SALEM, MO. — Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block flew into the lead early in the Rally of the 100 Acre Wood on Friday, taking decisive wins in the two opening stages of the event.

“These are fast roads,” said Block. “You just have to commit on them.”

Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino have taken wins in the two previous years at this event. Early in the two-day contest, they were favored to make it three in a row.

Unseasonably icy weather in southern Missouri has made for unpredictable conditions on the course. Many teams came prepared for the fast and flowing gravel roads that are typical of this early spring event, but a two-day storm has turned the course slick with ice.

Cars that had been readied for gravel conditions were returned to snow and ice setups this week, and teams called in favors to stock up on winter tires.

January’s first round saw Canadian snow and ice veteran Antoine L’Estage take the win, and his experience in these tricky conditions was serving him well early in the contest. He and co-driver Nathalie Richard were in second place in their Hyundai Tiburon after two stages.

“It’s good. We’re going OK,” said L’Estage. “It’s just the beginning, though.”

Block’s Subaru teammate Travis Pastrana, who retired after striking a deer late in the previous round, was in third place early Friday.

“Ken’s killing us,” said Pastrana, who finished in second place at this event in 2007. “He’s really rolling right now.”

Even so, Pastrana said he was cautiously optimistic about the icy challenge facing him over the next two days.

“These are probably my favorite roads in the series,” he said. “But of any place I wouldn’t want to see snow on the course, this would be it.”

Pastrana is contesting this event with a new co-driver, former Word Rally Champion Derek Ringer. Pastrana’s regular partner Christian Edstrom recently announced his retirement from regular competition.

Although teams took on ice and snow at the first round, Sno*Drift, in northern Michigan, the unusual nature of the weather in Missouri adds an extra element of risk. While winter events often feature forgiving snow banks that keep cars from sliding off the road, there is nothing but danger off the line here.

In addition to the 2008 championship title, teams are vying for a chance to complete at the high-profile X Games 14 this summer in Los Angeles. It is expected that the top teams after the first five championship rounds will receive an invitation to compete at the California contest.

The rally, through the scenic Ozark foothills of southern Missouri, began under threatening skies on Friday, with more icy rain and cold weather expected for Day 2.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and 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.

The 2008 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and road conditions. Throughout the year, teams take on everything from the forest logging roads in Minnesota, to the high-altitude Yampa River Valley in Northwest Colorado, and the Pacific Northwest forest and coast paths. The series moves west for the next round, the Olympus Rally in Olympia, Washington, April 19 to 20.