24 Apr Travis Pastrana wins the 2017 Oregon Trail Rally

Article written for American Rally Association here.

Goldendale, Washington (April 24, 2017)

Travis Pastrana and Robbie Durant have won the 2017 running of the Oregon Trail Rally, ending David Higgins’ streak of 6 consecutive wins in the Columbia River gorge. The victory represents Pastrana’s first in the American Rally Association and now sees him tied with Higgins in the overall standings. It is also the second OTR in as many years to be decided by a mere 10 seconds.

“To be able to battle the guy that you’ve emulated, the guy that you’ve tried to do everything like…and to knock a six win streak off of him in a battle that came down to those 10 seconds…it’s awesome,” said Pastrana, “at the end of the day this was gonna our best shot for a win, it was one that we definitely needed. Robbie and I knew that.”

The 10 second gap between the Subarus seemed to be a constant this weekend. Higgins and Drew initially dropped the time after losing their rear brakes at Portland International Raceway, on Friday. Saturday saw Higgins battle back, closing the gap to within 4 seconds before a puncture on the day’s final stage cost him all the ground gained during the day. Sunday was as close as could be, with every stage decided by under 5 seconds. Pastrana pulled ahead in the morning, and Higgins narrowed the gap in the afternoon. Ultimately the two were evenly matched, and Pastrana claimed the victory.

“We had one of those things where it was every time you think you’re getting there, you think you’re getting closer, he goes and pulls some time back,” said Higgins, “Brilliant battle.”

Finishing out the overall podium and placing first in Restricted Open 4WD were Jeff Seehorn and Karen Jankowski. The pair opened up a 20 second gap at PIR and from there just settled into a rhythm. By the end of Saturday, Seehorn had several minutes of cushion on both sides and decided just to bring the car home.

“The weekend went great, the car felt awesome,” said Seehorn,” I couldn’t ask for anything more, Karen’s notes were spot on all weekend. She kept me focused and right on pace.”

Also competing in a new built car this weekend were Travis Nease and Krista Skucas. “I was worried before the race,” said Nease,” the car had 300 miles on it when we got it and about 8 or 9 stage miles. So this was a complete shakedown for me.”

Nease was in a battle of tenths with James Rimmer and Michelle Miller heading into Sunday. That fight was set to go to the wire until the engine in Rimmer’s Subaru gave out, forcing him to retire.

There was a battle for every podium spot in 2WD heading into Sunday. Cameron Steely/Preston Osborn lead Ryan Millen/Rhianon Gelsomino at the start of the day’s first loop. The Columbia Hills loop saw Steely lose nearly 30 seconds to Millen, doping him to second behind the Toyota.

“I wasn’t feeling it, he caught me sleeping,” said Steely, “I knew I wasn’t going very fast, but I didn’t expect that.”

Millen was excited about the hard fought win. “Really thrilled to be honest with you, because he [Steely] is hard to beat,” said Millen, “Rhianon and I did our homework, and pushed a ton.”

The final podium spot in 2WD was also closely contested. Dave Wallingford and Leanne Junnila started Sunday with a 10 second lead over Jason Bailey and Chris Kremer. The two teams swapped stage wins all day and Bailey ultimately came out on top.

“I finally felt for the first time that I was driving all of this car, “said Bailey, “I gave it everything it had.”

OTR saw quite a few high profile DNFs this year. Barry McKenna ran his WRC Focus powered Fiesta S2000 at PIR on Friday, but ran into engine issues. David Nickel retired early Saturday morning due to damage caused by losing his skid plate at PIR the night before. Boris Djordjevic’s rally ended after making contact with Nickel’s skid plate.

For full results from the Oregon Trail Rally please follow this link. The next event on the American Rally Association calendar is Olympus Rally, May 13 and 14. Results:

Photo Credit: Alex Wong

About American Rally Association (ARA)

We are a member driven organization dedicated to the sport of stage rally by providing a transparent and inclusive sanctioning body. A 501 (c)(3) non-profit, ARA is lead by elected and appointed board members who deliver a framework for safety, competition, promotion, and educational forums for all aspects of the sport. The common goal of our members, volunteers, and organization is a thriving stage rally program in America.