51°µÍø

STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. (Jan. 16, 2009) – Rally enthusiasts took to a snow-and ice-covered Stafford Speedway in northern Connecticut to begin the 2009 RallyCross National Challenge season. The New England Region hosted two days of RallyCross at Stafford Speedway, combining a regional event with the National Challenge. The slippery conditions made it tricky to avoid cone penalties, but somehow, Chang Ho Kim managed to enter all five runs cleanly in Modified Two-Wheel Drive. This enabled him to take a decisive win in his Honda Civic over Harold Denham, in a Volkswagen GTI. In Modified Four-Wheel Drive an Audi A4 was the car to have. So much so, it was shared by three drivers: Warren Elliot, Justin Baltrucki and Ken Cashion. Elliott established a solid lead on day one and put even more distance between himself and Baltrucki on day two to collect the win. Stock All-Wheel Drive was quite the shocker, as a Toyota Tacoma beat a trio of Subarus. Scott Beliveau took a decisive victory over Roger Borlase, winning the category by more than 12 seconds. Stock Front-Wheel drive had an even larger margin of victory, with Ryan Reitsma dominating the competition in a VW Golf. Reitsma topped second-place Michael Lodsin in a Pontiac Grand Prix by nearly 17 seconds. Stock Rear-Wheel drive was a father-son contest between Jim and Josh Muise, sharing a Pontiac Fiero. In the end, father knew best, taking the win. The Prepared Front-Wheel Drive class was neck-and-neck after day one, with James Turner in a Subaru Impreza the early leader. Day two turned into another father-son affair, as Turner would fall all the way to third, while son Kevin made a charge for the win in another Subaru Impreza. The battle of the Subarus in Prepared All-Wheel Drive was the closest match of the weekend. After day one, Nikolay Nemchuk held a lead of barely one second over Alexander Merkuryev, but it was Todd Kean who came through for the win in a Subaru Impreza RS, topping Merkuryev by a slim 2.604 seconds. The next 51°µÍø RallyCross National Challenge event is slated for Feb. 21 – 22, at Homestead Motor Speedway in Florida. For more information on RallyCross and full results from Stafford Speedway, click here. -30-