WELLSBORO, PA — A packed field including top X Games competitors and championship hopefuls are on course Pennsylvania for Day 1 of the storied Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally.

Series regulars including championship leader Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard are back in action at the event, driving hard for the championship title.

But several notable newcomers will make their series debut, including Swedish World Rally competitors Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson, and freestyle motocross champion Brian Deegan, winner of 11 X Games medals.

Sandell has won two Production World Rallies so far this year, and was the Junior World Rally Champion in 2006. He and Axelsson will partner with NCRALLY and North Coast Subaru to compete in the Open class for this contest.

Deegan made his name as a supercross and motocross star, and founding member of the Metal Mulisha group of riders. He is well-known to X Games fans as an 11-time medalist and commentator. Deegan is the latest action sports star to try his hand at rally competition, joining the likes of Pastrana and Dave Mirra -- both series regulars.

Deegan will partner with Rockstar Energy Drink co-driver Chrissie Beavis for a Super Production class effort. Beavis’s regular teammate, Tanner Foust, is sitting this contest out due to a conflict with a Formula Drift event.

In addition to battling for championship points, teams are vying for a shot at X Games gold in August. Four top points scorers in the series after this event will earn an invitation and it’s possible that a win at STPR could translate to a starting spot at the Los Angeles contest.

Six drivers –Pastrana, Comrie-Picard, Block, Mirra, Foust and Matt Johnson – have already been invited to compete. The next four top scorers in the series are expected to receive an invitation. Two other so-called “at large” drivers have yet to be named.

The Susquehannock Trail event has been running since 1977, and has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the calendar. The 2009 running of the contest features a return to the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day.

Avid photographers will again have the opportunity to participate in Rally America’s popular photo contest where fans can submit their best shots for a chance to win great prizes.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The 2009 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and road conditions.

Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. Eight top teams have already been invited to this August’s contest. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

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 2008, Rally America will conduct nine National Championship events at venues across the country, from Portland, Ore., 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-sport event that is broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. For more information, visit www.rally-america.com.