The Year-End Awards Ceremony of the United States Rally Championship (USRC) was held at the conclusion of the International Rally New York in Callicoon, New York yesterday. Michael Taylor, President of United States Rally Championship, Inc. announced United States Rally Champions and USRC Production Cup Winners. Mr. Taylor also commented on the 2010 USRC Calendar.
The 2009 United States Rally Champions are Keith Jackson and Mara Estep in the All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) category and Dan Brosnan and Shane McCann in the Two-Wheel-Drive (2WD) category.
The Winners of the USRC Production Cup are Shawn and Jennifer Hudspeth in AWD and Michael Reilly and Josh Benthien in 2WD.
The first three teams in each category are as follows:
2009 USRC Driver Champion All-Wheel-Drive Driver:
1. Keith Jackson
2. Daniel O’Brien
3. Tom Lawless
2009 USRC Co-Driver Champion All-Wheel-Drive Co-Driver:
1. Mara Estep
2. Brendan McCabe
3. Brian Sharkey
2009 USRC Driver Champion Two-Wheel-Drive Driver:
1. Dan Brosnan
2. Josh Wimpey
3. Alex Rademacher
2008 USRC Champion Co-Driver Two-Wheel-Drive Co-Driver
1. Shane McCann
2. Jeremy Wimpey
3. John Stewart
2009 Production Cup Winner All-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Driver:
1. Shawn Hudspeth
2. Matt Gottlieb
3. William Petrow
2009 Production Cup Winner All-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Co-Driver:
1. Jennifer Hudspeth
2. Austin Gager
3.Jeremy Neyhart
2009 Production Cup WinnerTwo-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Driver:
1. Michael Reilly
2. Alex Rademacher
3. John Black
2009 Production Cup Two-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Co-Driver
1. Josh Benthien
2. John Stewart
3. Kacie Webb
Regarding the Calendar for the 2010 United States Rally Championship, Mr. Taylor said the following: “We are working on the 2010 USRC Calendar, which will be announced well in advance of the 2010 season. At this point, we are planning the following changes: The International Rally New York that has been the final round of the season for the past two years will take place earlier in the year, namely on September 10 and 11, 2010. Competitors will travel to the final round of the 2010 USRC season at the Prescott Rally in Prescott, Arizona, which is scheduled for October 1 and 2,
2010.”
Atlantic Division teams will be again competing for coveted cash travel subsidies that will be awarded to top six teams in the Division. The total of $12,000 in subsidies will be distributed to Atlantic Division teams to assist them with travelling to the final round of the 2010 United States Rally Championship in Prescott, Arizona.
The United States Rally Championship will continue its bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. The Championship structure minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship. As a result, 197 competitors, drivers and co-drivers, participated during the 2009 USRC season, nearly twice as many as in any other championship series in North America.
The Championship season consists of a combination of gravel and tarmac events. Events of the United States Rally Championship allow for reconnaissance and pace notes. Tarmac events, full reconnaissance and pace notes make the United States Rally Championship unique in North America as no other series in North America encompasses all these features. More information on the United States Rally Championship is available at http://www.usrallychampionship.com.
