Catch the Dodge Dart Rally Cars in Action on ESPN This Saturday

The world of Global RallyCross hits Bristol Tennessee this weekend for fifth stop of the 2013 season and while there will be two Dodge Dart rally cars in the thirteen car field – Travis Pastrana will once again not be one of the drivers.  Instead, Timur Timerzyanov will drive Pastrana’s #199 car while Bryce Menzies is back to make his fifth start in the #99 Dart.

The news that Travis Pastrana will once again not be behind the wheel of the #199 Dodge Dart comes as a disappointing blow after Pastrana and his Dart were so fast in the last event. In his Last Chance Qualifier win, Travis pummeled the field and effortlessly advanced to the finals in impressive form.  Unfortunately, a blown tire early in the final race ended his shot at the event win but it still showed a great deal of promise for the rest of the season.  However, having him skip another race greatly diminishes the Dart rally team’s chance of winning.  Timur Timerzyanov is a European RallyCross champion but in his fill-in efforts in Munich, Timur just didn’t look as comfortable as Travis has on his good days.

There has been no official word as to why Travis Pastrana will once again miss the GRC race but it should be noted that there is a NASCAR Nationwide race in Illinois at 3:00pm on July 21^st.  Pastrana may be skipping the GRC race to devote more time to his NASCAR ride – which was why he missed the two events in Germany earlier this season.  Then again, with his success in his Ford Mustang in the Nationwide Series (17 starts – 0 wins, 0 Top 5s, 3 Top 10s, 4 DNFs) it is no wonder why he is putting so much more effort into NASCAR.

*Cough*Money*Cough*

Of course, it should be noted that his gorgeous wife Lyn-Z is pregnant and has been for some time so perhaps he cannot be in Bristol due to family obligations but that’s a hard angle to take if he races in Joliet on the 21^st.  Perhaps it is just too much for him to race at 4:30pm on the 20^th in Tennessee only to rush over to Chicagoland Speedway for the 3:00pm race on the 21^st.  Then again, in 1999 Tony Stewart ran the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 in the same day so the 20 laps that Pastrana may have to run for the GRC on Saturday combined with the 300 mile race on Sunday shouldn’t be that big of a deal…but maybe it’s family obligations that made him decide to race in his Ford Nationwide car rather than the Dart.  Or maybe it’s the money.

In any case, the Bristol Global RallyCross race will air on ESPN at 4:30pm Eastern Standard Time this Saturday, July 20^th.  Even without Pastrana, the Bristol GRC race should be action packed so even if a Dodge Dart doesn’t win – it will still offer some great racing action.  The infographic below shows the starting field for this weekend’s event.

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

Facebook   Twitter