Laughlin, Nevada -- Competition is heating up in all categories on both sides of the country, as the United States Rally Championship (www.usrallychampionship.com) continues into the second half of its fourth season.

In the Atlantic Division and overall, the Irish crew of Martin Donnelly and Stephen Duffy in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution are leading the AWD (All-Wheel-Drive) Championship at midseason. They have been steadily improving their results by finishing third at Rally New York USA, second at Rally Tennessee, and they won Rally West Virginia this past weekend. The New York team of Otis Dimiters and Dominik Jozwiak in a Subaru Impreza are second after winning Rally Tennessee and taking the second place at Rally New York USA. Another Irish crew, Enda McCormack and Bernard Farrell, also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, are third in the AWD Championship. Brian Scott and John Dillon in a Subaru Impreza are leading in the Pacific Division after winning Idaho Rally. The reigning United States Rally AWD Champion, Irishman Seamus Burke in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution with a new co-driver Ole Holter did not finish Rally New York USA or Rally Tennessee and missed Rally West Virginia.

In the 2WD (Two-Wheel-Drive) Championship in the Atlantic Division and overall, the 2006 United States Rally 2WD Champions Bruce Davis and Jimmy Brandt in a Neon SRT-4 are leading after winning two events - Rally New York USA and Rally Tennessee, and placing second at Idaho Rally. Hampton Bridwell and Josh Katinger in a Ford Focus are second in the 2WD Championship after a second place at Rally New York USA and two third places at Rally Tennessee and Rally West Virginia. The Irishmen Dan Brosnan and Shane McCann in Nissan Sentra are third with a second at Rally New York USA, a third at Rally Tennessee and a fifth at Rally West Virginia. Scott Leonard/Adam Kneipp in a Volkswagen Golf are leading the Pacific Division after winning Idaho Rally. The reigning United States Rally 2WD Champion Bill Holmes with a new codriver Sean Gallagher has yet to enter competition and is on the entry list for the next event – Gorman Ridge Rally.

Subaru crews David Allan/Tammy Allan and Scott Wilburn/Constantine Mantopoulos (Carrie Wilburn) are leading the AWD Production Cup in the Atlantic Division. Another Subaru crew Paul Eklund/Jeff Price are leading the AWD Production Cup in the Pacific Division.

Hampton Bridwell/Josh Katinger in Ford Focus are in the first place in the 2WD Production Cup in the Atlantic Division. The 2007 Winners Kristopher Marciniak/Christine Marciniak in a Dodge Neon are leading the 2WD Production Cup in the Pacific Division.

The United States Rally Championship will continue with the remaining events that include Gorman Ridge Rally (www.gormanridgerally.com) in California, Prescott Rally (www.prescottrally.com) in Arizona and the final round of the Championship - International Rally New York (www.rallynewyork.com).

Pacific Division teams are competing for coveted cash travel subsidies that will be awarded to top six teams in the Division. The total of $12,000 in subsidies will be distributed to Pacific Division teams to assist them with travelling to the final round of the United States Rally Championship in New York.

The United States Rally Championship is taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. This is the second season of the new Championship structure that minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship.