Patrik Sandell to compete at Susquehannock Trail
Posted: May 27, 2009 8:57 PM
A packed field including top X Games competitors
and championship hopefuls will take to the challenging forest roads of
Pennsylvania next month for the storied Susquehannock Trail
Performance Rally (June 5-6).
Series regulars including Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and Andrew
“ACP” Comrie-Picard will be back in action at the event, driving
hard for the championship title.
But several notable newcomers will make their series debut, including
Swedish World Rally competitors Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson, and
Freestyle motocross champion Brian Deegan winner of 11 X Games medals.
Sandell has won two Production World Rallies so far this year, and was
the Junior World Rally Champion in 2006. He and Axelsson will partner
with NCRALLY and North Coast Subaru to compete in the Open class for
this contest.
Deegan made his name as a supercross/motocross star and founding
member of the Metal Mulisha group of riders. He is well-known to X
Games fans as an eleven time medalist and commentator. Deegan is the
latest action sports star to try his hand at rally competition,
joining the likes of Pastrana and Dave Mirra -- both series regulars.
Deegan will partner with Rockstar Energy Drinks co-driver Chrissie
Beavis for a Super Production class effort. Beavis’s regular
teammate, Tanner Foust, is sitting this contest out due to a conflict
with a Formula Drift event.
In addition to battling for championship points, teams are vying for a
shot at X Games gold in August. Four top points scorers after this
event will earn an invitation and it’s possible that a win at STPR
could translate to a starting spot at the Los Angeles contest.
Six drivers –Pastrana, Comrie-Picard, Block, Mirra, Foust and Matt
Johnson – have already been invited to compete. The next four top
scorers in the series are expected to receive an invitation. Two other
so-called “at large” drivers have yet to be named.
The Susquehannock Trail event has been running since 1977, and has
long been known as one of the most demanding events on the calendar.
The 2009 running of the contest features a return to the popular two-
day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super
special stages on each day.
Avid photographers will again have the opportunity to participate in
Rally America’s popular photo contest where fans can submit their
best shots for a chance to win great prizes.
Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing
and 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.
The 2009 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine
exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and
road conditions.
Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X
Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN.
Eight top teams have already been invited to this August’s contest.
Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are
Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.
Event Website / Details
Posted: January 1, 2009 12:01 AM
News Stories
Classifieds
Shop
TV Guide
Links
Upcoming 
Most