Colchester, Vermont -- Officials at Vermont SportsCar, based in Colchester, VT, announced today they have reached an agreement with 1999 SCCA ProRally Production Class Champion driver Karl Scheible from Spencerport, New York for the upcoming 2000 SCCA ProRally Championship series.

Vermont SportsCar, which is known for building some of the best performance rally cars in the North America, has submitted their entry for the upcoming Sno*Drift SCCA ProRally set for January 28-29, 2000 in Atlanta, Michigan. Karl Scheible will be handling the driving chores for the rally while Russ Hughes from Leroy, New York will serve as the co-driver. Driving Vermont Sportscar's potent 1998 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V in the Sports Car Club of America's (SCCA) new Group N rally championship, Scheible hopes to pick up where he left off at the end of the 1999 SCCA Michelin ProRally Championship and score a top finish in the very first rally of the new championship season.

With SCCA officials adding two new competition classes to the 2000 ProRally Championship, Group A and Group N, the United States-based ProRally series has made a serious step forward in becoming more in line with the successful FIA World Rally Championship which has had these two classes as part of their championship series for years. SCCA's Group N rally cars will be based on production automobiles and have already proven to be successful against Open class rally cars in competition. In fact, Vermont SportsCar's Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V Group N rally car has already posted two wins and two top five finishes in five outings during the recently completed season.

"We're looking forward to having Karl drive our Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V in Michigan," stated Vermont SportsCar President Lance Smith, "he's a proven winner with great ability and has already driven the Mitsubishi to a fifth place finish in a previous SCCA ProRally. Although he's not driven this particular car in a Winter rally, his exceptional Winter driving skills, along with the superior handling capabilities of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V with the Ohlins suspension system, should help him a great deal in achieving a top finish in the season's first championship rally."

For more information regarding Vermont SportsCar or the above information, please contact Paul Giblin, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Vermont SportsCar by telephone at (802) 655-3533 or by E-mail at paulgiblin@usa.net. You can also check out their web site at: http://www.vtcar.com