Late Details from Sno*Drift  - Monday, January 28, 2008
Car 523, Hanson/Hanson, a fan favorite, lost 13 minutes on SS2, stuck in a snowbank. The team was able to get out finally and continue. They were hopeful to be able to make up some of the time they lost; unfortunately, they lost 2nd and 3rd gear. They finished 6th in class and 20th overall.

On SS12, Car 52 Shepherd/Wagner hit a very large snowbank and rolled the car over two times. Both driver and co-driver were fine, but the car's windshield was broken and subsequently, they were unable to continue. The team was hoping to finish the last three stages, but were happy they are both ok (and the car is mostly ok!). The car drove well and held up well and was still running well after the roll. The team would again like to thank their crew - Don, Dave, Tim, Douglas, and Carl.

Car 540 Smigowski/Slocum lost power steering on Stage 7 and went into a minor bank on SS9; in total, they lost 1 minute. They would like to thank Evan Cline and Jason Grahn for giving them a tug out of the snowbank. Slocum was a last minute for Christina (Smigowski) when she was not able to make the event to co-drive.

Car 24 Moberly/Greek struggled on Friday. Moberly and Johnson (Car 46) had arranged, pre-event, to swap cars - a PGT car for an open class car - very different amounts of power at an event known for not being a power event. Moberly (with assistance from Phoenix Autosport and JP Motorsports) put their program together to run PGT here at Sno*Drift and the team was looking to move in their class after losing loads of time stuck in a snow bank on SS5 (Friday). Despite having a great time on Saturday, the team was only able to eek out a 22nd overall finish; the team would like to say thanks to Katie, Connor, and Rosie.

Carapetyan/Amato win the Drift Regional Rally  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
The results are in for the Drift Regional Rally:

Open and Overall
Car 725, Carapetyan / Amato
Car 508, Ottey / McGarvey
Car 198, Gruszka / Dorman

Production
Car 708, Zedril / Zedril

PGT
Car 669, Cline / Grahn

G2
Car 319, Greenhouse / Kneipp

Group 5
Car 680, Woodside / Woodside

This is the first event in snow for Car 725 Carapetyan/Amato and their 2nd rally together. Carapetyan, a Texas native, half jokes that they are only accustomed to seeing snow an 1/8 of an inch at a time. “Getting accustomed to the speed on these conditions (snow) was tough,” stated Carapetyan.

The team struggled with car setup issues yesterday, but managed a 5th overall in the Sno Regional Rally. They were able to fix the car issues overnight, and felt the car was faster. Additionally, driver and co-driver were clicking together in the car better.

When asked what his goals might be, Carapetyan frankly stated that “I want to be fast…isn’t that what everyone wants?”; he went on to state that realistically, their goal here is to “keep it neat and tidy and finish without losing too much time.” Their larger goal is to run central region events and maybe run another couple nationals.

At least for this event, the team has achieved their goal – they have won the Drift Regional Rally. They would like to thank their crew, Roy, James, and Eli, for all their help and their sponsor, DPR Racing, for their support.

Cars have arrived at the finish.  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
The top teams have started arrive in Hillman for the finish of the rally.

At the moment, it appears that Car 17, L'Estage / Richard, has taken the win and the early points lead in the 2008 Rally America National Championship.

Second place looks to be Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb, and in third is Car 55, Sarasin / Johansson.

Photo credits: Morgan Segal, www.morgansegal.com

Only three stages remain in the 2008 Sno*Drift rally.  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
Although it appears that the podium may be set, anything can still happen. We will be heading to the finish in Hillman where the first car is expected to arrive about 7:00pm.

Still going...the car 52 story  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
After a few challenges yesterday, Car 52 Shepherd / Wagner are not only still going on Day 2, but spirits are very high. Conditions were extremely slippery yesterday. Today, they predicted the same would be true; "today we are going to try and have fun and enjoy the day." stated co-driver Karen Wagner.

In the first service, the team changed the tire setup in hopes to get more grip; additionally, the team is finding a rhythm. All in all, the team was having more fun today and looking forward to the rest of the days challenges.

Unfortunately, they have rolled; however, they have continued (for now)…It is uncertain if they will be able to finish the rally; if the windshield is cracked (as is common in a roll) they will need to replace it. "We have four spare windshields...in Detroit" said the crew. Right now, they do not know the extent of the damage.

Special thanks to the best crew out there - Don, Tim, Dave, Carol, and Douglass!

“Doug is one of the best drivers in the US and I am so fortunate to be able to ride with him and learn a ton - I learned so much from Doug at LSPR but here at Sno*Drift, I am constantly learning more and more. He is a great driver, co-driver, and teacher,” States Karen.

Not the right setup for snow!  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
"We're having fun, we're just not going very fast" laughed Johnson, driver of Car 46, Johnson / Wimpey. Without any set up time or practice time in this car prior to Sno*Drift, the team is struggling to make it work. Johnson feels that the car would probably work well on the gravel, it's just not working on snow and ice. The team tried to go a little faster last night, it resulted in some minor right front damage to the car. "I'm running out of ideas for a solution. I'm just gonna try to keep it safe and on the road; I just wish it wasn't so much work!" smiled Johnson.

Pastrana still leads after 10 stages.  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
Car 199 Pastrana/Edstrom still leading after SS10
After SS6, Car 199 Pastrana/Edstrom was leading by 45 seconds. “Travis is trying not to push it” stated co-driver Edstrom, “with the exception of overshooting a junction on SS2 (that cost the team 20 seconds), Travis has had no big moments. Our tire choice was the reason for our success. We chose the right tire all day.” Edstrom detailed the teams strategy would be to try and maintain their lead today.

Even though the team backed off a little bit this morning, they were still able to maintain over a minute lead on second place Car 17, L'Estage / Richard. Pastrana feels like they need to go back to the more aggressive style they were using yesterday; not to gain more time, but to make fewer mistakes. "You really need to concentrate when your driving on ice, when I slow down I seem to concentrate less" said Pastrana. "I've made more mistakes today; we've been bouncing off the banks and I think I've screwed up every spectator location." The conditions are also a little more difficult this morning; with the fresh snow on the road it's hard to tell what's underneath it. " I really thought L'Estage and Foust would be one - two, I'm just really happy to be where we are!"

Block loses time on stage 10.  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
Car 43, Block / Gelsomino, lost around ten minutes stuck on SS10 just barely off the road. The team went off just over a crest on a slower left hand corner, "we just got sucked into the snow" said Ken; they were stuck on a frozen ridge of dirt. Car 46, Johnson / Wimpey, stopped to help; but Block and Gelsomino were able to get themselves out using the jack at about the same time. Block now sits in eighth place, just over three minutes behind Johnson.

The regular Block family cheering squad was unable to attend this weekend, but they are still cheering the team on from home!

Car 708 ZedrilRacing Leading Production  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
Car 708 Zedril/Zedril, in their Racing Performance Works Mitsibushi, are currently leading Production in the Sno*Drift Rally and they achieved a 3rd place (podium finish) in last night’s Sno Regional Rally.

The Zedril’s are the reigning Production Champions as well as the holders of the North American Rally Cup.

Some exciting changes have happened for the Zedril’s over the short break between the end of last years season and the opening of this year’s season.

The primary change is that they have created a tier-1 partnership with Racing Performance Works (RPW) of Australia. “We cannot express how thrilled we are to be partnering with RPW in 2008. RPW is the world’s premiere 2WD Mitsubishi performance specialists. ZedrilRacing is known for implementing nothing but the absolute best in equipment and RPW’s products speak for themselves, it is a great fit. We are honored to have the chance to represent such as great company. We look forward to a successful and prosperous long-term partnership with owner David Thomas, and assisting RPW and its products to the consumer base here in North America. “ stated the Zedril’s.

In addition to RPW (WWW.rpw.com.au), the team is excited about their primary sponsors as well, they are: Drummond Motorsports; Mitsibushi, and Race Gear North America.

Car 46 learning new lessons  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
Car 46 Johnson/Wimpey having been struggling all day with new car setup issues. “I have been driving to avoid crashing all day – I did not trust the car.”

The team has been trying to work out the new car issues, but just could not get it going their way. They spun three times on SS5 and seemingly, could not get it going.

After that stage, they unhooked the swaybar and “got into the groove. It felt good” stated Johnson, “I have been driving a long time, and I always learn something, today my learning lesson was about car setup.”

Car 70 Duplessis/Headland looking for a challenge  - Saturday, January 26, 2008
The team started out fast, but as Duplessis stated “when we saw Shepherd had spun, we backed off some”.

When asked what his goal was, Duplessis stated that their primary objective is to finish. Beyond that, he would like to finish well and maybe even get the Group 5 win.

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.“

The team is running Group 5 in a G2 car. While perfectly legal to do, most teams would not, due to the substantial power difference. Group 5 cars are defined as having “engines Over 2 liters (adjusted), turbo/super-charged and 2wd; Group 2 is naturally aspirated. “I am looking for a challenge and I like good competition (like I had in 2WD/Group 2 last year), so I chose to use my Group 2 car in Group 5 at this event”.

Currently, Duplessis is leading Group 5 with a time of 1:06.58; Shepherd is 2nd in Group 5, but currently 26th overall (due to his problems yesterday) with a time of 1:20:02.

At the end of the first day of rally, here is the leaderboard:  - Friday, January 25, 2008
Car 199, Pastrana / Edstrom
Car 43, Block / Gelsomino
Car 17, L'Estage / Richard
Car 4, Foust / Beavis
Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb

There are 12 stages remaining before the Sno*Drift rally will be decided. Make sure to check back tomorrow for all the latest news and the final scores of Sno*Drift tomorrow.

First Rally America National event for Mirra.  - Friday, January 25, 2008
Things are going well for Car 40, Mirra / Ockwell. The team is taking it slow and taking some advice from fellow competitors Pastrana and Block. Mirra is a little unsure on some of the downhill, off-camber corners on the route, "Travis told me to stay on the inside" said Mirra. He hopes the advice, his run at Tall Pines, and the time he has spent at the Team O'Neil Rally School will come together; "my goal is to keep the car on the road and get a finish".

Engine failure the cause of Pinker's DNF  - Friday, January 25, 2008
Only a little over a mile into SS1, the rally ended for the Rockstar Energy team of Car 2, Pinker / Durant. They ended up with oil spraying and fires from three different places in the engine compartment. Pinker knew starting Sno*Drift that the car wasn't 100%, but with Championship points at stake, they had to take a chance. The Rockstar team has been hard at work putting together four new cars in the last five weeks; they are excited to fight for the 2008 Rally America National Championship.

ACP in 4th overall.  - Friday, January 25, 2008
"There's better and more consistent traction this year than any Sno*Drift we've run before" said Comrie-Picard after the first set of stages. Because the team didn't expect much traction, they started the day with a low boost setting; they believe it hurt them early in the day. After turning up the boost, Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb, won SS3. Like many other teams, they believe that with so many stage miles remaining there's nothing to worry about yet.

Sno Regional Rally after SS3  - Friday, January 25, 2008
The Sno Regional Rally is running concurrently alongside the Sno*Drift Rally this evening. The Sno Regional Rally is 45 stage miles long (6 special stages).

Currently, the leaderboard after SS3 (at halfway) as as follows:

Car 646 Zenz/Parps 31:25.7
Car 198 Gruszka/Dorman 32:02.3
Car 508 Ottey/McGarvey 32:23.4
Car 725 Carapetyan/Amato 33:15.8
Car 44 Krolikowski/Krolikowski 33:35.1

Car 52 has excursion on SS1 and continues  - Friday, January 25, 2008
After an excursion on the first stage Shepherd / Wagner are back on the on the road and doing well. Overall, driver and co-driver are enjoying their second event together and are looking forward to the rest of the event.

The team would like to thank to Henry and Cindi for all of their help. "It seems Karen's lucky shirt has been working its magic," Wagner stated.

They would also like to say Hi to Toni Shepherd who could not make this weekend's event and to all of our family and friends at home.

Pinker/Durant asking for crew  - Friday, January 25, 2008
Net control is reporting that Car 2 Pinker/Durant is stopped on stage 1. I doesn't appear they went off, but possibly suffered a mechanical failure. No further details are available except that they are asking for their crew.

Sno*Drift 2008 is underway  - Friday, January 25, 2008
The 2008 Sno*Drift Rally is now underway. Sno*Drift is a 2 day event and the 1st round of the Rally America National Championship; Sno*Drift runs the last weekend of January every year, and is effectively the only snow/ice event on the circuit.

Sno*Drift was the first complete event that was held as a stage type (or performance rally); this is the 42nd anniversary of the performance type Sno*Drift Rally.

Sno*Drift Rally is run in Northeastern Lower Michigan. As in past years, it is headquartered in Atlanta, Michigan but also utilize the towns of Lewiston and Hillman.

Winter conditions in Michigan are hard to predict, but some combination of fresh snow and glazed ice can always be expected. The 17 stages, run entirely in Montmorency County are in good shape; they are expected to become “polished ice” very quickly, not allowing for much grip.

The winners, both of this event and the championship, Car 199 Pastrana/Edstrom is looking to repeat, but there are 41 talented teams here and the competition will undoubtedly be tough.