BETHEL – The 15th running of the Maine Forest Rally will take place on the weekend of July 28-30 in Bethel.

The event, round five in the Rally America National Championship series, is expected to draw the top performance rally drivers from all over North America, including the 2004 U.S. and Canadian champion Pat Richard, the 1984 World Rally Champion Stig Blumquist, and the X Games gold medalist Travis Pastrana.

The sanctioned event is also expected to draw close to 100 other teams from all over the United States and Canada.

Teams will compete in a grueling 18-hour endurance event that runs both night and day on the gravel roads of Northern and Western Maine. The teams will compete on nine different roads, or stages, covering 90 miles of racing over both wide two-lane as well as narrow one-lane roads. The two and four wheel-drive-cars will travel at more than 100 mph on a mostly blind course where no practice is allowed.

Rally racing is a form of auto racing in which the cars race against the clock, one at-a-time, on closed roads at the fastest speed possible. Each car has a driver plus a co-driver who reads from a route book and barks out instructions while the driver is negotiating the course at high speed. Teams will compete in street legal, but highly prepared cars that are based upon current popular car models such as the Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi EVO, Dodge Neon and Volkswagen Golf.

The Maine Forest Rally kicks off Thursday, July 28, at Sunday River Ski Area with registration and technical inspection. The rally starts Friday from the Mexico Recreation Area with the running of a spectator stage following the competitor display. Competitors will then run three more stages, with most of them finishing at night. Saturday, the rally will restart from the Sunday River Brewery, where teams will then transit to Errol, N.H., and run two grueling long stages. After a return for service, the teams will then run two new stages and return to the Sunday River Ski Resort for the finish and awards dinner.

For more information, visit the official web site: www.maineforestrally.com.