Global Rallycross

What did you folks think about the race from Charlotte? Personally I think they need twice as many cars or more, but it still was interesting to watch. It looked like Grönholm just had everyone else covered very well. The other guys were racing for 2nd place. The heat races sucked. 4 cars only? Seriously? Let's see one of the 4 breaks right away, a second one is as slow as turtle turds, and that leave 2 cars racing and not all that close to each other. Honestly while they were doing them I kind of did other things after the first two, so maybe I missed a close race. Probably not. Come on a heat race needs to have 8 or 10 cars in it, not 4.

This was the first rallycross I have ever watched. I was under the impression that they did some crazy shit. Long crossover jumps. Backflips. You know stuff a sane person would never want to do with a car.

Now the 10,000 lb. elephant in the room question. Where is the Speed sponsored car? This is an up and coming form of motorsports and other engery drink companies seem to think it reaches their targeted buyers. Hope to see Speed as part of it soon if that is true.

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Permalink Reply by mj on May 26, 2012 at 11:01pm

Was a really cool race and yeah they do get a lil crazier . Wait for the X-Games event they have a HUGE jump as a crossover and they also go from dirt to gravel to pavement .
Here's a short highlight vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLDzeXJHDA8&feature=youtube_gdat...

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Permalink Reply by Jeffwith2F's&1eye on May 29, 2012 at 9:55pm

mj PM Me with an email I shoot you exclusive photos
Jeff with 2 f's

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Permalink Reply by Scott B on May 26, 2012 at 11:05pm

Rallycross is 100x better than NASCAR...

The sport is still growing...they are getting more and more cars/teams involved...

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Permalink Reply by Mike Kenyon on May 26, 2012 at 11:16pm

@Bruce , was this the first time you've seen GRX?

why only 4cars in a race?, IMO there aren't enough good cars/talent
or enough laps to make a real race.

Yes, I've been to a 'live'event- last season.

Personally, I don't think it's money well spent for Robby at this point.

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Permalink Reply by mj on May 26, 2012 at 11:27pm

I agree Mike not enough return on investment yet other than maybe at X-Games but still can't see doing a 1 race deal . I do like it though and could easily see Robby competing . I imagine him Deegan Pastrana and Foust banging doors , I'd buy front row center for that battle lol

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Smith on May 26, 2012 at 11:35pm

@Mike Kenyon, Yup first time I ever watched this stuff. I totally agree with you about not enough good cars and talent behind the wheel. They just need more cars, many more cars. And of course some talented drivers which is bound to come with the more cars.

Money spent? Hey, it was on TV today and the people that follow this sport are the people that drink energy drinks. And they will probably watch all the races in the series. Don't all of you know Robby could master this very quickly?

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Permalink Reply by mj on May 26, 2012 at 11:54pm

Glad you liked the Rallycross . Theres no doubting Robby could EASILY pick this up and even battle for a win , buy once again it boils down to return on investment . Robby would have to buy a car , equipment , spare parts , do some testing , etc etc and all that cost money . Yes Robby could 1/2 ass it and just sponsor someone for a race or two , but we all know Robby doesn't fly like that . Let's give it a lil while see how things are later on and go from there . Especially with the big announcement coming up on Tuesday , I'm sure we are all gonna be pleasantly surprised .

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Permalink Reply by Head Held High on May 27, 2012 at 7:48pm

It's an interesting concept but from what Robby and I gathered from attending the race last night was that the show was lame. How do you open your season at a venue who won't allow you to have jumps or dirt because NASCAR is more important and can't ruin the track for the 600? Isn't GRC's concept based on the cars crossing over from dirt to asphalt? Big mistake of letting the venue take away what your whole series is about. To pair up with the hopes of drawing the Nationwide crowd another mistake as NASCAR fans are not their demo. CMS also put their pits in turn 1 where no one could access it from the infield, wasn't fan friendly at all. Looks really bad having a empty crowd on live tv..... I bet there was a total of 500 people scattered throughout the stands. The only successful event GRC has right now is the XGames but for that they are only drawing a crowd close to 20,000 and it's a different demo. We went to another GRC race at irwindale a few years ago and I'm pretty certain there were 50 people watching. The track layout was cool and the pits were open but one one was there to see it.....

For new fans to hard to understand and the cars are too expensive. For SPEED Energy it doesn't make sense at this point or ever really. Why jump on the bandwagon? Let's think outside the box.

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Permalink Reply by WJM on May 28, 2012 at 12:41am

As the IRL found out under Tony George, the beer and pork rinds crowd has a narrow mindset.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Beaver on May 29, 2012 at 12:46pm

I agree Kevin. I have a good friend who is a top driver in the GRC. The only thing that GRC has going for it is ESPN coverage. If it wasn't for that, the entries wouldnt be there. A season opener with one jump, no dirt, and wet corner does not do justice to the sport. The cars are capable of much more, why not showcase it? I hope Texas in 2 weeks is a little different....

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Permalink Reply by Josh Fisher on May 27, 2012 at 7:09am

This season is gonna suck compared to last season. Last season was proper RallyCross & this season 4 of the 6 scheduled events are those stupid track setups like they had last night, 1 is the X-Games & then 1 is TBA. As far as why only 4 or 5 cars in the heats and 10 or so in the feature.... That's just always how it's been.

Here are some highlights from 2011 that show how much better the tracks were.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-cCpjdo7eQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6zduICiS8E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB5Mo-EbVNE

Here is video of the RallyAmerica RallyCross at NJMP the other year, this was the 1st Pro RallyCross weekend ever held in the USA..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfHUq8gGJgI

And here is a video of FIA/European RallyCross
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vulJCSmZWA

And here is video from the sport in the 1980s. Look am 'em bounce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z0yc4vEnWo

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Permalink Reply by Michael T. on May 27, 2012 at 6:43pm

What channel was is on? I hope they replay it. I've watched every Global Rallycross event since its inception. I saw it the first time at the X-Games two years ago. The one inside the L.A. Coliseum. The crowd went absolutely nuts. I knew right then I was witnessing something special that was going to blow up.

I do like that it's picking up popularity, but I don't like the direction they're heading with the venues. Staging them at NASCAR tracks is diluting the racing. The first season where they were racing in abandoned mills and quarries was awesome.

I plan on attending the Las Vegas event in September. And I agree, Robby needs to get Speed into this sport. Rockstar, Monster, NOS, and Red Bull are all in it. There needs to be a bright orange Speed Energy car out there, even if Robby isn't behind the wheel. At $500k for a top of the line car, it's not cheap.