If you have access to ESPN3 (You probably do, but you probably don't know it) you should probably check out the Global Rallycross Championship. ~600hp rally cars, running a short course, with jumps, at the same time! I was surprised at the number of pretty recognizable names they have (Block, Pastrana, Foust, Deegan, Millen, Mirra, , and some two time WRC champ named Grunholm...)
I'm not a shill for the series, but the racing is a ton of fun to watch, and I just hope it finds some popularity. Those who have seen (or raced in) euro style rallycross know how cool it is already. It ran last weekend with Indycars at Texas. Was anyone there?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw69mBTvaeE&feature=youtu.be
The whole broadcast in HD glory up on youtube.
ESPN could seem to care less about people uploading the video (saweet!) so I'd be expecting next day youtube coverage if you can't watch it on ESPN3.
Typically the events are aired sameday/next day on ESPN2.
I was there and the "Hoon Kaboom" was absolutely fantabulous! So much so that a LOT of people left the IRL race that happened later. IRL was a lot like a dog chasing it's tail by comparison.
I like the look of the IRL cars and the tech of them, but the circle chasing just ruins it.
On the other hand the Hoons made every effort to play to the crowd and give them their money's worth and put on a good show.
The course was tight and I originally thought it was too small, but it turned out it wasn't. The size let you watch both ends and with their JOKER laps (a shortcut that everyone had to take on one of their laps) it left you watching the whole course to see who was making up some time.
When they announced it I thought the Joker lap was cheesy, but the way it spiced up the short races I became a big fan of it.
The qualifying runs with 4 cars on the course was tight, tight, tight but the main event with 10 cars on the course at one time was glorified, wonderful mayhem!
Two times in the main event on the 3rd lap there was a big happening (one time a car went off the side of the jump) and they restarted the whole race over. It went quite a ways over the allotted time and the crowd was on it's feet most of the time.
Carguy, your feedback is the kind of stuff ESPN, SMI, and GRC need. I posted it in a thread on another forum that will get viewed by people who want to know people's comments.
I'm glad the event is resonating with race fans, especially if it is more popular than IRL!
Yeah it adds a new fold when you don't know who is really leading until everyone does their joker laps. When Foust slid (literally) in between the two leading cars coming off his joker lap, it was awesome and I thought for sure he would clobber one (or both) of them. One thing I would add though is a big bright light attached to the roof that turns from red to green when they complete their joker lap. That way you know where everyone stands. The check marks on the scroll bar for the tv feed is good, but I think lights would still be good for quick reference, and for fans watching in person.
Lastly, there is no more series named the IRL. They renamed the series the IndyCar Series, or just 'IndyCar' and its for the best that they changed it, since 'IRL' brings up memories of the split that's best long forgotten.
The early crowd was more there for the Hooning, but there was maybe 25% that was the IRL crowd who came early to get to spend some time in the pits and because the tickets were a 2Fer - so why not?!
When the Hooning began the pits began to empty out and the crowd in the stands kept growing as they realized this was really a race and not a Chitwood Thrill Show.
They say that Nascar is a good show because the fans can see the whole track. They say that road racing doesn't work for the crowds because the fans can't see the whole track. If that's the case then Global Rallycross will become the next big thing!
The multiple short races, ala V8 Supercars, and the ladder system really added to the excitement level and made the whole event interesting instead of just the beginning, a few wrecks in the middle and then the last 2 laps as it is in Nascar, and truth to be told the 24 Hours of LeMans also. Of course for the 24 Hours event there is the added depth of the story line of each team.
They worked the crowd up and kept them at a fever pitch until the very end. The commitment to putting on a good show and giving the fans their money's worth by doing what was right and running the main event 3 times instead of calling it early and leaving everyone disappointed was a very refreshing change from most racing events I've attended.
There were even a few minor delays while they waited for a driver and car to finish up in the pits and the fans were OK with that because it was obvious the promoters were doing all they could to give everyone their fair shot at the racing.
Now here's another aspect to it, the drivers and mechanics all seemed to be really nice guys. We got to talk to just about all the drivers and we even got a guided tour of David Binks car with more details on the build than I've ever gotten from any racing team ever!
Wanna sit in a rally car? We got to.
I went to the one in Charlotte, I've got pictures in a thread around here somewhere. It was amazing.
Please come close to Ohio, please.
Sounds like a buddy and I are flying to Montreal and then making the 4 hour drive down to New Hampshire Speedway. Never been to a NASCAR event and the GRC is being ran in the evening starting at 7pm. The crazy flames out the exhaust and glowing rotors will be cool. 
Also pumped because NH (and Xgames) are the only two tracks that are "different". Charlotte, Texas, and Vegas are all the same track.
