Indianapolis, IN -- After a late afternoon meeting yesterday, United States Rally Championship (USRC) officials announced today the points structure for the 2006 Championship, as well as a new competitor vehicle transportation initiative.

"We’ll be retaining the per event points structure that we used in 2005," stated Ivan Orisek, one of the Championship board members, "However, with the expansion of the Championship to eight events in 2006, the board was unanimous in approving a best five out of eight events to be counted toward the Championship."

"We structured the Championship to minimize cross-country travel by pairing events on each coast," continued Orisek, "Counting the best five out of eight events toward the Championship compliments this structure by providing a competitor with a second chance if they have a bad result in their first opposite coast event."

"We’re also excited about the transportation plan," added Roger Allison, another board member, "Looking into the prohibitive costs of cross-country rally team transportation, especially with the rise of fuel prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we are arranging a team transportation plan which will allow our competitors to have their vehicles picked up regionally and delivered to the opposite coast events at a considerable savings to what they would spend on an individual tow."

The United States Rally Championship, America’s premier rally championship, consists of Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) internationally listed events sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC) and presented by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). More information on the Championship is available at the series website at www.usrallychampionship.com. More information on USAC is available at www.usacracing.com and on NASA at www.nasarallysport.com. Competitors interested in the transportation plan should contact Wilson von Kessler at wilson@nasarallysport.com, (423) 265-2020.