Monticello, New York - Rally New York USA is a round of the U.S. Rally Championship (USRC), sanctioned by the U.S. Auto Club (USAC), and presented by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). All USRC events are listed as international rallies by the Federation International of the Automobile (FIA). Each day�s section of Rally New York USA is also counted as an event in the Eastern States Rally Championship (ESCR), sanctioned by NASA.

As this is published, the opening round of the Eastern States series has taken place. For those who are interested, we provide this rundown of that event, so that you can understand the state of the sport going into Rally New York USA.

Sandhills Sandblast, Cheraw, South Carolina, Feb. 18

The favored team of Seamus Burke (Atlanta, Georgia) and Brian Sharkey (Clogherhead, Ireland) in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 were the winners in South Carolina -- in Burke�s case his fifth Sandhills rally win. Their margin of victory was over one minute. Jeremy Drislane/Dominik Jozwiak in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo WRC placed second, besting Charles Sherrill/Wilson von Kessler in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4. Burke�s, Drislane�s, and Sherrill�s cars were in the P1 class, which is for heavily modified cars with turbochargers and all-wheel-drive.

The team of Donal McGivney/Noel Gallagher in a Subaru Impreza WRX were the winners of the SS1 (stock 4WD) class. They were overtaken early in the rally by Darrell Pugh/Johnathan Barnes in a Mitsubishi Eclipse, but McGiveny surged back to take the class victory. Pugh�s car failed later in the day, allowing Emilio Arce/Sarah Gardescu in a Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS to become the class runner-up.

Among the two-wheel-drive entries, Bob Cutler/John Atsma in a Porsche 911T finished on top, outrunning the very experienced team of Greg Healey/John MacLeod in a Datsun 280Z. The Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup truck of Mike Hall/Dave Stockdill took third, after the Mitsubishi Eclipse of Kent Davis/Kevin Hoff (which had been racing them for the position) suffered a broken driveshaft.