The CarolinaRS rally team competed for the first time in two western rallies, Oregon Trail and Rim of the World on April 22 - 24 and May 6 - 7 respectively. Competing in rallies 3000 miles away from the Carolina RS base in North Carolina is not without it's challenges but the team of Johnson/Nakamoto supported by the service crew of the North Coast Rally team were up to the challenge.

Oregon Trials was a very challenging 3 - day event with a beginning on a mix of pavement and gravel stages at Portland International Raceway and finishing up Sunday deep in the scenic woods of Tillamook, OR. The Oregon roads are quite different than anything Johnson has competed on previously. Johnson: "The crown in the road makes some of the race lines around corners quite narrow and it's been pretty challenging to continue adapting to my new all-wheel-drive Subaru and learn the way to use these roads well at the same time." Click here for results of the Oregon Rally - choose SS19 on the pull down to see the end.

Whatever it was that the team put together there at Oregon was clearly some of the right stuff. They scored a 3rd place in the Production GT class at Oregon and a 10 place overall without damaging the car in the process. Wendy Robinson Nakamoto, daughter of former SCCA Chief Technical Scrutineer Doug Robinson, had this to say - "This was a big step for us as a team, it's the second time we've sat in a rally car together and the biggest rally either of us have run. We gained a lot of experience working together and finished clean with a solid result.

"We couldn't have done it with out the North Coast guys, I owe it all to them....love those guys!"

Heading South for a 9 day break in Sacramento the team recovered and Johnson was able to refresh the rally car with the assistance of OK Tire on Auburn Blvd and the Subaru Specialists on Sunbeam Ave both local Sacramento sponsors.

The Rim of the World Rally is well known for it's 'water bars' which are humps in the roads to divert rain water to keep the roads in tact. At speed these water bars turn into launch pads and cause the rally cars to become airborne with little planning sometimes. Johnson figured out early that a full storm attack of the water bars wasn't the best idea but the he could still quickly traverse them and let the car fly a bit.

After the three stages Friday the car needed a rear wheel bearing and after replacing that it was ready to go for a full Saturday of charging down stages. Johnson - "Saturday things were feeling great through Stage 6 when I noticed it was getting quite difficult to slow the car... that at service we found the front brake pads were completely worn down to the backing plates. After we replaced those the car felt great!"

Johnson/Nakamoto stormed through some of the final stages and after gaining some time on their competition finished a solid 5th place overall and 2nd in class. Results can be seen here and pictures can be seen here.

CarolinaRS had another ambitious piece of the puzzle for these two rallies. They offered in - car video of both rallies; it was time delayed but was available while the event was occurring allowing fans to follow their progress from the comfort of home and really get into the action. Currently video from the RIM of the World rally can still be viewed at http://southwestonline.sitestream.com/CarolinaRS.vsml Nakamoto had this to add about the video streaming - "I'm not sure I put enough thought into this! I'm still learning these stage notes and getting experience at my co - driving job and it's being broadcast to the whole world. News flash everyone, if you haven't figured it out already I'm still new at this!"

Johnson and Nakamoto would once again like to thank several sponsors for their help. From Sacramento: OK Tire and Automotive 916.338.6910, Subaru Specialists 916.442.6409 , Mia Mull and Associates 916.220.1111 (realtor), and ICON Restaurant and Lounge www.iconsacramento.com . They also would like to send a hi - five thank you to Subaru Western Region at www.SubaruWest.com. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of Angelo from the North Coast Rally team at www.NCRally.com. North Coast offers rally car preparation and at - event servicing for many rally teams primarily in Eastern rally events.