Brandon Semenuk punctuated a fast first day of racing with a stage win in the fifth and final stage of the day at the New England Forest Rally on Friday.

The current points leader in American Rally Association competition, with co-driver Keaton Williams, outpaced second-place Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino by nearly eight seconds in stage five of the race through the woods of Western Maine and Northern New Hampshire. Semenuk ended the day with an overall time of 30 minutes, 31.5 seconds — 21.3 seconds faster than Block. Travis Pastrana, with co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino, sits 29.3 seconds back of Semenuk.

In the regional competition, TJ Pullen and co-driver Erin Kelly set the pace with an overall time of 37:37.6. Dylan Gondyke and co-driver Ben Choung are 28.6 seconds behind. Norway native Anthony Burden, with co-driver Bryce Proseus, sit fifth in the regional competition with a time of 39:09.1.

The competition comes to a close Saturday with 10 more stages.