GOLDEN VALLEY, MN — Rally America announces the first wave of athletes who have been invited to compete at X Games 15, to be held in Los Angeles August 2, 2009. The event will air live on ESPN and ABC. At least ten drivers from the Rally America National Championship will battle in head to head competition for X Games glory.

Conditional invitations have been extended to eight drivers, including X Games 14 Rally Car Racing medalists. If any of the eight currently named drivers is unable to accept their invitation, their position will be filled in June as part of the anticipated twelve-car field.

Invited drivers as of January 22, 2009:

1. Travis Pastrana – Davidson, MD
2. Tanner Foust – Steamboat Springs, CO
3. Ken Block – Rancho Santa Fe, CA
4. Dave Mirra – Greenville, NC
5. Kyle Sarasin – Marquette, MI
6. Andrew Pinker – Perth, WA Australia
7. Andrew Comrie-Picard – Toronto, ON Canada
8. Matthew Johnson – Apex, NC

The top two Rally America Championship contenders after the Susquehanna Trail Rally June 6, who are not in the list of eight above, will be invited to X Games 15.

The 2009 Rally America National Championship season begins Jan. 30-31 with the Sno*Drift rally in Atlanta, Mich.

About Rally America
Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2009, Rally America will conduct nine National Championship events at venues across the country, from Olympia, Wash., to Bethel, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses of gravel, dirt or snow. Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying Rally America drivers are invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the annual leading action sports event that is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN.