RALLY AMERICA WRAPS SUCCESSFUL FIFTH SEASON

Golden Valley, MN (October 29th, 2009) — Travis Pastrana scored his fourth-consecutive driver’s title after another incredible season on the 2009 Rally America circuit for Subaru Rally Team USA.

The action-sports veteran took the Jon Woolf Cup with six outright wins in nine starts and also earned the X Games 15 Rally Car Racing silver medal. Christian Edstrom, who returned to Pastrana’s side in 2009 after a year-long hiatus, took the Grant Whittaker Cup as the top co-driver.

The championship runner-up was Andi Mancin, who also debuted in the X Games Rally Car Race this summer in Los Angeles. After establishing a reputation as a competitive driver in his native Poland, 2009 saw Mancin run his first full season in the United States in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. NOS Energy backed Andrew Comrie-Picard rounded out the top three and scored a top-five finish at X Games 15 in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX.

The hotly contested new Super Production class saw fierce competition all season and came down to the final round when Colorado’s Jimmy Keeney took the Roy Donnison Super Production Cup by just one point over Ohio’s Pat Moro. Keeney’s wife Melissa Keeney was the winning Super Production class co-driver for 2009. The Keeneys also made their first appearance at X Games this summer, while Moro attended as the alternate, both in similarly prepared Subaru WRX STI rally cars.

In two-wheel drive, series newcomer Dillon Van Way, from Louisiana, took a decisive victory after putting in a consistent performance all season in his Ford Focus to earn the Jon Woodner Cup. The teenaged Van Way’s season highlight was a dramatic demonstration of his real commitment to the tough sport of rally when he finished the Rally Colorado after a rollover. Colorado’s Keith Rudolph was the top two-wheel drive co-driver for 2009.

The 2009 Jeff Moyle Memorial Rookie of the Year Award went to the National Guard-backed Mark Fox who took the step up from regional competition to contest every round of the Rally America national season. He and co-driver Jake Blattner finished the season ranked seventh overall.

Two events, the Oregon Trail Rally and the Rally of the 100 Acre Wood, were jointly awarded top honors for the 2009 Rally of the Year.

Awards were distributed Sunday at the Rally America National Championship Awards Banquet presented by BFGoodrich Tires in Houghton, MI.

A simplified class structure, another exciting X Games and steadily increasing entries marked Rally America’s fifth season as the premier sanctioning body for rally sport in the United States.

The national class structure was simplified to three classes in an effort to increase the sport’s appeal for fans and competitors alike. The change was a success with the new Super Production class for lightly modified, production-based vehicles bringing out intense competition at every round. Subaru Rally Team USA even added a third driver to their roster, signing BMX superstar Dave Mirra to contest the class. He joined Open class drivers Travis Pastrana and Ken Block on the factory team.

As expected, the fourth X Games Rally Car Race provided a season highlight for fans. Although not a points event for Rally America competitors, the high profile contest features select top series competitors, plus top racers invited for their credentials in the racing community at-large. Former Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack took the gold in an Olsbergs Motorsport Evolution Ford Fiesta, in the manufacturer’s first appearance in the contest. Pastrana earned silver for Subaru and Tanner Foust took Ford’s second medal, the bronze.

Series entries were on the rise as the economic tide began to turn at the mid-point in the 2009 season. Entries were up an average of two per cent over 2008, with New England Forest Rally boasting a 50 entry field in 2009 — up an astounding 67 per cent thanks to a series of inventive marketing initiatives this year.

As further demonstration to its commitment to the growth and success of rally competition, Rally America has recently announced positive changes to its championship calendar and its expansion into the exciting sport of European-style rally cross.

Also in 2010, Rally America officials will once again be involved ESPN’s Summer X Games competition, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. X Games 16 is scheduled for July 29 to August 1, 2010.

Considered by many to be the extreme sport of auto racing, rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Ford, Mitsubishi, Dodge and Volkswagen.

The 2009 Rally America championship was made possible with the assistance of Subaru of America, DC Shoes USA, BFGoodrich, Mazda, Lanson Champagne, defNder, and Fulmer, with contingency support by Exedy Racing Clutches, Q Racing, and Endless USA.

The 2010 Rally America season begins in January at Sno*Drift, January 29 – 30, in Atlanta, Michigan.

For more information regarding Rally America, Inc., the 2010 Rally America National Rally Championship or the new European-style rally cross events taking place at the New Jersey Motor Sports Park in the fall of 2010, please call (763) 553-2742 for details or visit www.rally-america.com.

Rally America 2010 Schedule and Rallycross Events

RALLY AMERICA TO LAUNCH EUROPEAN-STYLE RALLY CROSS RACING IN 2010

While many motorsports sanctioning bodies are looking for ways to shrink and save, Rally America, Inc., the premier sanctioning body for performance rally competition in North America, is expanding and growing.

Rally America today announced three European-style rally cross events in 2010. The three events will be run as exhibition events in 2010 but there may be more on the calendar in 2011.

European-style rally cross combines disciplines from road racing, short-course off-road racing and X Games-style rally car racing. It’s the action sport of motor racing.

“We’ve experienced dramatic growth in spectator interest the past three years,” said J.B. Niday, managing director for Rally America, Inc. “We’re confident American rally spectators would like to add this wheel-to-wheel competition to their plate of national championship rallying. Our championship is among the most respected in the world. This will make it more so. It’s a logical move for the growth of rally here in the United States.”

All three Rally America events will take place in the fall of 2010 at New Jersey Motor Sports Park in Millville, NJ. The course will be a combination of pavement and gravel surfaces totaling about one mile in length. It will include jumps, un-banked turns, hills and transitions between pavement and gravel that promise to unsettle the cars and drivers. The three-minute sprint heats will see competition between six cars on the track at once. The winners advance through the day to the main event finale. It promises extreme challenges and extreme excitement for spectators and drivers alike.

The rally cross format is extremely popular in Europe. You can experience the excitement through on-demand video highlights at www.Rally-America.com.

There will be two classes of cars in Rally America’s initial year of competition. The faster, all-wheel-drive cars will resemble those used in current Rally America competition including the AWD Subarus used by four-time American rally champion Travis Pastrana and Internet gymkhana video star Ken Block. The second category of rally cross cars will be two-wheel-drive. That includes the various body styles from manufacturers such as Ford, Mitsubishi, Dodge and Honda boasting 450+ horsepower, highly modified engines and rally-style suspension.

Both categories include vehicles currently being used in the Rally America National Rally Championship. There will be one departure; rally cross is a driver-only competition. There’s no need for a co-driver to help navigate the car around the one-mile course.

“The Rally America National Championship has experienced constant growth in the past couple of years,” Niday continued. “The sport of rally cross has taken place successfully in Europe for many years and draws tens of thousands of spectators to each and every event. The excitement of wheel-to-wheel racing action for high-powered rally cars should work well here in the United States as it takes place on a closed-loop course that allows spectators to take in all the high-speed racing action from a single vantage point.”

2010 RALLY AMERICA NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP KICKS OFF IN JANUARY

In addition to European-style rally cross competition at the New Jersey Motor Sports Park in the fall of 2010, Rally America will resume its National Rally Championship series beginning with Sno*Drift, the traditional championship kick off in January 2010 and one of the only American national championship motorsports events run in real snow on real roads with real cars.

The 2010 championship, however, will be compressed to allow more spectator and media interest during the season. It ensures that every event will have greater import in the chase for the Rally America Championship. The 2010 Rally America National Rally Championship Schedule:

1. January Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, MI
2. February Rally of the 100 Acre Wood Salem, MO
3. April Olympus Rally Olympia, WA
4. May Oregon Trail Rally Hood River, OR
5. June Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally Wellsboro, PA
6. July New England Forest Rally Newry, ME

Three rally events that were on the calendar in 2009, the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Bemidji, MN, Rally Colorado in Steamboat Springs, CO, and the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Houghton, MI, will be changed to regional-level rally events and will not be included in the 2010 Rally America National Rally Championship.

“After a great deal of consideration and review of the past three seasons, we’ve decided to reduce the Rally America National Championship from nine to six events to help reduce team costs and increase competition,” said Mike Hurst, the Rally America competition director. “The 2010 championship schedule will include two national-level rally events on the west coast, two on the east coast and two in the central portion of the United States. The six-event schedule will not only make it more affordable for the teams, but allow for better competition as well as allow Rally America to introduce European-style rally cross competition in the fall.”

Considered by many to be the extreme sport of auto racing, rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

In addition, some of North America’s top rally drivers from the Rally America National Rally Championship series will be invited to compete in ESPN’s Summer X Games competition, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. Rally America officials will once again be involved in the organizational aspect of the rally car racing segment of competition for X Games 16 which is scheduled for July 29 to August 1, 2010.

For more information regarding Rally America, Inc., the 2010 Rally America National Rally Championship or the new European-style rally cross events taking place at the New Jersey Motor Sports Park in the fall of 2010, please call (763) 553-2742 for details or visit www.rally-america.com. Photos by Andrew Comrie-Picard.

Travis Pastrana Wins at Lake Superior Performance Rally

Pastrana closes 2009 with a victory in Michigan

Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana wrapped up his winning 2009 Rally America season with yet another victory this weekend at the year-end Lake Superior Performance Rally.

“This was a great rally for us,” said Pastrana. “It’s one of my favorites because it’s a more technical rally than some of the others on the circuit and it’s great to drive.”

Heading into this event, Pastrana had already secured the Rally America driver’s title for 2009 and said his objective was to earn as many stage wins as possible. With nothing to lose, he admitted he drove hard and took plenty of risks to win all but two stages – falling only about four seconds short of an outright sweep over more than 120 miles of racing.

In second place were Canadians Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard. The team occasionally competes south of the border, largely in pursuit of the North American Rally Championship, which counts events from both Canada and the U.S. Despite a two-minute penalty for a jumped start on Friday, the team put in a consistent performance to land on the podium.

“I’m happy overall,” said L’Estage. “Now we’re going into the final Canadian event of the year leading the North American Rally Championship and that’s what we’re here for.”

In third place overall and taking the Super Production class win, despite an ailing engine, was the Subaru Rally Team USA crew of Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino. The duo have been running in a borrowed Super Production class car for the final rounds of the championship after a bad wreck that put their Open class Subaru out of commission.

“It’s been a horrible year for us,” said Block, who finished the season fourth in the points. “Blown turbos, car overheating, mechanical issues… I’ve been driving the best I ever have and I feel I just can’t get anything to go my way.”

The crowded Super Production class saw Heath Nunnemacher and co-driver Mike Rossey take second place, followed by Pat Moro and co-driver Ole Holter in third. The podium finish wasn’t enough for Moro to overtake Jimmy Keeney in the points for the 2009 class win. Keeney and co-driver Melissa Keeney finished fourth in class at this event to take the Rally America Super Production class championship for 2009.

A stroke of bad luck saw Piotr Wiktorczyk out of the hunt for the class title before the race could begin; his engine blew during practice.

The Polish team of Andi Mancin and co-driver Maciej Wislawski battled engine trouble at this event to finish in fifth-place overall. The result wasn’t what Mancin had hoped for, but it was enough to earn him runner-up status in the 2009 championship after challenger Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey suffered a blown engine late on Day 1. ACP wound up third in the Rally America standings for 2009.

In two-wheel-drive, 17-year-old driver Dillon Van Way locked up the two-wheel drive Rally America title with a start here this weekend.

All results are considered informational pending official race processes.

The fall colors are brilliant in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at this time of year. It was cold and drizzly on Friday as cars headed out for the opening stages, with snow reported in some areas. It was a picture-perfect autumn day when the rally finished Saturday.

As the season ender, this rally also plays host to the Rally America awards banquet, presented by BFGoodrich Tires, at the Rockhouse Grill & Tavern on Sunday. Awards for the season will be handed out at the Sunday ceremony.

Considered the extreme sport of automobile racing, rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

Top teams in the Rally America National Championship series are also invited to compete in ESPN’s annual Summer X Games competition, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN.

Rally competition resumes January 29-30 with the 2010 Rally America season opener, Sno*Drift, in Atlanta, Michigan.

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