Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana scored the first victory of the 2009 season with a decisive win at Sno*Drift in northern Michigan.
Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom built a healthy lead from the start, ending Day 1 with a 52-second lead over challenger Tanner Foust. By the end of the contest, the duo had extended the gap to a minute and 49 seconds.
“It’s a great way to start the season, with points under my belt,” said Pastrana. “But every mailbox looked like a deer on that last stage.” …Â More info
Racing is no exception when it comes to the slumping economy. With automakers in dire straits at present, dropping involvement in motorsport, especially sponsorships, will certainly tax teams and events from all venues of the sport.
While NASCAR is gearing up for its traditional annual kickoff, the Daytona 500 and related events, how its season will fare after the stock car giant’s main event is open to speculation. Teams have merged, sponsorship is way down, and layoffs at the race shops in the Mooresville, N.C., area have been heavy.
Chevrolet will be driven by the newly formed Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, an amalgamation of DEI and Ganassi. Driving for the entire Cup season will be Martin Truex and Juan Pablo Montoya…Â More info
…a few random things to point out today. First off, Travis Pastrana and Johnny Knoxville have teamed up for a new Jackass type of TV series that is going to be airing on MTV soon. Apparently, it features stunts from all genres of extreme sports and anything that falls in between. What does this have to do with BMX? Well, not a whole lot at the moment although there are a couple clips in the trailer below that show a BMXer by the name of, Hubert Kowland. Who is Hubert Kowland you ask? Maybe he just owns a BMX bike but I’ve never heard of him. I’m not sure if more BMX is scheduled to be involved in this, but judging from my experiences hanging out with Hoffman and Knoxville last summer, I’m sure Hoffman and others will be involved. I’m just wondering what kind of stunts will be going down, cause the trailer looks ridiculous! It’s like Jackass hyped up on steroids but without all the sick vomiting and bodily fluid antics…Â More info Â
The Canadian Rally Championship is set to start this weekend on the snowy roads of the Rallye Perce Neige Maniwaki, presented by Subaru and supported by Yokohama and takes place in Maniwaki, Que., north of Ottawa. The event has run for over 40 years and has been on the national calendar for close to 35 years.
Canadian Rally Champions Patrick Richard of Squamish, B.C. and co-driver Alan Ockwell from Toronto finished third at Rallye Perce Neige last year in the debut event for the Subaru Rally Team Canada.
“This year we have a developed car, a year of working as a team and…Â More infoÂ