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Steamboat Springs — Andrew Comrie-Picard said before the weekend's Rally Colorado stage race that he would have to be cautious on the event's dirt and rock Routt County roads.

He still managed to make the most of a strong Saturday and a rainy Sunday, winning the two-day event by 1 minute, 46.7 seconds. His overall time on the course, shortened by two stages because of the weather, was 1:30:18.5.

Andi Mancin, a Polish driver in his first year on the American circuit, was second at 1:32:05.2, and Mark Fox and Nathan Conley tied for third at 1:35:46.0.

"It was a great rally, and Steamboat Springs was a great place to have the rally," Comrie-Picard said. "There are terrific roads around here. It's great to come here and compete."

Comrie-Picard has plenty of reasons to be wary of the often-slick rural roads.

He owns his rally car, for instance, a machine that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and mostly resembles a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

And of course, he has sponsors that help defer the costs that come with competition at the highest level of rally racing, but he said he has no interest in wrecking his car or taking undue risks that might damage it.

He can't afford to.

Racing this weekend, he said he had to be even more cautious. There are nine races in the Rally America circuit and racers may count any seven toward the season-long points race.

Comrie-Picard already missed two of those races, opting out of the New England Forest Rally and the Ojibwe Forests Rally because the budget didn't allow.

The Canadian driver entered the weekend in fourth place. A wreck would have ruined his chances of moving into the top three, but his strong weekend threw him right back in the mix.

After Rally Colorado he's third, behind Travis Pastrana and Andi Mancin.

"There's a lot of psychology involved in how hard to push and in how much to keep in reserve," Comrie-Picard said. "We couldn't afford not to get points or we'd be in tough shape. That leads you to a conservative driving mentality where you're just making sure you get on the podium."

Comrie-Picard wasn't the only racer exercising caution through the weekend, though many of his competitors weren't as successful with the strategy.

Pastrana wrapped up the season championship at the previous rally and was in good position after Saturday's early stages. He led the field by 19 seconds but pulled out after he whipped out a row of pylons, a sin that comes with a hefty time penalty.

Ken Block, meanwhile, had to withdraw from a race in which he desperately needed points. Block sat in third in the standings but had only completed four of the season's races. In those he took first twice and second once.

He raced well through Saturday and into Sunday, but blew an engine with two stages to go Sunday afternoon and withdrew.

That left Comrie-Picard alone at the top, no longer racing to edge out the traditional top competitors, but rather to maintain his already healthy advantage and avoid a major mistake.

"For us today, it was a matter of holding our lead and not being stupid," he said. "We had to watch Andy all day to make sure it wasn't catching us, and had to watch Ken Block all day, but unfortunately he blew his motor.

"We didn't make any real mistakes at all. After we fixed the misfire (after the opening stage), it was textbook."