Tomorrow night at 5:30pm EST, the drivers of the Global RallyCross series will take to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the 4th stop of the 2013 GRC season. There will be two Dodge Dart teams in the hunt for the win with Bryce Menzies making his 4th start of the season while Travis Pastrana returns after missing the double header event in Munich due to NASCAR obligations.
The first stop of the 2013 Global RallyCross schedule on US soil features just 13 cars, marking the smallest field of the season so Pastrana and Menzies stand their best chance of winning thus far. Menzies has had an awful season and while he looked good in the preliminary rounds of the XGames Brazil event, Travis Pastrana has also had a rough go of things in his one 2013 GRC event. Fortunately, with 6 events scheduled over the next 5 months, Pastrana and Menzies have plenty of chances to improve their season and that all begins tomorrow night.
Another piece of good news for Pastrana and Menzies is that Liam Doran will not be in the field tomorrow night. Since arriving on the GRC scene at the XGames Barcelona event (which was eventually rained out), Doran has been one of the top dogs with his new Mini rally car. However, the two Darts will still have to work their way around 11 of the best rally cross drivers in the world including Ford races Tanner Foust, Toomas Heikkinen, Brian Deegan and Ken Block. The full roster of drivers is available below in the color coded infographic.
The New Hampshire Global RallyCross race airs live on ESPN3 tomorrow night (July 11th) at 5:30pm but those who would rather watch it on “normal” television can catch all of the action on Saturday July 13th at 7:30pm.
"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.
