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Event report by Eric Burmeister: Hello all, and welcome to the press notes coverage of the MaxAttack! event at Lake Superior Performance Rally! This is the season finale that will bestow the prestigious Jake Himes Cup upon our most maximum attacker and will see 22 teams fighting for the $5000.00 purse and the bragging rights that come with conquering the "oldest, meanest, and toughest" rally in the United States.

More than 20 two-wheel-drive rally cars will contest the final MaxAttack! round in the Copper Country of the Upper Peninsula, with shares of a $5000 prize fund up for grabs

Local hotshoe bests two dozen other two-wheel-drive rally competitors to claim victory at the New England Forest Rally.

From the rally finish at the Sunday River Ski Resort...

The five money-winners for the New England Forest Rally round of the MaxAttack! Series presented by the Danza Del Sol Winery are:

1. Chris Duplessis/Karl Atkinson - Ford Fiesta R2 - $1500
2. Andrew Comrie-Picard/Jeremy Wimpey - Scion XD - $1200
3. Dillon Van Way/Jake Blattner - Ford Fiesta - $1000
4. Kevin Turner/Robert Sockalexis - Subaru Impreza - $800
5. Greg Healey/Cindy Krolikowski - Datsun 280Z - $500

Before we begin Day 2 coverage for MaxAttack!, here are some updates from Friday action.

-Michael Gillespie and Brian Kirby had a gearbox let go early in the rally. It is shame to see their classic Mark II Escort out of the rally so quickly.

The famous Concord Pond stage was halted after only about ten cars made it cleanly through the stage. An all-wheel-drive competitor went way off the road, and a red cross was thrown. Rest assured, everyone was OK.

Cars just returned from Stages 4 and 5, the 16.45-mile turnaround stages Icicle Brook North and Icicle Brook South. There was a service, after which cars headed out to the final stage of the evening, the infamous 5.76 miles and big jumps of Concord Pond.

Newsflash! Doug Shepherd and Karen Jankowski broke a strut on their Dodge SRT-4 on Stage 4. They tried to limp through Stage 5 but there was too much damage and the team was forced to withdraw.

-Edward McNelly and Pascal Belperron are driving their second rally in their ex-Chris Duplessis VW Golf. It is a proven car, and is now sporting a fresh refrigerator-white paint scheme.

-Mike Reilly and Josh Benthein also had a hard time at Mexico, breaking an axle in their Ford Focus. They luckily got a tow from Rory Gardiner's Subaru to make it back to service without extra penalty where they got the axle changed.