When the race involves small, high-powered cars tearing up dirt tracks and making a 70-foot jump for each lap they finish, you know the event promoting the race has to be spectacular, too.
DirtFish Rally School in Snoqualmie is planning for a spectacular early kick-off, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 2. The event is to promote the school’s two drivers, Connor Martell and James Rimmer, competing in next weekend’s Red Bull Global Rallycross race at the Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, with a community car show, prize raffles, opportunities to meet — and ride with — local and national drivers, plus 15-minute helicopter tours of the Valley.
“Everyone who comes in will get a raffle ticket to either take a ride in a car or win some prizes, said DirtFish media director Trevor Wert. The free event “is pretty much open to everybody; people can bring any kind of car they want to show off…. Bring your dog, bring your kids, too.”
He’s hoping to attract more than 1,000 people for the kick-off, and also hoping to make this an annual event.
In addition to Rimmer and Martell — last year’s GRC Lites champion — and their cars, the event will feature a car from the Subaru national team, Subaru show hauler and Patrik Sandell, and possibly some Subaru drivers. DirtFish alumni drivers and their cars are also expected to be part of the kick-off.
Designed to offer the most exciting motorsports action, Red Bull Global Rallycross combines elements of stage rally, off-road and circuit racing. Drivers race over dirt, gravel, and the series’ signature 70-foot jump behind the wheel of 600 horsepower Supercars, or 300 horsepower Lites.
The Supercars, generally customized Subarus Ford Fiestas and Volkswagens, can go from 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds, Wert said. The Lites, though, are all identical cars, racing on the same track in a race that “basically separates the drivers,” he added.
Saturday’s event, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the DirtFish Rally School in Snoqualmie, is free to the public. There is no advance registration required to enter cars in the show. Learn more about Saturday’s event at http://www.dirtfish.com.
For more information on the championship event Sept. 9 and 10 at the Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, visit www.redbullglobalrallycross.com.
