Oregon Trail Rally Car Race May 14-15, 2011 in The Dalles & Dufur

The three-day contest includes 17 timed competitive special stages, with the action taking place at Portland International Raceway on Friday and on the challenging forest and county gravel roads around Hood River, The Dalles and Dufur on Saturday and Sunday. The event is the most popular on the six event national schedule and normally attracts more than fifty domestic and international teams and legions of fans. Those fans will have plenty of opportunities to meet their favorite drivers and watch the rally action over 120 miles of competition roads and fan friendly super special stages at PIR.

Saturday morning starts with another Parc Expose at 10 am in The Dalles (2600 W. 6th St., immediately off of I-84 exit 83). At 11 am the cars will leave at one minute intervals and head out to the forest stages which include the spectator favorite at Fir Mountain. Rally fans in Oregon are familiar with this Hood River site, and 1,000 fans packed the hillside last year. Special parking and shuttles are being implemented this year so that fans don't have to hike a mile to the spectator location.

 After a service stop back in The Dalles the show moves out to the Dufur area (15 miles south of The Dalles).  A rally car service area will be set up in the City Park, with spectating venues nearby. At the service areas, teams refuel and make necessary repairs to their cars. The service areas are open to the public and are similar to being in the pits at a circuit track race. Take a walk through the service area and you will see the mechanics work on the cars under time restrictions. The top teams can change a transmission and get a car back on the road within 20 minutes.

 Saturday's action concludes in downtown Dufur at 8 pm with a "Rally Street Party & Barbeque" in the city park open to all rally fans.

 On Sunday, teams return to Dufur, with breakfast served at Dufur City Park from 7:30 to 10:00 am, which will benefit The Ramsey Park Grange. The breakfast is open to the public to come meet the rally teams and enjoy a warm morning meal, while raising money for a great cause.  The motorsport action continues around the Dufur area all day, with the champions taking the podium on Dufur's Main Street around 4 pm.