HOUGHTON, MI — Travis Pastrana is flying this weekend at the Lake Superior Performance Rally, Round 9 of the Rally America championship.

With nothing to lose at this final event of the 2009 season, Pastrana says he's taking risks and pushing hard for his sixth win of the year. The driver has already secured this year's title and, after the Day 1 stages, he was more than three minutes in the lead.

"The team said I could drive it like I stole it, so we're having a few moments on every stage and we're backwards half the time," said Pastrana, who is co-driven by Christian Edstrom. "But I'm having an awesome time."

In second place were Canadians Antoine L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard. The team is playing spoiler in the championship this weekend and in the hunt for valuable season-end points in their North American Rally Championship charge – which counts events from both sides of the border.

In third and leading the Super Production charge was the Subaru Rally Team USA crew of Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino, who have been running in the SP class since a bad wreck earlier in the season put their regular competition car out of commission. Teammate Dave Mirra – who ran the car earlier this year -- is unable to attend this event due to scheduling conflicts.

Meanwhile, Andrew "ACP" Comrie-Picard, was out of the contest on the second-last stage of Day 1 with a blown engine. This event has not been kind to Comrie-Picard, who has suffered a string of DNFs here in recent years. The poor finish for ACP assures Polish driver Andi Mancin second-place in the championship.

Mancin and co-driver Maciej Wislawski were in fourth place at the end of Day 1.

The crowded Super Production class saw driver Heath Nunnemacher in second place, trailing Block, followed by title contenders Pat Moro and Jimmy Keeney. A stroke of bad luck saw Piotr Wiktorczyk out of the hunt for the class title before the race could begin; his engine blew during practice.

In two-wheel-drive, 17-year-old driver Dillon Van Way locked up his first-ever title with a start here this weekend.

The fall colors are brilliant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula at this time of year. It was cold and drizzly on Friday as cars headed out for the opening stages, with snow reported in some areas. Storm systems build quickly on water the size of Lake Superior, which means that the weather can change very rapidly. Teams have to be prepared for anything at this rally – with tires at the ready for any possible road condition.

The event's unusual schedule sees the majority of competition wrap up late Friday as teams compete into the wee hours of the morning, then start up again Saturday for the final stages.

As the season ender, this rally also plays host to the Rally America awards banquet, presented by BFGoodrich Tires, at the Rockhouse Grill & Tavern on Sunday.

Considered the extreme sport of automobile racing, rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

Top teams in the Rally America National Championship series are also invited to compete in ESPN’s annual Summer X Games competition, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN.

For more information regarding Rally America, Inc. or to reserve tickets for the 2009 Rally America National Rally Championship Awards Banquet presented by BFGoodrich scheduled for Sunday, October 18, 2009, call (763) 553-2742 or visit www.rally-america.com for details.