VERNONIA, OR — Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana was in the lead early on Day 2 of the Oregon Trail Rally in Portland, Oregon this weekend.

“There’s a lot of rock on the surface out there,” said Pastrana. “It felt like we were all over the place but our times were good.”

Up-and-coming Open class driver Matt Johnson, meanwhile, retired early after he took his Hankook-Rallispec Subaru off road on Stage 6. Neither Johnson nor co-driver Jeremy Wimpey were injured in the crash, but they were unable to continue.

Pastrana, a veteran two-wheeler, pulled into the lead on Day 1, during the tight spectator super special stages that wound through the motocross and race tracks at the Portland International Raceway.

Rockstar Energy driver Tanner Foust’s experience in the track-based sport of drifting was also an advantage on Day 1, and he ended the first day in second place. But by Day 2, the mechanical trouble that has plagued the Rockstar Energy team all season looked set to spoil another rally for the talented driver.

Foust and co-driver Chrissie Beavis pulled into the first service of Day 2 trailing blue smoke from their Subaru – a sign of likely engine trouble. He said he didn’t even expect to continue past the first service.

“The engine seized after Stage 6,” said Foust after the first service break of the day. “We were taking our driving suits off and cracking Rockstars when the guys got it running again.”

But the car was still trailing smoke on the way out to Stage 7, and it was not immediately clear whether the trouble would resolve.

Pastrana’s teammate Ken Block was in third place. An off-course excursion on the final stage of Day 1 saw him crack the front of his Subaru hard, but the damage was repaired by the Saturday morning start.

With four stages to go on Day 2, Australian Andy Pinker was in fourth, with Andrew Comrie-Picard’s Mitsubishi rounding out the Top 5.

“Our approach is to go out today and perform at 80 per cent of our top speed,” said Comrie-Picard on Saturday. “We’re exploring some new differential technology and our aim is to be smart, and be there at the finish.”

Pinker was struggling Saturday to overcome an early season points deficit that has him in a four-way tie for 19th overall in the standings.

The three-day contest includes 16 competitive stages, with the action taking place on the challenging logging roads near Vernonia, and Hillsboro on Saturday and Sunday.

The area roads are technical in nature, featuring what’s known as a crown – where the road is higher in the center and slopes down to the ditches – that can easily unbalance a competition vehicle if the driver strays off the ideal line.

Unpredictable weather in the area often means damp conditions, but drivers arrived at the Portland International Raceway on Friday to temperatures hovering in the 90s. Heat and dust are more likely to be a factor than the snow that threatened the region just weeks ago.

The 2008 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and road conditions spanning the forest logging roads in Minnesota, the high-altitude Yampa River Valley in Northwest Colorado to the Pacific Northwest forest and coast paths.

Rally America drivers are competing for valuable points in the first six races in the 2008 season to qualify for spots to compete in X Games 14 as Rally Car Racing will make its third showing at this summer’s X Games in Los Angeles.

The Oregon Trail Rally also serves as Round 1 of the Max Attack! Triple Crown Rally Series, a three-event series is set up to reward drivers of two-wheel drive vehicles.

About Rally America
Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2008, Rally America will conduct nine National Championship events at venues across the country, from Pomeroy, Wash., to Bethel, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds well over 100mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses of gravel, dirt or snow. Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying Rally America drivers will be invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the annual leading action-sport event that is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. For more information, visit www.rally-america.com.