Is ARA’s powerstage making a difference?

If you find yourself at parc fermé at an American Rally Association presented by DirtFish National round, you might notice an exchanging of cash between some of the top drivers.

An American Rally Association National Championship presented by DirtFish tradition, the dollar bet among those who choose to partake – typically Travis Pastrana, Brandon Semenuk, and Barry McKenna – would see the winner of a pre-determined final-loop stage walk away one dollar richer than the rest, all in the name of not letting anyone sit too comfortably in their lead, and keeping them driving on the edge.

This year, however, the addition of the powerstage has encouraged the same competition, but with championship points on the line.

As Travis Pastrana put it at the DirtFish Olympus Rally, “we were betting dollars on all the stages and then [the American Rally Association] said, ‘you know what? We’re going to make a dollar stage that matters.’”

While likely not the exact line of thought, this is the intent behind the powerstage. Extra points, extra risk, and extra excitement.

But now that we’re a third of the way into the season, how successful has the powerstage been? Let’s take a look into the effects the powerstage has had on the championship so far this year.

Overall Standings

In the national championship, the top five cars are awarded points in descending order in the top five, first place gets five points, second gets fourth, and so on.

 Here’s some of the numbers to consider to see what effect the powerstage has had on the championship.

Overall Standings

Overall Standings Sorted by Event Points Only

Overall Standings Sorted by Powerstage Points Only

Looking at these numbers, the first thing that’s apparent is that Semenuk leads all three categories. Despite his DNF at Sno*Drift, his otherwise dominant season so far plus two second place powerstage finishes have put him in a comfortable lead. A win on the powerstage at Sno*Drift would have given him another five points, but due to retiring on the next stage the points were not awarded.

Despite Pastrana’s difficulties getting back in the car this year, he is tied with his team-mate on powerstage points, meaning if the system were not in place, they’d still be the same 15 points apart. That said, Pastrana’s powerstage points have allowed him to overtake Sno*Drift Champion Mark Piatkowski, who has only gotten four powerstage points this year so far.

Barry McKenna and Patrick Gruzka have had some of the best advantages from the powerstage based on the number as well. McKenna earning five points in Missouri puts him in sixth instead of a would-be eighth, while Gruzka’s four points from Sno*Drift keep him in ninth rather than 11th.

Class Champions

The RC2, Limited/NA 4WD, and 2WD championships exist each in their own point categories, but they also benefit from the powerstage as well.

The winner of the powerstage in each category gets three additional points added to their event, with the rest of the competitors getting nothing.

In RC2, we haven’t seen too much competition yet. Kyle Tilley won the powerstage at Sno*Drift, while Tom Williams has taken the bonus on the other two rounds. The pair sit eight points apart, but that would only be five points had the powerstage not come into play, protecting Williams’ lead just a little bit more.

LN4 is led by Dylan Murcott, who after a second and first place finish this year does not have any powerstage points yet. Close behind is Phil Wearn by just two points. Wearn won the Olympus powerstage keeping him close, a battle that could heat up as both drivers reach for the gold.

Also having taken a powerstage was third place Mark Piatkowski at Sno*Drift. His powerstage points are keeping him out of a three way tie for the position and give him a decent leg up for his next round at Southern Ohio. 100 Acre Wood’s powerstage was taken by Klim Fedoff, who is in sixth instead of eighth thanks to his powerstage win.

Finally in the 2WD class Micah Nickelson holds a strong lead of eleven points, something that is only slightly helped by his Sno*Drift powerstage points. Derik Nelson and Cameron Steely are tied in points after each taking an event win and a powerstage win at Olympus and 100AW respectively. They’re sitting tied for third, just one point ahead of Brad Morris.

Interestingly, Dave Clark also has a powerstage win after a dead tie with Nelson at Olympus. The win leaves him tied in seventh with Seamus Burke, and two points ahead of Lia Block

Final Thoughts

There’s a few interesting points in these numbers, but nothing too extreme yet.

Another factor to consider is if the powerstage has encouraged drivers to push too far, but I would say not yet. Block did hit a deer on the powerstage on 100AW, but that was largely unavoidable. Matt Dickinson crashed out of a class lead on the powerstage at Olympus but didn’t chalk anything up to pushing for the extra points.

When we get another three events done there might be more competition for the powerstage points. A best six of nine championship means theoretically nothing we’ve seen so far this year will matter by the season finale at Lake Superior Performance Rally, but it also means the championship could already be halfway to decided.

As far as the dollar bets go, at this point they’re still more concerned about protecting their wallets than their points.

Pastrana explained it to DirtFish after having to hand over his dollar for Olympus to Semenuk. “Now the whatever the powerstage is we bet a dollar. The dollar – it’s more than the points, I feel like, not only do you lose, but insult to injury, you have to sign over a dollar to the person who kicked your ass, that’s uh… it hits right [in the heart].”