Rally Team Is Back on Track in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania

After a short rally sprint in Colorado for a smaller group of Coastalvir giniadriving Company motor sports teammates, the band got back together in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, for the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR) on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16 and 17.

This American Rally Association national and east regional rally has 134 competition miles and a total of 233 transit miles with dirt and gravel racing surfaces. The stage roads are some of the most challenging in North America. Between the dense canopy and flickering sun and the trees pushing up against the road, there’s very little room for error. In addition, Day Two of the STPR features one of the longest stage roads in the US: the 24-mile Mine Hole Stage. 

“Texas Dave” Carapetyan and co-driver KJ Miller were set for success, leading in their class and holding fourth overall, right behind Pastrana and Williams, until an unfortunate accident after the 12th stage quashed their chances of making the podium. 

Miller commented after the accident that removed him and Carapetyan from the competition, “Perfect event going for us, leading by nearly 14 minutes starting the final loop and P4 overall. 2 miles into the stage, a clicking/grinding noise started, and then it gave up 3-ish miles later, like four corners from the end of the stage.”

Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino picked up a pair of stage wins on the first day, staying competitive with Ken Block after Brandon Semenuk put his car off the road and retired from the race. Historically, Pastrana has taken second in this race more often than not (this year is the fifth time since 2005) and he has dealt with two accidents in 2008 and 2016 that took him off the track. Luckily for Pastrana and Gelsomino, nothing took them out of the competition this year. 

Photo courtesy of Travis Pastrana.

Coming back from a brief hiatus, Tom Williams and co-driver Ross Whittock had their heads in the game and had no issues taking first in class and third overall. 

From Williams: “It was a mission finishing this rally, let alone competing for a result, as these stages are not to be treated lightly. One of the fastest events I have ever done, and extremely narrow, with a mix of surfaces. ⁣⁣We kept on working on the car and our selfies from start to finish, getting faster and more confident each stage. Thank you so much to the McKenna Motorsport Team and Ross Whittock on the notes. Great job.”

Photo courtesy of Rhianon Gelsomino.

The race results for the entire team were as follows:

Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino: second place overall and second place in class O4WD

Tom Williams: third place overall and first in class RC2

“Texas Dave” Carapetyan: DNF

Mike Glover and Bucky Lasek didn’t compete.

Photo courtesy of Travis Pastrana. 

The ARA standings have been updated, and the official standings can be found here. Pastrana and Gelsomino are holding third place, with Williams right behind in fourth. Carapetyan currently holds eighth out of the 19 drivers in the ARA Overall Driver Championship. Next up, the team heads to Michigan for the Lake Superior Performance Rally in October.