Laughlin, Nevada -- The 2007 United States Rally Championship (USRC) is taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. The new Championship structure minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for cross-country travel by providing competition on each side of the country with the final round deciding top spots in the Championship at the end of the year.

Teams may enter any number of events but will only score points in one Division – Atlantic or Pacific. Each team may count the best results from events with the maximum of 360%, with the final event, the Laughlin International Rally, counting toward both Divisions. The teams can achieve the maximum points for the Championship in as few as four events.

The top three teams in both the All-Wheel Drive Championship and the Two-Wheel Drive Championship from each Division will be invited to compete for the top six places at Laughlin International Rally. The Championship will subsidize travel costs for teams from the Atlantic Division with a fixed cash amount approximately equal to the cost of the cross-country travel.

“Fewer and fewer teams can afford towing back and forth across the country”, stated Michel Taylor, USRC President. “A meaningful National Championship needs 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.”

The new structure opens the Championship to all national and regional rally competitors without the requirement of an additional national license or higher national rally entry fees.

An announcement regarding the TV coverage of the 2007 USRC season will follow.

Sandblast Rally	Feb17	NASA	60% Atlantic
Rally New York USA	Mar 30-31	RNY	100% Atlantic
Subaru Rim of the World	Apr 27-28	NASA		100% Pacific
Rally Tennessee	May 5	NASA	100% Atlantic
Gorman Ridge Rally	Aug 18	NASA		60% Pacific
Rally West Virginia	Aug 18	NASA	60% Atlantic
International Rally New York	Sept 7-8	RNY	100% Atlantic
Black River Stages	Sept 29	NASA	60% Atlantic
Prescott Rally	Oct 5-6	NASA		100% Pacific
Laughlin International Rally	Nov 9-11	NASA	100% Atlantic	100% Pacific