The Atlantic Rally Cup is pleased to announce their schedule for the upcoming season. The six NASA Rally Sport sanctioned events feature fantastic locations and a wide variety of surfaces, proving competitors with a serious challenge if they hope to take home the Cup at the end of the season.

“I’m excited about 2009.” said Anders Green, the series organizer. “We’ve added two events that I feel really fit right in with the spirit of what we’re trying to accomplish. Both are affordable for our competitors, and the organizers all feel that putting together a safe and fun event for the racers is the primary goal.”

The first addition to the calendar, the Team O’Neil Rally, based out the famous rally driving school in New Hampshire run by Tim O’Neil, starts out the season with an icy blast in snowy conditions. For the first time in decades all-wheel drive vehicles will be tearing up the roads with studded snow tires in the United States.

The second addition to the calendar is also based at a rally driving school, the European Rally School and Motorsports Park in Florida, run by Ivor Wigham. ERS has just made a significant investment in road course infrastructure, and ran a rally there this year which included some of the surrounding roads. Adding this event to the schedule seemed a natural fit given the growing rally interest in the South East.

“I think having rallies at both of the rally driving schools in this country is great for the competitors.” commented Amy Feistel, the Director of Operations for some of the other events in the ARC. “Drivers, especially new drivers, can come and train at these facilities beforehand to get their feet wet. It’s going to be a fantastic way for new rallyists to develop their skills.” Both facilities have several courses available for the aspiring rally driver, going all the way up to multi-day intensive training.

The now traditional events are all returning for next year. Sandblast Rally, formerly the first event of the season, will still host the awards ceremony for the 2008 season. Rally Tennessee, known for its amazingly twisty paved tarmac roads, continues its tradition of multi-pass reconnaissance. Rally West Virginia, which had an increase in entries last year, returns as well. Black River Stages in New York, which this year expanded from one to two days, will finish the season.

“This group of events is a nice mix.” said Green. “First, it’s a wide variety of interesting surfaces to race on. Second, the geographic area is reasonably reachable for most of our racers. And third, with the average entry fee for the six events probably coming in at a little under about $650 including stage notes, it’s affordable.” Some of the venues are single day events, while others are two day rallies which stretch the endurance of man and machine.

Team O’Neil Rally - January 24 - Dalton, NH
Sandblast Rally - February 7 - Cheraw, SC
European Rally School Rally - March 8-9 - Stark, FL
Rally Tennessee - May 22-23 - Linden, TN
Rally West Virginia - July 31-August 1 - Elkins, WV
Black River Stages - September 26-27 - Harrisville, NY

Note to editors:
The ARC has events in NH, SC, FL, TN, WV, and NY
The events are sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport
More information is available at NASA RallySport.com

For media support contact Anders Green: +1 919 697 5282 anders@NASARallySport.com