Atlanta, Michigan -- Subaru Rally Team USA's Travis Pastrana was the driver to beat Friday after the opening stages of the Sno*Drift rally in north-central Michigan.

After three stages, he and co-driver Christian Edstrom had opened up a 38-second lead over a top field of X Games veterans and talented newcomers assembled for Round 1 of the 2008 Rally America Championship.

Even so, he and other winter rally veterans said they planned to take a conservative approach to Day 1 of this event. More than half the competition distance is scheduled for Day 2, and many teams will opt to save their big push for later in the contest.

"Today is more about finishing than anything else," said Pastrana, the defending Rally America champion.

Conditions at this, the only winter-weather event in Rally America’s nine-event championship, are notoriously difficult, featuring a mixture of ice and snow conditions that award a smooth style of driving and strategic tire selection.

Trailing Pastrana after three stages was 2007 Canadian champion Antoine L’Estage, a winter driving veteran who is contesting the event for the first time in his Hyundai Tiburon. He led a tight pack of three teams, including Subaru Rally Team Canada driver Ken Block and Mitsubishi driver Andrew Comrie-Picard, who were separated by only nine seconds.

"I know that all of the first six cars on the road can be fast on snow and ice," said L’Estage, a Canadian championship regular who plans to also contest select events in the Rally America series this year.

Meanwhile, Rally America championship runner-up Andrew Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant found themselves out of the contest before it really began. The duo retired on the first stage with a blown engine.

Pinker has returned to the championship alongside fellow Rockstar Energy driver Tanner Foust. Both are in 2006 Subaru WRX STi rally cars. Foust appeared off the pace early in the contest, and was in fifth place after three stages.

More than 40 powerful rally cars took the start in Lewiston, Michigan, for the two-day event that covers 100 stage miles of ice and snow. The event finishes late Saturday in Hillman.

Pastrana returns to the series this year as one of the two drivers for Subaru Rally Team USA. Both he and driver Block, who took third place overall in the 2007 championship, have returned in the Subaru WRX STi rally cars that earned them top spots in the series last season.

The season opener also sees some exciting changes in the field. Matthew Johnson, who has long been a leader in the Production GT class, has moved up into the more powerful Open class of cars and is expected to quickly become a threat at the front of the pack. Former Production GT rival Kenny Bartram is also competing in the open class this season. Both are in Subaru rally cars.

Also, BMX superstar Dave Mirra is also making his US rally debut at this round. He is driving a Monster Energy-backed Subaru Impreza. Notably absent is series regular Matthew Iorio, who recently announced his official retirement from the sport.

The Sno and Drift Regional Rallies will run concurrently as part of the 2008 Rally America Central Regional Rally Championship.

The Rally America national championship is a challenging, all-season series comprised of nine events across the country, beginning with Sno*Drift in January and wrapping up in October with the Lake Superior Performance Rally.

In addition to the championship title, teams are vying for a chance to complete at the high-profile X Games 14 Rally Car Race this summer in Los Angeles. It is expected that the top performers at the early season championship rounds will receive an invitation to compete at the California contest.