WELLSBORO, PA — Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block set a blazing pace on the opening stages of the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally to take a commanding early lead, while the notoriously challenging event was dealing out its usual dose of trouble for many teams.

“I’m still leading and just enjoying the run for once,” said Block as he entered the lunchtime service break on Day 2 – one of the few teams to be enjoying a clean run. “I’m being quick, but just being safe; there’s no reason to throw it away now.”

Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino have had their share of bad luck this season, with three DNFs in four starts.

Their Subaru teammates Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom were in second place, and attempting to battle back after they lost a minute to suspension damage on Day 1. Pastrana said Saturday he’d have to push harder to get close to a win.

“I’ve got to get my head out of my bum and start driving a little quicker,” he said. “It’s scary, man: it’s some fast, fast stages.”

Bill Bacon and co-driver Peter Watt were in third place, and said at the mid-point in the contest they were hoping their competition car would hold up. Bacon reported a noise coming from the rear that could signal developing mechanical issues.

In addition to battling for championship points, teams are vying for a shot at X Games gold in August. Four top points scorers in the series after this event will earn an invitation and it’s possible that a win at STPR could translate to a starting spot at the Los Angeles contest.

Bacon and Watt have run a limited season this year in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, but a strong finish at this event could land them an X Games invitation.

In fourth place after six stages, Polish X Games hopeful Andi Mancin and co-driver Ryszard Ciupka were battling an ailing clutch and had dropped over a minute off the podium. The event started poorly for the duo, who took a rock to a brake line and were forced to run a stage without brakes.

Piotr Wiktorczyk and Grzegorz Dorman were leading the Super Production charge, and were in fifth-place – just four seconds ahead of Subaru Rally Team USA’s Dave Mirra and co-driver Derek Ringer. Wiktorczyk is also hoping to secure an invitation to the X Games.

This event is typically tough and often becomes a battle of attrition as teams fall victim to the challenging course and tough roads.

Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard – who took the win here in 2008 -- were also having a tough event and were well off the pace. After losing time on Day 1 to a blown turbo hose, the team appeared to be battling further mechanical trouble with their new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. They were in seventh-place overall after six stages.

The Swedish World Rally Team of Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson were out of the contest after only one stage with reported engine failure. It was tough luck for Sandell, who had been expected to challenge for the win at this contest. The driver has won two Production World Rallies so far this year, and was the Junior World Rally Champion in 2006.

And the NOS Energy team of Andrew Comrie-Picard and guest co-driver Marshall Clarke were well out of the running after receiving a penalty for fuelling procedures and then suffering a soft rollover on the fourth stage. They were able to continue after the crew installed a replacement windshield and said they were planning to keep running in an effort to defend their third-place championship position.

Rally newcomer Brian Deegan and his co-driver Chrissie Beavis were taking a conservative approach to Day 2, after the motocross pro’s hard lesson that his new sport can be unexpectedly tough. After gaining some confidence on the first stage, he picked up the pace on the second only to break a driveshaft. The incident cost him some time, but his crew was able to make repairs and return to the contest.

“I like the new challenge and like something different but it’s just frustrating not being good at something,” said Deegan.

Deegan made his name as a supercross and motocross star, and founding member of the Metal Mulisha group of riders. Deegan is the latest action sports star to try his hand at rally competition, joining the likes of Pastrana and Mirra -- both series regulars.

The Susquehannock Trail event has been running since 1977, and has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the calendar. The 2009 running of the contest features a return to the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day.

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 2009 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and road conditions.

Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. Eight top teams have already been invited to this August’s contest. Six drivers –Pastrana, Comrie-Picard, Block, Mirra, Foust and Matt Johnson – have already been invited to compete. The next four top scorers in the series are expected to receive an invitation. Two other so-called “at large” drivers have yet to be named.

Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

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 Portland, Ore., to Bethel, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses of gravel, dirt or snow.

Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying Rally America drivers are 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.