OLYMPIA, WA -- Champion drifter Tanner Foust was in the lead early Saturday at Rally America's Round 4, the Olympus Rally, running this weekend in the Pacific Northwest.

Foust, who has moved up into the faster Open class after a successful campaign in the PGT class, is a threat for the title this season. The driver has been making a successful transition into his new Open class Subaru. Foust, who works as a stunt driver for television and films, is also a leading contender in the premier U.S. drift series.

Teams put on a spectacular show early in the race, sliding sideways and kicking up plumes of dirt for cheering fans who lined the motocross park demonstration stage near Shelton, WA.

Second overall after four stages Saturday were defending champion Travis Pastrana and his co-driver Christian Edstrom. The Subaru Rally Team USA crew, who are currently third in the overall series standings, said early Saturday they were hoping to recover a position or two at this race.

The duo, who suffered a blown engine at the last round a month ago in Oregon, have recently returned from the Rally Argentina round of the Production World Rally Championship. Pastrana said Saturday he expected the experience on the world stage would serve them well.

"We're glad to be back in the States," said Pastrana. "I think we've learned a lot."

Seven-time U.S. champion Paul Choiniere and his veteran co-driver, Jeff Becker, were in third place after four stages -- less than half a second behind the Subaru crew.

But with more than two-thirds of the 125-mile course remaining, the race was still very much up for grabs. With such fierce competition in the series this season, a single misstep could change everything. In particular, drivers were concerned about the possibility of flat tires on the rocky and abrasive course.

In addition to the 2007 Rally America National Championship title, drivers are competing for entry into X Games 13. For the second consecutive year, rally racing will be featured in the Summer X Games, with the first five races of the 2007 Rally America season serving as qualifying events for the popular action-sport competition.

Entering the Olympus Rally, the top four drivers in the 2007 Rally America standings were separated by just 10 points. After three of the series' nine events, Subaru Rally Team USA's Ken Block and co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino lead the standings, followed by Foust and co-driver Christine Beavis. Defending champions Pastrana and Edstrom are third, while Oregon Trail Rally winner Andrew Pinker is fourth.

There have already been some surprises at this round, with a pair of high profile no-shows among X Games contenders: neither Pat Richard nor Lauchlin O'Sullivan started the Olympus Rally.

Although a new addition to the Rally America schedule for 2007, the Olympus Rally was a World Rally Championship race from 1986-1988. Rally racing legends such as Rod Millen, Juha Kankkunen and American John Buffum have claimed victories at the famed event.

Rally America drivers compete in street-legal vehicles that are modified for safety. Six vehicle classes, ranging from stock to highly modified, compete under the Rally America banner. Eleven different automobile manufacturers are represented in Rally America events, led by Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

Media Contact:
Alan Perry
Olympus Rally
[email protected]
206-499-5501