Tanner Foust Wins First Ever RallyCar Rallycross Race In New Jersey
By OR Staff, Photography by Bill Lockwood – WeKickAssets and Ben Haulenbeek – WeKickAssets (MCOX images)
The invasion of the 500hp all-wheel drive rallycross cars continues in the US. Following up on an exciting run at X-Games 16, rallycross hit the New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) for the first ever RallyCar Rallycross competition.
Formerly known as Rally America, RallyCar is the organization behind much of the American rally racing scene. If it involves racing sideways on dirt, sludge, mud, or ice, RallyCar probably runs it. One of the new innovations that they are pushing this year forward is the introduction of an American RallyCross series.
Combining rally racing with wheel-to-wheel road racing, RallyCross is a spectator-friendly race that involves six cars on course and multiple surfaces. RallyCross cars face fewer restrictions than their rally counterparts, with 450-500hp engines, all-wheel drive, and extreme body work allowed.
Drivers are seeded and then see a start and finish flag just as in a standard road race, as opposed to the rally standard of timed stages. 23 drivers showed up to the inaugural event and ran the 1.3-mile Lightning Racetrack setup, who’s surface was 85% tarmac and 15% dirt.
“This is an excellent racing format and I see so many excited spectators,” said NOS Energy Drink’s Andrew Comrie-Picard, “and the cool thing is seeing so many excited drivers. You could see it when Dave Mirra and I immediately caught up with each after our Heat race to discuss what happened out there!”
Travis Pastrana acknowledged the enthusiasm the crowd’s intense enthusiasm, “I could literally hear the fans cheering from inside my car!”
Tanner Foust used his rally racing and European rallycross experience to take the win in a Ford Fiesta, repeating his success in the recent X-Games segment. Foust was challenged early on by Andrew Comrie-Picard (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9), Ramana Lagemann (Ford Fiesta) and Subaru Rally Team USA’s Dave Mirra and Travis Pastrana.
Pastrana nearly flipped his Subaru WRX STI during the main five-lap race, bringing out the red flag and causing a restart. Starting at the back, Pastrana drove a hard race to finish in second.
He was unable to catch Foust out in the front but finished ahead of teammate Mirra, who had been battling with ACP for third. In the end, two of the top three finishers were driving Subaru STIs and all three were on BFGoodrich rally tires.
“The sport is a perfect fit for US audiences and it was awesome to come out on top at the very first one,” said Foust. “Competing in the European Rallycross championship has been great preparation for US Rallycross and the X Games.”
Contact
RallyCar
www.rally-america.com
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