STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO -- Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block took a critical win this weekend at Rally Colorado in Steamboat Springs.

It�s the second win of the season for Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino, who are looking to edge their 2006 Subaru WRX STi into the championship lead in the final event of the season.

The team battled back from an early deficit to the Syms Rockstar Energy team of Tanner Foust and Christine Beavis, who had found themselves down on power and suffered a flat tire on their 2007 Subaru WRX STi.

Foust and Beavis returned to the road in fine form on Day 2, but an abbreviated schedule left them little opportunity to regain lost ground.

The contest, which began under sunny skies on Saturday, saw a drenching rain force organizers to cancel the final three stages Sunday due to safety concerns. Foust and Beavis wound up 23 seconds off the lead at the early conclusion.

In third place were Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom, who got a lucky break on Day 1 when an exciting off-road excursion cost them little more than a few seconds and a flat tire.

Pastrana called it "the most fun I've ever had in a car in my whole life" when his 2006 Subaru WRX STi toppled over a cliff and landed 60 yards off the road in a field. They regained the course and lost little time to their opponents. It was at this rally in 2005 that Pastrana famously slid wide on a corner and rolled his top-spec Subaru seven and three-quarter times.

Andrew Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant, meanwhile, finished fourth overall. The Syms Rockstar Energy duo have not competed at the Colorado contest before and said they felt their inexperience held them back.

Rally Colorado is based in the beautiful year-round resort community of Steamboat Springs, just a short drive west into the mountains from Denver. The landscape includes fast sections of road and open areas for great spectating. The contest features high altitude and fast straights where competitors hit top speed.

The Group N victory and fifth overall went to Will Corry and co-driver Rebecca Greek in their 2002 Subaru Impreza STi. Matt Johnson and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey brought their 2003 Subaru WRX home in sixth overall and earned the class win in Production GT. Kyle Sarasin and co-driver John Nordlie earned the Group 5 win in their 2002 Ford Focus, while Christopher Duplessis and co-driver Kim DeMotte finished first in Group 2 in their 1990 Volkswagen GTi. The team of Jan and Jody Zedril took the Production win in their 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer ES.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as "real cars, real roads, real fast." This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

Teams at Rally Colorado honored two men from the rally community that have recently passed away. Many cars sported decals in tribute to American Jake Himes, rally driver and co-founder of the Max Attack! series, and Scotsman Colin McRae, WRC Champion and X Games Rally silver medalist.

The 2007 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine events throughout the country in incredibly diverse weather and road conditions.

The championship will come down to the final round, with Syms Rockstar driver Andrew Pinker narrowly leading Subaru Rally Team USA drivers Travis Pastrana and Ken Block - who are tied in the points. The ninth and final round of the 2007 Rally America National Championship, the Lake Superior Performance Rally, will be held October 26-27 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Complete television coverage of the Rally America Championship airs on ESPN2.