, Utecht / Bohn

PGT:
Car 21, Cienkosz / Szela

Stage three causes trouble for some  - Friday, February 22, 2008
Stage three reports that there are a few cars that have been unable to climb an icy hill about 0.5 miles into the stage. As of now, it appears to be just 2 wheel drive cars near the back of the field who had this problem. It is unclear what the status is of these competitors at this point, we will keep you updated.

Regional Rally Championship Group 5 Battle  - Friday, February 22, 2008
The only two Group 5 teams to contest for the Regional Rally Championship happen to be in two high horsepower rear wheel drive Mustangs.

Mark Utecht and Rob Bohn plan to keep the car in the middle of the road all day hoping that the weatherman would be right and it warms considerably tomorrow where their horsepower could dig down and get some traction, unlike today despite winter tires.

Richard and Juanita Miller in their Mustang are on BFGoodrich All Terrains; while not the optimal tire for conditions are the tallest, and Richard hopes that the effect on taller gearing will help him to stay on the road.

After two stages Utecht exited the car saying, "We are slow as a stone,", However the team has the lead over the Miller Mustang who said they were, "Bouncing from ditch to ditch."

Difficult day for Pinker and Foust  - Friday, February 22, 2008
It has not been an easy day for the Rockstar Energy team. Car 4, Foust / Beavis, came into the finish with damage to the front left corner of the car where they had hit a fence and a cattle guard. "the handbrake doesn't work on those(cattle guard's), it sure would of helped in that scenario" said Foust.

Car 2, Pinker / Durant had trouble on SS4 with two flat tires. They are currently in ninth overall; although they are happy to still be running, they aren't particularly pleased with where they stand at this point.

Comrie-Picard sits sixth  - Friday, February 22, 2008
At the end of day one, Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb, sit in sixth place despite a spin where they put a hole in the radiator and a flat on stage. The team was able to complete the stages and then received a tow to the finish by Car 46, Johnson / Wimpey.

Road conditions variable  - Friday, February 22, 2008
Car 690, Bartram / Hotson, tell us that the roads are slick, but not as slick as they originally thought. "I'm braking way too early some times and we end up having to speed up again just to get to the corner" said Bartram, "other times I'm going too fast and it ends up being slippery." After checking in at the end of the day with some damage to his car Bartram reported "we must have hit a hole that was about six feet across and ten feet deep at a hundred miles an hour...and it pulls a little to the left now".

Car 55, Sarasin / Johansson reports that each stage has had different conditions, but the conditions remain pretty consistent throughout that stage. Things went well for the team at the last "snow rally" where they scored their first overall podium (third place) in their first outting in an Open class car. At the end of day one, the team sits fifth overall.

L'Estage off on SS3  - Friday, February 22, 2008
It has been reported that Car 17, L'Estage / Richard, is off with a mechanical problem on SS3. The crew has been notified and was on their way to get them.

Two stages remain in day one.  - Friday, February 22, 2008
The cars are heading out to run the final stages of the night. We will be heading out to meet the teams at the finish in Salem where we will have the final scores of the day and all the latest news.

Rockstar Subaru sitting in fourth and eighth  - Friday, February 22, 2008
The Rockstar Energy team is still struggling with a few minor car details, but overall things are going well. Car 4, Foust / Beavis, reported that they had the throttle stick at one point; "I thought we'd be really fast on that stage" laughed Foust, unfortunately that wasn't quite the case. Car 2, Pinker / Durant, are having a suspension problem, but are pressing on. The team hasn't had much seat time since the 2007 season finale last October; they only ran a few miles at SnoDrift before retiring with engine failure. Pinker laughed when asked what was going on today, "I'm cold, old and slow."

WRC co-driver enjoys wild ride  - Friday, February 22, 2008
Former World Rally Champion Derek Ringer is enjoying his U.S. debut as co-driver to Subaru Rally Team USA's Travis Pastrana.

"It's good, it's obviously a steep learning curve," said Ringer on Friday. "We're trying to be cautious as the conditions are tricky."

Ringer's wealth of experience on the world's special stages, notably as co-driver to the late Colin McRae, made him a natural choice to replace Christian Edstrom when he recently announced his retirement from regular competition.

The veteran said Pastrana’s motocross success has clearly been excellent preparation for the young driver as he heads into the next phase of his competitive career.

“He’s made it to the top of his original sport and I can’t see why he’s not going to be able to get to the top league in this sport.”

Ringer and Pastrana met for the first time just yesterday. There's no word yet whether this will be a regular pairing for the remainder of the season.

Block leads after two stages.  - Friday, February 22, 2008
Just 17 miles into the rally Car 43, Block / Gelsomino, have nearly a 15 second lead over Car 17, L'Estage / Richard, and are nearly 30 seconds ahead of teammates Car 199, Pastrana / Ringer. "These roads are great, they seem to suit my driving style" smiled the two time winner of this event. The team is very pleased with things so far, but they know there's a lot of rally left.

Early Retirement  - Friday, February 22, 2008
Car #35 Jeff Regester/Duncan Smith are early retirees from the rally. Three quarters the way through stage 1 their Subaru wouldn't rev over 3000 rpm. A crankshaft sensor is suspected to be the problem. The team is back at service trying to fix the problem so they can re-enter tomorrows regional event.

It's a good day to be Canadian!  - Friday, February 22, 2008
With the snowy, slippery roads here this weekend, the teams from North of the border could have a little advantage here this weekend. This events makes five snow and or ice rallies in a row for those that compete in Canada as well as here in the US. Car 17, L'Estage / Richard, and Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb feel their experience could be and asset at this rally, but both teams are quick to say it's anyone's race.

Another team with experience that could be beneficial is Car 40, Mirra / Ockwell. The team has run four winter rallies recently. Mirra was looking forward to his first gravel rally of the Championship; given the conditions, he is glad to have run a few snow rallies recently. As for the weather, Mirra smiled "it's the Canadians, once they sign up, the weather changes."

Regional Rally Championship  - Friday, February 22, 2008
Running concurrently with the 100 Acre Wood National are two regional rallies. Trespassers Wil and the 100 Acre Wood Regional Rally run over the same roads as the National event, only each day is it's own event. For 13 teams the two events combined will determine the 2007 Rally America Regional Champions in all five classes. The official entry list can be found here:

www.rally-america.com/event.100AW.2008.php

One teams service area information board summed up conditions.

Day one of the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood is about to begin.  - Friday, February 22, 2008
The drivers meeting was just held an 55 teams are set to battle the roads and elements here in Missouri. There are actually three events happening this weekend; a National rally, a Regional rally (one each day), and the run-off for the 2007 Rally America Regional Championship. All competitors will run the exact same route and be faced with the same challenges.

Day one will consist of 35 stage miles over four stages and a total of over 125 miles for the day. The teams will run two stages, have a 60 minute service, then run two more stages before finishing back in Salem around 7:00 pm tonight.

We expect to see the first car into service about 4:30 pm.

Rain and sleet will make 100 Acre Woods interesting!  - Thursday, February 21, 2008
The 100 Acre Wood Rally, round two in the Rally America National Championship, will kick off tomorrow; but the story for many teams started today. Freezing rain, sleet, and snow has made travel in the St.Louis, MO area difficult to say the least, and there are reports that there is more to come. Many teams have either a driver, a co-driver, or crew members stuck someplace tonight due to flight delays and cancelations; some have made the choice to drive, others just don't have that option due to location.

Despite the weather, many teams spent the day out running recce. The day of "pre-running" the rally route will not only help the competitors fine tune their notes, the ability to check out the condition of the roads prior to the start may prove to be invaluable. At the end of the day, the roads were said to be frozen gravel with a layer of snow on top; what tires to run will be question of the day tomorrow.

A question already answered tonight at the seeded draw, who will be first on the road? The top five competitors drew to decide the order they would pick their starting position. Drawing the first choice were winners of 100 Acre Wood in '06 and '07, Car 43, Block / Gelsomino; they selected to start third. The last to chose was Car 199, Pastrana / Ringer, who took the only position left, first on the road.

The top five starters:
Car 199, Pastrana / Ringer
Car 17, L'Estage / Richard
Car 43, Block / Gelsomino
Car 4, Foust / Beavis
Car 2, Pinker / Durant

The complete start list can be found under start list for the event.

The rally will officially kick off tomorrow with the cars on display at Parc Expose at 1:00 pm in Steelville, MO. Make sure to check back throughout the rally, it could be a very interesting weekend!