Last weekend Travis Pastrana earned 3rd place at New England Forest Rally, a strong finish that vaults him into the lead of the 2008 Rally America National Championship. It's a great place to be for Travis, who's defending as reigning champ and trying to make it three-straight National Championships.
New England Forest Rally is notorious for its rocky treacherous roads as it weaves its way over 100 miles along the New Hampshire/Maine border. While many drivers found wrecks, damaged cars, and other troubles because of the gnarly roads, Travis slipped past any major issues with conservative driving. The only exception was punctured tire that turned into a flat tire that turned into an on-the-rim stage finish. Despite the issue, TP earned a solid podium spot.
"I took a steady approach since I needed some miles in the new car and that strategy paid off because so many other drivers had problems," said Travis.
Travis' DC rally teammate, Ken Block--not so lucky at New England Forest Rally. He was having a great rally as he got even more experience behind the wheel of his new '08 Subaru WRX STI, running 2nd and enjoying a tight back-and-forth battle with former PWRC champ Niall McShae. After persevering through a punctured tire, he hit a rather large rock in the road and damaged his front suspension. The issue was enough to permanently make Ken retire from the weekend's racing. Ken said, ""To be able to run against McShea and keep up with him, I think, validates our sport in America, McShea is world-class... I wish we would have been able to fight all the way to the finish because I think we could have won it."
Next up rally-wise for Travis and Ken is X Games 14 is Los Angeles. Stay tuned for results, and go here for more photos from last weekend's New England Forest Rally.
