Subaru Motorsports USA driver Brandon Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams clinched their third-straight American Rally Association (ARA) championship while extreme sports legend Travis Pastrana and co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino captured their second event win in a row at the inaugural Overmountain Rally Tennessee.
“Travis was on it today – he killed it,” said Semenuk after the event. “But we got second place and won the Power Stage, which gets us enough points for the championship. Pretty relieved to lock that up.”
“What a heck of a day,” said Pastrana after garnering a second event win in he and Gelsomino’s return season to ARA action. “We had a chance to win the championship – or at least keep hope alive – but Brandon…on that Power Stage, he was just gone!”
Overmountain Rally Tennessee’s debut on the ARA National calendar proved to be among the most exciting events of the year. Not only did the promised challenges of the event live up to their billing, but WRC driver Josh McErlean was on hand to push a Rally2 Hyundai i20 N to its limits, trading stage wins and giving the Subaru Motorsports USA teams a real run for their money. Had McErlean not suffered a mechanical failure on Sunday, he’d very likely have stood on the podium.
There’s one event left in the 2024 ARA season: October 11-12’s Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) in Michigan. While Semenuk and Williams may have the championship sewn up, the excitement is far from over: “We’re pumped to win two in a row and heading to LSPR,” said Gelsomino.
Pastrana is also looking forward: “Brandon and Keaton – well deserved championship this year, and for Rhi and I to get two wins back-to-back with a chance at another one [at the] next round is gonna be awesome.”
