Regional Overall tightening up after Friday stages
Steelville, Mo. ~ Tires, dust and night stages met American Rally Association, presented by AMSOIL competitors on day one of the Show-Me Rally. None of that a slowed the 59-car field that is building up championship implications heading into Saturday.
After two rounds behind the wheel of his Skoda, Barry McKenna busted out the Ford Fiesta WRC car for round four of the ARA National Championship. He held a commanding lead over Subaru Motorsports USA's Brandon Semenuk and Travis Pastrana in the overall points race coming into Missouri. But with one throw-away round, it is still important for McKenna to be competitive at Show-Me.
For more content surrounding the ARA, check out DirtFish's coverage of the Show-Me Rally.
Day one saw all three run fast, each winning one of the three stages (the final stage of the night was cancelled after an accident block the stage). McKenna enters Saturday just .8 seconds ahead of Semenuk. Pastrana had tire issues on stage three, leaving him 55-seconds behind the leaders for the overall.
Seamus Burke and Martin Brady were in control of the O2WD overall before a scary electrical short caused them to go off road on stage three. They were able to regroup, but dropped out of the top 20. That will set-up a old school class showdown between Cameron Steely and Dave Wallingford, both of whom returned to their roots this weekend to drive in the two-wheel drive class. It is also Steely's first rally in 2020, after winning the 2019 L4WD title.
Other class races to watch on Saturday include the Limited 4WD where only 13-seconds separate Gary Donoghue and points leader Robert Sanders.
Also, keep an eye on the ARA regional overall where local driver and past Show-Me winner Chuck Surdyke is chasing down Zach Whitebread. Surdyke will be looking to make up 20-seconds on Saturday.
Just three seconds separate Steven Olona, Adam Hardin and Brian Katz in the regional O2WD class.
Don't forget to follow along with all of the coverage offered up by DirtFish, including a recap on day one's overall battle and the pair of Subaru's.