Rally America announces the first wave of athletes who have been invited to compete at X Games 15, to be held in Los Angeles August 2, 2009. The event will air live on ESPN and ABC. At least ten drivers from the Rally America National Championship will battle in head to head competition for X Games glory.
Conditional invitations have been extended to eight drivers, including X Games 14 Rally Car Racing medalists. If any of the eight currently named drivers is unable to accept their invitation, their position will be filled in June as part of the anticipated twelve-car field.
Invited drivers as of January 22, 2009:
1. Travis Pastrana-Davidson, MD
2. Tanner Foust – Steamboat Springs, CO
3. Ken Block-Rancho Santa Fe, CA
4. Dave Mirra – Greenville, NC
5. Kyle Sarasin-Marquette, MI
6. Andrew Pinker-Perth, WA Australia
7. Andrew Comrie-Picard-Toronto, ON Canada
8. Matthew Johnson-Apex, NC
The top two Rally America Championship contenders after the Susquehanna Trail Rally June 6, who are not in the list of eight above, will be invited to X Games 15.
The 2009 Rally America National Championship season begins Jan. 30-31 with the Sno*Drift rally in Atlanta, Mich.
About Rally America
Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2009, Rally America will conduct nine National Championship events at venues across the country, from Olympia, Wash., to Bethel, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses of gravel, dirt or snow. Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying Rally America drivers are invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the annual leading action sports event that is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN.
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January 24th, 2009 at 9:43 am
It will be tight getting in. What happened to the North American champion Anthoine L’Estage and also Pat Richard.
-gp
January 24th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Where is Antoine on that list…?
January 24th, 2009 at 10:27 am
this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!!lestage and richard are missing!no invitation to the north american champ?cmon you gotta be kidding.im surprised acp has been invited to this what appears to be an americans only invitation.cmon guys.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Are there any criteria for who is selected or is it completely random/controlled. It seems strange to see some names in there and others missing.
January 24th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Looks like part of the selection process was, which driver will attend most or all of the Rally America events in 2009. But this theory is skewed having Andrew Pinker in their [sorry mate] if he is not rallying in the USA this year, unless that has changed.
January 25th, 2009 at 8:01 am
sarasin & mirra > l’estage & richard i guess.
or perhaps richard and l’estage have better things to do with their rally dollars than throw them away at the X games smash up derby.
January 25th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Why is Pat Moro not on the list. He was at the 2 last X-Games and was was PGT champion. Plus I thought all these guys had to attend all events prior to X-Games. This really puts other drivers in a bad position – no fair!!!
January 26th, 2009 at 8:36 am
The selections are based on the four medal winners from 2008 (Pastrana, Foust, Block and Mirra) then the next four drivers in the 2008 RA standings who were not medal winners (Sarasin, Pinker, ACP and Johnson).
Seems fair to me. Allows these drivers to plan their 2009 season.
Two more qualifiers on overall 2009 positions after STPR. Then, I assume, two invitations (or perhaps one of these will be a last chance qualifer at NEFR as in previous years). So, L’Estage and Richard still could be there.
Doug Woods
January 26th, 2009 at 11:08 am
It would be cool if they did something like a wildcard race to get in.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I am sure they have good reasons to pick the drivers before the 09 season begins. But I though the process in the past was good, it provided a good storyline for rally here, better entries and fierce competition at the events leading up the the X-Games. This way the invited guys can choose not to compete this spring or try as hard.
-gp
January 26th, 2009 at 11:27 am
80 percent of the 2009 x games participants are determined from 2008 results in the ra championship.ok fine.guess i would just like to see participants of the crc included.why are participants of the crc not included?
January 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am
While I think it is a necessary evil to extend invitations well in advance of the event so the drivers can plan for it as early as possible, I’m kinda bummed Mirra is on there and not another excellent driver whos had more than a few events under their belt.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Mirra earned the spot. At X Games last year, he beat L’Estage straight up with each of them having a clean run. And he reached the semi-finals. Lots of other drivers never got that far.
He is competing full time this year and supporting the series. With the possible exception of Travis, he is the biggest name in the field.
Regarding CRC and NARC. Whey should CRC participants be automatically included? A better case could be made for the NARC champion since that championship includes RA events.
January 27th, 2009 at 10:01 am
I can understand inviting back last years medal winners, but the rest of the field should be based on where they place this year, no last year standings. I would think that is the fairest way to get into X-Games. Maybe RA did it in this manner the teams have enough lead time to get sponsors to pay for the event. Cant wait to see who flips/rolls/crashes into what this year.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Very stunning pictures with great news.
July 25th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
hey cool yeah a wave of the invited athletes see ya guys all over here in LA.
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm
ACP is a joke at X Games. How is he invited back?