The Oregon Trail Rally, Round 3 of the 2006 Rally America National Championship, rolls into Portland, Oregon this weekend. The rally race, held at high speeds on twisting and undulating forest roads is headlined by young X Games star Travis Pastrana, who drives an all-wheel-drive Subaru WRX STI. The 2005 Oregon Trail Rally marked one of Pastrana's first ever rally events, where he finished a stunning 2nd Overall. He is expected to challenge for his first ever overall rally win this weekend.

The 2006 Oregon Trail Rally is approximately 375.49 miles in length with 18 special stages totaling 125.45 miles. The stages, which are essentially portions of real roads closed to the public, will be located on Oregon Department of Forestry land, on Columbia County roads and on City of Portland roads (Portland International Raceway). The rally is regarded as extremely challenging due to the notoriously hard to predict northwest weather as well as the twisting and undulating character of the gravel roads. Over 60 teams from all over North America are currently entered in the event.

Pastrana is the lead driver for Subaru Rally Team USA, a factory backed rally team competing in all nine rounds of the Rally America National Championship.  Pastrana's teammate is Ken Block, the "2005 Rally America Rookie of the Year" and current leader of the championship after two rounds.  The fan favorite duo is quickly helping to increase awareness of the sport, which enjoys enormous popularity in Europe, but is still growing in the USA.  In what will amount to be a major boost for the sport's growth, it was announced recently that the ESPN X Games will now include rally racing, starting this summer at X Games 12.

Travis Pastrana and Ken Block will both be at the Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland on Thursday, April 20th from 11am to 2pm. Their Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally cars will be on display along with several other top competitors' cars.  Subaru Rally Team USA will also visit the Wentworth Subaru dealership in Portland for an autograph session for their fans from 5pm to 7pm.

The racing begins Friday afternoon at Portland International Raceway, but the real rally action starts Saturday when teams heads west to the gravel roads of the Tillamook National Forest.

Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by DC Shoes, STI (Subaru Tecnica International), SPT (Subaru Performance Tuning), PIAA, RECARO, MOTUL and Alpinestars.

Visit rally.subaru.com for event updates and photos.