Laughlin, Nevada -- The 2008 United States Rally Championship (USRC) continues to make bold steps toward more affordable national competition that is accessible to a larger number of rally teams. In an effort started with the 2007 USRC season, the Championship structure minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for cross-country travel by providing competition on each side of the country.

Michael Taylor, USRC President said the following: "We realized that fewer and fewer teams can afford towing back and forth across the country. A meaningful National Championship needed to embrace the reality that most of our top competitors are professional and trades people who have been excluded from serious consideration in previous championship formats due to the time or financial demands of cross-country travel. With our new format, that has all changed. As a result, 312 competitors participated in the 2007 United States Rally Championship."

The United States Rally Championship (USRC) is owned and operated by United States Rally Championship, Inc. In order to give teams competing in two-wheel drive cars more visibility, the USRC introduced separate All-Wheel Drive Championship and Two-Wheel Drive Championship.

The International Rally New York will be the seventh and the final round of the 2008 Championship and will be followed by the year-end Championship Awards ceremony.

Similarly to the 2007 season when the six top teams from the Atlantic Division received subsidy to attend the final round in the West, the Championship will subsidize travel costs for six teams from the Pacific Division - three top teams in the All-Wheel Drive Championship and three top teams in the Two-Wheel Drive Championship - to travel to New York.

Every team from the Atlantic Division as well as the Pacific Division will be invited to the final round in New York to compete for the top Championship positions. Each team may count four scores toward the Championship - their three best scores achieved prior to the final round plus the score from the final round. At least two of the three best scores must be from the team’s home Division. In order to accommodate conflicts in personal schedules and other limitations experienced by individual teams, each team may substitute a single out-of-the-Division event for an event in the team’s home Division prior to the final round. All Championship events will have the same weight and will award the same number of Championship points. Further details of scoring will be published soon.

Rally New York USA	April 4-5
Rally Tennessee	May 24
Idaho Rally	July 11-12
Rally West Virginia	August 1-2
Gorman Ridge Rally	August 15-16
Prescott Rally	October 3-4
International Rally New York	October 31-November 1

The USRC is the only National Championship in the United States that offers a combination of gravel and tarmac rallies with most events allowing full reconnaissance and pace notes. In addition, most USRC rallies are conducted under Super Rally Regulations, allowing teams to restart on day-two after a day-one DNF.

Recognizing the need to minimize the cost to competitors, the Championship will make every effort to keep the length of each Championship event to the maximum of two days including reconnaissance.