The crowd at Community Park takes in the racing atmosphere as rally competitors meet and greet with the crowd of spectators.

Friday’s event kicked off the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, the second of six races in the Rally America Series for 2010. After stages held on Friday and Saturday, Ken Block, with the Monster World Rally Team, won the race for the fifth consecutive year.

The race started from the park in Steelville at 4 p.m. and included two stages in the area, one near Camel Hump and Crooked Tower Roads and another on sections of Westover and Hobo Roads, both with designated spectator areas for those who wanted to see the actual racing on the dirt roads. Stages on Saturday were held in the Salem area, with a Super Special Stage in Potosi and a service area in Viburnum.

“Overall, I think it went very well,” Rally in the 100 Acre Wood Chairman Tom VonHatten reported. “I received nothing but rave reviews from the competitors.” He also noted the increase in spectators. “There are a lot of reasons for the increase in popularity, especially the internet. This sport is growing.”

The show in the park allowed fans to see all 47 vehicles entered in the race. These cars ranged from Block’s 2011 Open Class Ford Fiesta, sponsored by Monster World Rally Team and Travis Pastrana’s 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI to a 1970 Volkswagon Beetle driven by brothers Mark and John Huebbe (who also work with organizing the local race). From 2-4 p.m. the cars were parked along the circle drive, with drivers and crews standing by for fans to meet.

More popular drivers, including Pastrana and Block were inundated by fans, with lines for an autograph or photo with Block stretching a hundred feet or more. Pastrana’s tented area swarmed with crowds attempting to get near the star.

At the Steelville Park exposition, Pastrana’s crew were busy getting his Subaru ready for the late afternoon first run.

“I think it was a great success,” said Steelville Mayor Terry Palmer of the car show in the park. “It’s the first year we’ve had the actual race start in Steelville and the park was packed. There were a lot of rally followers, too.” He was glad the school decided to dismiss early because there was a lot of traffic in town. And, he was pleased with the cooperation between the city, the school and the Chamber of Commerce, “We were well-organized,” he said.