Black River Stages Rally - August 6, 2009 - Press Release

For Immediate Release - Raleigh, North Carolina, August 6, 2009

RALLY RACING RETURNS TO UPSTATE NEW YORK

    *

      Black River Stages is returning to Lewis County, New York

    *

      New opening ceremonies in Croghan, New York

    *

      Night racing makes event more challenging

The Black River Stages rally race returns to Lewis County, New York on 
September 19 -- 20, 2009. Just thirty miles from the Canadian border, 
the gorgeous fall leaf season will be interrupted by the roar of 
competitors racing closed roads in the Towns of Croghan, Edwards, 
Harrisville and Pitcairn. Black River Stages Rally is the final event of 
the Atlantic Rally Cup and the Atlantic RallyMoto(tm) Cup.

This year racing will take place on Saturday afternoon and evening, and 
Sunday all day. Spectators who wish to catch the racing action can head 
to Pastamore in downtown Harrisville, Nice 'N' Easy in Pitcairn or 
Croghan, or the Indian River General Store in Croghan to pick up a 
limited edition spectator guide with schedules and bios. More fun rally 
information and a rally schedule can be found on blackriverstages.com.

For the rally cars, Tom Lawless, racing a Mitsubishi Evo, is in points 
lead for the Atlantic Rally Cup season; however, schedule conflicts 
means he may not be able to attend. This leaves the door open for a 
shoot-out between Danny O'Brien, in a Subaru Impreza Sti, and Brad 
Morris, in a Mitsubishi Lancer! Chasing Morris for third place is Simon 
Wright in his agile Ford Focus. Although they may not be in the run for 
the championship, the O'Leary brothers, Michael and John, will be 
contenders for an overall finish in their Mitsubishi Evo IV.

In the Atlantic RallyMoto(tm) Cup, Bill Conger, on his Aprilia RXV 5.5, 
has a mathematical lock on the overall win; however, his presence at 
Black River Stages may significantly alter the strategy of the other 
riders. The pace that Conger sets will be the one to match but no one 
will know how hard he's pushing until long after the HID have blazed 
down the roads late Saturday night. The real battle will be for second 
and third place overall between Seth Strait, on a KTM 690 Enduro, Kurt 
Weigand, on a KTM 530 EXC-R, and Luis Figuerido on a KTM 640 Enduro. 
This proves that KTM remains a popular brand for rallying despite the 
fact that the company has withdrawn its support of the world famous 
Dakar Rally in South America.

Black River Stages Rally still needs volunteers reports organizer Anders 
Green. "We still have spots open for road marshals. If you're willing to 
give some time to your community, you can help keep everyone safe and 
still see some great racing!" Green suggests volunteers visit 
_http://www.blackriverstages.com/2009/volunteers.php_ for more information!

Note to editors:

    *

      Black River Stages is final of the Atlantic Rally Cup and the
      Atlantic RallyMoto(tm) Cup

    *

      The event is sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport
      _http://www.nasarallysport.com <http://www.nasarallysport.com/>_

    *

      More information is available at _http://www.blackriverstages.com
      <http://www.blackriverstages.com/>_

    *

      Pictures from the 2008 Black River Stages Rally are available at
      _http://www.blackriverstages.com/2008/pictures.php_

For media support contact Amy Feistel, 919.434.3267, amy@nasarallysport.com