Raleigh, North Carolina -- Entries officially opened this weekend for the Black River Stages Rally that takes place in Harrisville, New York. Harrisville, about twenty miles miles from the Canadian border, offers a perfect venue for this kind of racing: twisty gravel roads winding through dense forest with fantastic local hospitality. "We're very happy to be returning to Harrisville," said Anders Green of NASA Rally Sport. "The town has been very welcoming and the roads here are fantastic. I grew up in Maine, so when I'm up here it feels like home." Green, along with Lina Racing's Director of Operations, Amy Feistel, were in Harrisville two weeks ago checking the roads and making arrangements for the rally. This will be the first year that Black Rivers Stages will have racing on two days. Feistel explained, "Travel costs, especially gas, have skyrocketed for our competitors. We can't change the price of gas, but by starting on Friday evening, we can squeeze a little more rallying in on Saturday. The rallyists see more roads and everyone benefits from a slightly more relaxed schedule." The rally bikes will return to tackle the stages with the cars this year. Black River Stages Rally will be the final event for the Atlantic Rally Cup and the Atlantic RallyMotoTM) Cup. The RallyMotoTM) series has seen growth varying from 40% to 100% per event. This can only mean more visitors to the Town of Diana and the Village of Harrisville, and greater economic impact for all businesses in the area. With the rally purposefully scheduled to fall between the popular snowmobiling and hunting seasons, the weekend should see full rooms and tables at many local establishments. The two groups, cars and motorcycles, on stage at one time mean additional precautions. "We have to make sure they never meet," explained Green. "We run the course opening cars, known as Double Zero and Zero. Then we start the first bike once the course is reported ready. After the last bike, we send a sweep vehicle. Once sweep reports that the course is clear again, we send the cars. Then, we send out additional sweep vehicles after the last car. In this way we make sure the road is clear and safe for everyone. If we can't know that the road is clear, we'll tell the competitors that the stage will not be scored and they'll slowly drive to the next stage. Keeping the roads safe is our highest priority." There's still time to get involved with the rally. "Volunteering really opens up the door for a lot of folks," said Green. "We try to treat our volunteers as well as we can with a free t-shirt, lunch, dinner and, of course, they get to come to the awards ceremony and hang out with all the competitors. And that's on top of being right on the rally course all day long!" BlackRiverStages.com has more information on volunteering opportunities. Note to Editors:
• Black River Stages occurs in the Village of Harrisville in the Town of Diana, Lewis County, New York For media support, please contact Anders Green.
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