HANCOCK — The Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) officially begins Friday, but drivers and crews were busy with final preparations on Thursday. Those preparations include inspections at the Copper Country Intermediate School District’s (CCISD) Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center.

Rally racing takes place on real (but closed) roads, usually unpaved and in any weather. The cars run individually down the stage and start at one-minute intervals. Each driver has a co-driver that assists with wayfinding and, if necessary, repairs.

As every year, the automotive technology shop in the CTE building is host for the technical inspections, required for each car before they can participate in the races.

“The cars actually need to be road legal,” said CCISD automotive technologies instructor David Narhi.

The inspectors check to make sure the lights and mirrors on the cars are working, the mandatory roll cage is in place, and that the drivers’ personal fireproof suit, helmet and head and neck restraints are in good condition. The head and neck restraints are important in the event the car rolls or hits a solid object.

“It’s going to keep your head in place so you don’t crack your neck,” Narhi said.

Each car has an inspection logbook that stays with it from competition to competition to keep track of repairs and problems from race to race.

The LSPR is the final round of eight in the 2018 Rally America National Championship Series and touts itself as “the oldest, meanest, toughest rally on the circuit.”

Friday includes four stages near Sidnaw, on roads in the Ottawa National Forest and Surgeon River Gorge Wilderness. Saturday’s stages are in Baraga County, with a brief, final stage in downtown Houghton along the lakeshore at 5 p.m. Spectator information, weekend schedule and stage maps can be found at rally-america.com.

One of the local teams, Tower City Race Team (TCRT), organized some special incentives for drivers of 2-wheel-drive vehicles, the 2WD SISU challenge. Prizes for the fastest weekend times in the category include cash, discounted race entries and other prizes.

TCRT is running three cars this weekend, No. 201 with driver Adam VanDamme and co-driver Jacob Carlson in Group 2, No. 50 with driver Allan Dantes and co-driver Brandon Snyder in Group 5, and No. 873 with driver Kyle Cooper and co-driver Chris Woodry, also in Group 2.