Subaru Rally Team USA’s David Higgins and Craig Drew won the Oregon Trail Rally by overtaking teammates Travis Pastrana and Chrissie Beavis on the next to last stage.
The Oregon Trail Rally is the third round of the Rally America National Championship held in Portland and Hood River, Oregon.
Travis Pastrana immediately built a lead at Friday’s Portland International Raceway stages and held it through Saturday despite Higgins winning all but a single stage. Chicane barrier penalties played a large part in keeping Higgins from overtaking Pastrana and Higgins began the last day trailing by 39 seconds.
Higgins fiercely drove to reduce Pastrana’s lead, however, it was Pastrana’s two flat tires on stage 17 that sealed his fate to drop him instantly into second place overall. Higgins then cruised to his sixth career Oregon Trail Rally victory and his fourth consecutive Oregon Trail Rally win.
“I just wish Pastrana didn’t get his puncture so we can see the real times,” said Higgins. “It would have been close, at least we could afford to cut back on the last stage because we had nothing left. It was so slick out there with the rain coming down. It was an awesome battle, fantastic for Subaru to sweep the podium.”
FY Racing’s Adam Yeoman and Jordan Schulze finished third overall for their third career podium and their second podium this year