Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard and the NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution won the North American Rally Championship this past weekend with a podium finish in the season-ending Rally of the Tall Pines.

The win represents the first championship for the Mitsubishi Evolution X, and the first rally championship for NOS Energy Drink.

“This is a terrific result, especially given that we were working on developing the new rally car throughout this first competition season for the Evolution X,” said Comrie-Picard. “But our sponsors and our team came through and we won a very tight championship race.”

A late-season push, including a win at Rally Colorado and a second-place finish at the Rally of the Tall Pines, sealed the driver’s title for Comrie-Picard. Co-driver Jeremy Wimpey joined the team to secure both of these top finishes.

The season-ender was unusually dry and warm and made for very fast speeds and intense competition. Fans and media at the contest noted Comrie-Picard`s aggressive driving throughout the event — which saw him tearing off bumpers, bending bodywork, and even taking out a finish board — in contrast to his normally tidy style.

“We told ACP to win the championship or leave it in the woods,” said crew chief Eric Vlasic. “He actually did leave some of the car in the woods, but he brought in the championship!”

“We had this car wide-open the whole time,” added Comrie-Picard. “I just wasn’t lifting in most corners or over crests and fortunately, the Ohlins TTX shocks were amazing, the Yokohama tires took the super-high sideloads at 200 km/h (120 mph), and our K&N filter kept the engine safe even through some deep water splashes.”

The team is already preparing for 2010 and looks forward to defending the championship and competing at the X Games for a fifth time.

The NOS Energy Drink motorsports team has had an exceptionally successful year, winning four major racing titles: the North American Rally Championship, the Formula Drift Championship, the Redline Time Attack Series, and the NASCAR Nationwide series.

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 hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The ACP Rally program is made possible by: NOS Energy (www.drinknos.com), K&N (www.knfilters.com), Mitsubishi Canada (www.mitsubishi-motors.ca), Yokohama Canada (www.yokohama.ca), Bully Dog (www.bullydog.com), Motul (www.motulusa.com), AMS (www.amsperformance.com), Works (www.worksevo.com), Brian Crower (www.briancrower.com), JE (www.jepistons.com), Exedy (www.exedyusa.com), Ohlins (www.ohlinsusa.com), Pfitzner Performance Gearbox (www.ppgearbox.com.au), Mishimoto (www.mishimoto.com), Oakley (www.oakley.com), Innovate Motorsports (www.tuneyourengine.com), Team Dynamics (www.teamdynamicsracing.com), Endless (www.endlessusa.com), NBB (www.nbblights.ca), Sparco (www.sparcousa.com), NGK (www.ngksparkplugs.com), Seibon Carbon (www.seiboncarbon.com), Rockford Fosgate (www.rockfordfosgate.com), Piloti (www.piloti.com), and Skull Candy (www.skullcandy.com).

For more information and video highlights, visit: www.acprally.com and read the team’s blog at www.drinknos.com. Find us on YouTube or Twitter under ACPRally.

Photos courtesy of the Canadian Association of RallySport and Neil McDaid.

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NOS Energy Drink driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard is in the lead heading into Day 2 of Rally Colorado after his Subaru Rally Team USA rival Travis Pastrana took huge penalties for hitting chicane elements late Saturday.

Comrie-Picard and Pastrana had been trading stage wins, with Pastrana 20 seconds ahead by the end of the day. But a moment of distraction saw Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom barrel through three pylons in a chicane on Saturday’s final stage. The misstep cost the duo seven minutes in penalties and dropped them from first to 8th place overall.

“We had a shaky start with a few small mechanical issues that held us back and we were starting to reel Travis in stage by stage,” said Comrie-Picard, who is accompanied by guest co-driver Jeremy Wimpey at this event. “We’d rather fight to the finish without the penalties, but we’re pleased to be in the lead.”

Pastrana has already secured the 2009 title- with just two rounds remaining, nobody can catch him in the points. But Comrie-Picard is among a tight pack of top drivers who are still battling it out for the remaining spots in the top three.

Pastrana’s Subaru teammate Ken Block also took a one-minute penalty on the chicane, bumping Polish driver Andi Mancin into second place after the Day 1 stages.

Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino were in third place after the opening day, more than two minutes ahead of the fourth-place team of Nathan Conley and co-driver Todd Moberly.

Block is competing in the Super Production class this weekend. His Open class rally car is out of commission after a big wreck at Round 7, and they have taken over Dave Mirra’s ride for this event. Mirra is sitting his round out due to a conflict with his BMX competition schedule.

“I just want to do well in the car and get the best out of it,” said Block.

The lower-spec car is a big change for Block, whose aggressive style demands the high power available in his Open class car to pull him out of corners. Even so, he still managed to set the fastest time on the first stage of the rally and by the end of Day 1, he was well ahead of the other drivers in the class.

A very fast driver, Block has struggled this season to find a pace that earns him reliable finishes and he has DNF’d more rallies than he’s finished. He’s currently in third place in the championship, behind Mancin.

With the wildcard entry of Block in the Super Production class, regular contenders are planning their strategy. Pat Moro and local driver Jimmy Keeney are fighting hard. If Moro can earn second-place in the class this weekend, he’ll enter the final round of the championship in a tie for the class lead with Piotr Wiktorczyk — who is absent from this round.

In the two-wheel drive class, Monument, Colorado’s John Conley is in the lead, ahead of reliable performer Dillon Van Way from Carencro, LA.

The Rally Colorado event poses unique challenges to rally teams. Many teams were complaining that they were down on power or overheating during the high desert stages Saturday. The high altitude and subsequent lack of oxygen at this event saps the rally cars’ power. Despite this drain, the event has a reputation of being a one of the fastest in the Series featuring many high-speed sections on flowing roads. Teams expect variable weather and there has been dust on Day 1. The high altitude, coupled with fast straights places the high horsepower Open class cars at a distinct advantage.

The rally is headquartered in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, known as “Ski Town”, USA. The small mountain community that’s home to numerous world-class ski and snowboarding events is also home to the largest ski jumping complex in America — used for training by the US Olympic Ski Jumping Team.

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 that take place in a range of challenging weather and road conditions in a season that extends from February to October. Throughout the year, teams take on everything from the forest logging roads in Minnesota, to the Pacific Northwest forest and coast paths.

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.

Click to see Travis Pastrana’s time penalty interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09vte2zppoM&feature=player_embedded

Photo Credit: Kevin Hahn/Rally America

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Rally Driver Andrew Comrie-Picard and his NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX will make a return to U.S. rally competition this coming weekend, following a tough event in Canada.

Comrie-Picard is in a tight battle for the top three in the 2009 Rally America championship as the series winds up. He is currently in fourth place, just two points behind Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block, but he is confident he can move up.

“There’s going to be some great racing in the final two rounds,” said Comrie-Picard. “We’re playing catch-up to the other guys, but we’re going to make every round count this season and claw up the rankings.”

Rally America allows two event drops in the season, counting seven of nine rallies toward the championship. While some teams, like the factory-backed Subaru Rally Team USA, run all nine events, the ACP Rally Team is able to contest seven rounds in 2009 — so every rally counts for the team’s points standings.

Comrie-Picard will be accompanied by guest co-driver Jeremy Wimpey in Colorado.

The team was competing this past weekend at Canada’s Rallye Defi Ste-Agathe in their developing Evolution X when they were forced to abandon the contest at the mid-point after a rock punctured the oil cooler and resulted in damage to the engine.

The driver, with co-driver Robbie Durant, was running a strong third overall in the rally when a rock thrown up in the right wheel well damaged the oil cooler. The team stopped between stages, re-routed the lines to delete the oil cooler, and drained the oil from a spectator vehicle into empty NOS Energy bottles and transferred the oil into the rally car.

It was a triumph of roadside engineering but, when they were finished, they found they were narrowly over the 30-minute maximum lateness permitted by the rules and were not allowed to continue. The engine sustained internal damage thanks to the low oil. Rival driver Patrick Richard, of Subaru Rally Team Canada, retired on the same leg with gearbox damage.

“Obviously this is very frustrating, as we would likely have finished at least second overall and could have used the championship points,” said Comrie-Picard. “But you have to have the endurance to push on, and there are two events left in the Canadian championship to allow us to pull back up in the standings.”

Rallye Defi Ste-Agathe was the team’s first appearance since their top-five result at X Games 15 this summer in Los Angeles.

The high-profile international contest sees only a dozen of the best drivers in the world invited to race head-to-head on a mixed asphalt and dirt course, and features an exciting 70-foot gap jump. Former Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack was the eventual winner. The race is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN, with additional broadcasts in more than 100 countries around the world.

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 hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The ACP Rally program is made possible by: NOS Energy (www.drinknos.com), K&N (www.knfilters.com), Mitsubishi Canada (www.mitsubishi-motors.ca), Yokohama Canada (www.yokohama.ca), Bully Dog (www.bullydog.com), Motul (www.motulusa.com), AMS (www.amsperformance.com), Works (www.worksevo.com), Brian Crower (www.briancrower.com), JE (www.jepistons.com), Exedy (www.exedyusa.com), Ohlins (www.ohlinsusa.com), Pfitzner Performance Gearbox (www.ppgearbox.com.au), Mishimoto (www.mishimoto.com), Oakley (www.oakley.com), Innovate Motorsports (www.tuneyourengine.com), Team Dynamics (www.teamdynamicsracing.com), Endless (www.endlessusa.com), NBB (www.nbblights.ca), Sparco (www.sparcousa.com), NGK (www.ngksparkplugs.com), Seibon Carbon (www.seiboncarbon.com), Rockford Fosgate (www.rockfordfosgate.com), Piloti (www.piloti.com), Stater Bros. (www.staterbros.com), and Skull Candy (www.skullcandy.com).

For more information and video highlights, visit: www.acprally.com. Find us on YouTube or Facebook under ACP Rally.

Photo by Pete Kuncis (www.onalimbracing.com).

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NOS Energy rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard took fifth place overall this weekend at the 2009 X Games 15 Rally Car Race at the Home Depot Centre in Los Angeles.

The team qualified well and won their first elimination round, meeting Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana in the quarter-final. ACP was running strong against Pastrana when he started losing turbo boost – and bleeding time. He says a hard hit after going long on the jump during practice was to blame.

“I got the biggest air of the day over the jump during practice and nosed it in,” said Comrie-Picard. “The front of the car was pretty battered by the time I lined up against Travis, and one of the boost hoses was leaking. But the crew really deserves the credit for their incredible job in repairing the car to get it back to the starting line for each round through the quarterfinals. And of course Travis drove a great race.”

The unique X Games format sees drivers go head-to-head on a mixed asphalt and dirt course through the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, and features an exciting 70-foot gap jump that is a highlight for fans and drivers alike. The race is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN, with additional broadcasts in more than 100 countries around the world.

“This is a terrific result for the NOS Energy team and ACP,” said Ernie Manansala, Motorsports and Lifestyle Marketing Manager for NOS Energy Drink. “We wanted to make sure ACP used all his Human Horsepower to get over the jump, and sure enough he went big!”

The team’s NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX was the only car in the top five without factory support. IRL Champion Kenny Brack – in a Ford Fiesta — took the win when Subaru-backed Pastrana spun out during the final heat. Tanner Foust earned the bronze medal in his Ford Fiesta while teammate Brian Deegan finished in fourth. 2008 co-bronze medalists – Subaru backed Ken Block and Dave Mirra — finished seventh and eighth respectively.

“There’s no shame in losing to the Ford Fiestas, really,” said Comrie-Picard, “the cars are beautifully engineered, and they were certainly well-driven here. I hope we see more of them competing in America.”

The 2008 contest saw Comrie-Picard well in the lead over rival Mirra when he shorted the jump in his NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and flipped end over end. It was a spectacular crash that made highlight reels around the world. Comrie-Picard was unharmed. The flip was one of the featured moments in X Games 3D: The Movie, which premiered in Los Angeles during X Games and hits big screens nationwide later this month.

The X Games is the premier action sports event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money in sports including BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, and Rally. 2009 marks the 15th anniversary of the high-profile contest.

Comrie-Picard is among just four drivers from around the world who have been invited to X Games in every year since the sport was introduced to the contest in 2006. The Rally Car discipline is a hit in the X Games format, consistently setting the highest television ratings of the four-day action sports event.

The 2009 contest saw the elimination of rally co-drivers – deemed unnecessary on the short course – and the addition of in-car commentators that allowed fans to get closer to the action than ever before with first-hand analysis, live from the course. ACP’s 2008 X Games co-driver Jen Horsey was one of the commentators.

In the lead-up to the big show, Comrie-Picard was invited to throw the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers home game against the Houston Astros. He also took a podium finish at his first-ever Lucas Oil Off Road race in a Bully Dog Superlite truck (July 25) in Lake Elsinore, California.

ACP now returns his focus to the Rally America title. There is just a four-point spread between ACP, in third at the mid-point in the season, Block, Foust and Andi Mancin. All are trailing defending champion Pastrana.

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 hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The ACP Rally program is made possible by: NOS Energy (www.drinknos.com), K&N (www.knfilters.com), Mitsubishi Canada (www.mitsubishi-motors.ca), Yokohama Canada (www.yokohama.ca), Bully Dog (www.bullydog.com), Motul (www.motulusa.com), AMS (www.amsperformance.com), Works (www.worksevo.com), Brian Crower (www.briancrower.com), JE (www.jepistons.com), Exedy (www.exedyusa.com), Ohlins (www.ohlinsusa.com), Pfitzner Performance Gearbox (www.ppgearbox.com.au), Mishimoto (www.mishimoto.com), Oakley (www.oakley.com), Innovate Motorsports (www.tuneyourengine.com), Team Dynamics (www.teamdynamicsracing.com), Endless (www.endlessusa.com), NBB (www.nbblights.ca), Sparco (www.sparcousa.com), NGK (www.ngksparkplugs.com), Seibon Carbon (www.seiboncarbon.com), Rockford Fosgate (www.rockfordfosgate.com), Piloti (www.piloti.com), Stater Bros. (www.staterbros.com), and Skull Candy (www.skullcandy.com).

For more information and video highlights, visit: www.acprally.com. Find us on YouTube or Facebook under ACP Rally.

Photo by Chris Maydaniuk (www.worldrallysport.com).

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NOS Energy rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard returns to battle with the best drivers in action sport when he takes on the invitation-only X Games Rally Car race on Sunday, Aug. 2.

The unique X Games format sees drivers go head-to-head on a mixed asphalt and dirt course through the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, and features an exciting 70-foot gap jump that is a highlight for fans and drivers alike.

“I’m really looking forward to keeping it pinned and getting massive air over that gap,” said Comrie-Picard. “We learned last year that the Evo likes a little more speed than the other cars heading into the big jump and that’s going to be a real advantage when we get into the stadium at X Games 15.”

The 2008 contest saw Comrie-Picard well in the lead over rival Dave Mirra when he shorted the jump slightly in his NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and flipped end over end. It was a spectacular crash that made highlight reels around the world. Comrie-Picard was unharmed.

“The X Games is about going big and sometimes crashing big,” said Comrie-Picard. “We gave the fans a show last year; this year we’re in it for the gold medal.”

The X Games is the premier action sports event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money in sports including BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, and Rally. 2009 marks the 15th anniversary of the high-profile contest.

“X Games 15 marks NOS Energy Drink’s second proud and exciting year with Team ACP,” said Ernie Manansala, Motorsports and Lifestyle Marketing Manager for NOS Energy Drink. “We have been anticipating this event with ACP since our end-over-end encounter at X Games last year and we look forward to ACP gunning for NOS Energy Drink’s first X Games gold!”

The X Games Rally Car Race airs live on ESPN and ABC starting at 12 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Sunday, Aug. 2, with additional broadcasts in more than 100 countries around the world.

Comrie-Picard is among just four drivers from around the world who have been invited to X Games in every year since the sport was introduced to the contest in 2006. The Rally Car discipline is a hit in the X Games format, consistently setting the highest television ratings of the four-day action sports event.

The 2009 contest will see the elimination of rally co-drivers – deemed unnecessary on the short course – and the addition of in-car commentators that will allow fans to get closer to the action than ever before with first-hand analysis, live from the course. ACP’s 2008 X Games co-driver Jen Horsey will be one of the commentators.

In the lead-up to the big show, Comrie-Picard was recently invited to throw the first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers home game against the Houston Astros. He will also take on a Lucas Oil Off Road race in a Bully Dog truck this coming weekend (July 24-26) in Lake Elsinore, California.

ACP enters the X Games contest as a strong contender for the Rally America title. There is just a four-point spread between ACP, in third at the mid-point in the season, Ken Block, Tanner Foust and Andi Mancin. All are trailing defending champion Travis Pastrana.

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 hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The field for the 2009 X Games Rally Car Race is as follows:

Andrew Comrie-Picard
Travis Pastrana
Ken Block
Dave Mirra
Brian Deegan
Tanner Foust
Matt Johnson
Andi Mancin
Piotr Wiktorczyk
Arkadiusz Gruszka
Jimmy Keeney
Kenny Brack

The ACP Rally program is made possible by: NOS Energy (www.drinknos.com), K&N (www.knfilters.com), Mitsubishi Canada (www.mitsubishi-motors.ca), Yokohama Canada (www.yokohama.ca), Motul (www.motulusa.com), AMS (www.amsperformance.com), Works (www.worksevo.com), Brian Crower (www.briancrower.com), JE (www.jepistons.com), Exedy (www.exedyusa.com), Ohlins (www.ohlinsusa.com), Pfitzner Performance Gearbox (www.ppgearbox.com.au), Mishimoto (www.mishimoto.com), Oakley (www.oakley.com), Innovate Motorsports (www.tuneyourengine.com), Team Dynamics (www.teamdynamicsracing.com), Endless (www.endlessusa.com), NBB (www.nbblights.ca), Sparco (www.sparcousa.com), NGK (www.ngksparkplugs.com), Seibon Carbon (www.seiboncarbon.com), Piloti (www.piloti.com), and Skull Candy (www.skullcandy.com).

For more information and video highlights, visit: www.acprally.com. Find us on YouTube or Facebook under ACP Rally.

Photo by Coogan Taylor

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