Top National and West Coast Teams Enter Round 3 of the Rally America National Championship WILLISTON, VT — The Oregon Trail Rally, the third round of the 2012 Rally America National Championship, will start 63 teams on May 4-6th in Portland, OR. It's the second highest Oregon Trail entry list in the event's history matching the 63 entries set in 2010. Oregon Trail's largest field was 76 teams in 2007. Rally America has already seen record entries at the first two rounds of the National Championship and the trend continues heading into Oregon. The Oregon Trail Rally will start at Portland International Raceway on Friday and then continue onto the farm roads near Mt. Hood the rest of the weekend. A number of top west coast teams have entered to challenge Rally America's top national teams to help the Oregon Trail Rally reach its high number of entries. Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and Rockstar Energy Drink's Antoine L'Estage are battling for National Championship supremacy, but U.S. mountain bike champ and occasional rally driver, Carl Decker from Bend, OR, is fast enough to potentially reach the podium. Decker last raced in 2010 at Oregon Trail netting a sixth-overall spot and managed to garner enough points to later compete at X Games 16 in Super Rally. Oregon Trail will feature a large Super Production Class this year with nine teams. There is a first place tie in the SP Class between Travis Hanson and Lauchlin O'Sullivan, but only O'Sullivan will compete at Oregon. Hanson will rejoin the National Championship hunt at the STPR Rally in Wellsboro, PA on June 1-2. O'Sullivan's task won't be easy as he faces his usual national SP competitors, and faces more west coast SP teams, such as Hood River's Dave Henderson and Aurora's Mike Goodwin. The Two-Wheel Drive Class will be packed with 26 teams consisting of national and regional drivers competing on the same turf. Chris Duplessis in his 2011 Ford Fiesta R2 has dominated this year, but he faces an Australian two-driver team, Will Orders and Ross Allan. Orders and Allen are bringing their 400hp Nissan Silvias and could seriously challenge Duplessis. There will be plenty of action and competition on the fast, gravel-pitted roads of the Oregon Trail Rally. You can see the action begin at Portland International Raceway on May 4th for $10 per person, $5 for children ages 6-12, and children under 6 are free. The event moves to The Dalles and Dufur on May 5-6 for more amazing free spectator viewing areas. Official Oregon Trail spectator guides are available for download or free at the event's Parcs Expose: Download Link for Oregon Trail Rally Spectator Guide Live online video streaming coverage of rally action and exclusive driver interviews will be available at www.rally-america.com. Online coverage is scheduled to begin Friday at 6:00pm PDT. The 2012 Rally America National Championship is proudly supported by TeleBlend, VP Racing Fuels - the Official Fuel of Rally America, ParkNBlend, Exedy Racing Clutches, Hawk Performance Brakes, DMack Tyres USA, GrimmSpeed and RECARO seats.
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