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Lia Block Returns to FC1 Hypercar in #RallyXAmericas Crandon Opener
Motorsport phenomenon Lia Block will return to rallycross competition this weekend at Crandon International Raceway, where she will take part in the inaugural event of RallyX Americas. Block will take the wheel of the Rockstar Energy Drink/Optima/Block House Racing First Corner FC1 in pursuit of the inaugural series victory at The Big House.
“I’m so excited to be back in the FC1 Hypercar for the first round of RallyX in North America!” said Lia Block. “Some of my favorite type of racing is wheel to wheel on dirt with jumps! Let’s go racing!”
“Block House Racing is very excited for RallyX to come to North America,” added Lucy Block, team principal, Block House Racing. “The exhilaration of rallycross is hard to beat for drivers and fans alike! We will see you soon on the track.”
Block returns to rallycross just days after becoming the first woman in American Rally Association history to lead the overall series standings, having finished second overall in the Southern Ohio Forest Rally earlier this month. She became the first woman to race an FC1 car at Glen Helen Raceway in December 2023, stepping up after taking podiums in her final three Supercar Lites starts.
Block won her first rally championship in 2023, racing full-time in ARA’s Open 2WD class and taking four wins in five rounds. Later that year, she won the Baja 1000 in a Pro Stock UTV on a team with her mother, Lucy, and made her debut in Extreme E for Carl Cox Motorsport. She also spent the past two seasons competing in F1 Academy, scoring two top-10 points finishes and a race victory while representing the Williams Driver Academy.
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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Patrick Gruszka, Green APU Confirm #RallyXAmericas FC2 Entry
Defending American Rally Association National RC2 champion Patrick Gruszka will make his return to rallycross starting this weekend with the inaugural RallyX Americas event at Crandon International Raceway. Gruszka will return to the wheel of a First Corner FC2, once again carrying the colors of Green APU, for the first time since the 2024 race season.
“I’m super excited to be back in a rallycross car, let alone the FC2!” said Gruszka. “It’s always a blast being door to door so excited to see how I hang with the fast boys. I’ve been developing my driving and improved since the last time but always interesting to switch between series and cars. Regardless, it’ll be a blast. See y’all there.”
Gruszka has been one of the ARA’s most competitive drivers ever since taking the wheel for his family team in 2021. He’s been a mainstay at the top of the national championship standings ever since, including a breakthrough 2023 season where he finished second overall and won his first of two RC2 class titles. Earlier this year, Gruszka came out on top of the largest RC2 field in ARA history at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, finishing second overall.
Gruszka’s rallycross debut came in a Supercar Lites car, as he finished on the podium in both races at his debut event at Utah Motorsports Campus in 2023. He stepped up to the FC2 car the next year, once again posting his best finish at Utah with a fourth-place run.
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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Brad DeBerti Joins #RallyXAmericas Hypercar Grid for Crandon Season Opener
Leading automotive personality Brad DeBerti will become the latest addition to the RallyX Americas Hypercar grid this weekend at Crandon International Raceway, competing in the series’ inaugural race in a First Corner FC1. DeBerti, who drove the FC1 at the series’ open test in Charlotte in March, will drive a car sponsored by Affect Vodka and Real Street Tactical.
“Underdog is the perfect word for this race,” said DeBerti. “I found out I had the opportunity to drive these cars just two days ago, and now I’m lining up against the best in the world. I have zero experience behind the wheel of one of these cars, but I’m a fast learner, I take racing seriously, and I’m here to compete. We might be short on seat time, but we’re not short on determination. Let’s go racing.”
DeBerti and his father, Doug, have become some of the world’s foremost custom vehicle builders, pushing boundaries with iconic drift and off-road builds from their iconic TRD Drift Truck to a 1,600-horsepower twin turbo Ford Raptor R. The DeBerti YouTube channel has over 285,000 subscribers, while they have also taken their talents to TV with the show Twin Turbos on Discovery.
DeBerti has an extensive racing history that includes successes in everything from off-road trucks to stock cars. He went from Pro Lite Rookie of the Year in 2015 to series champion the next year, and his debut in rallycross came in 2019, when he podiumed in his debut race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. DeBerti has also become a mainstay of Cleetus McFarland’s Freedom 500.
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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BAK40 Motorsports Confirms Eric Gordon and Simon Olofsson for #RallyXAmericas Supercar Class
BAK40 Motorsports, one of the United States’ most prominent homegrown rallycross teams, will bring drivers Eric Gordon and Simon Olofsson onto the grid for the inaugural RallyX Americas season in 2026. The duo will kick off the campaign in BAK40’s First Corner FC2 Supercars on June 19-21 at Crandon International Raceway.
“Crandon has been a huge part of my racing story, so coming back here to compete means a lot to me on a personal level,” said Gordon. “This track is one of the most iconic venues in motorsports, and to be part of the inaugural RallyX Americas event makes the opportunity even more special.
“Honestly, it feels like my career has come full circle. Some of the biggest moments and greatest successes of my career have happened at Crandon, and now I get the chance to return in the FC2 Supercar and write the next chapter. That’s something I don’t take for granted.
“I have a tremendous amount of confidence in this team, and we’re not coming here just to participate. We’re here to compete, to win, and to continue building on the success we’ve had at this legendary facility. Crandon has always brought out the best in us, and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish here, not only this weekend but for years to come. The fans, the atmosphere, the history, there’s simply no place quite like it.”
“I’m looking forward to driving the first round of RallyX Americas at Crandon with BAK40 Motorsports,” said Olofsson. “It’s gonna be so fun to be here.”
Previously a side-by-side racer who led the BAK40 squad to glory at Crandon during World Championship weekend, Gordon has found a new niche in rallycross over the past few years. Gordon’s stateside campaigns in the Supercar Lites began in 2021, and he was part of two podium lockouts for the team at Mid-America Outdoors in the summer of 2023. He led the team’s transition up from the Supercar Lites to the FC2 car in 2024, racing across both sides of the Atlantic over the past two years and fielding a strong multi-car program in RallyX’s European events last season.
Olofsson’s name is prominent in the RallyX record books in Europe, as he earned three straight Supercar Lites titles from 2022 to 2024 on the way to becoming the most successful driver in series history in the class. He switched into the FC2 with BAK40 last season, taking his first podium in the car at Valkenswaard last April, and he made his season debut in the class at Honkajoki in Finland in May.
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky Joins JC Raceteknik Hypercar Program in #RallyXAmericas
Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky will join JC Raceteknik’s RallyX Americas Hypercar program in the team’s second First Corner FC1, starting with June 19-21’s season opener at Crandon International Raceway. The 2023 Extreme E champion will partner with multi-time FC1 champion Robin Larsson to make her debut in the class, and is the first woman to announce her participation in the inaugural Americas campaign.
“I’m so excited to join RallyX Americas and to race an FC1,” said Ahlin-Kottulinsky. “When I raced in the Next category of Nitro Rallycross in 2022 for sure the goal was to race an FC1 at some point, and now we are here. It’s going to be a big challenge, I’ll be jumping into the car for the first time in Free Practice with a lot less experience than many of the other drivers, but it’s exciting to race in the highest category for the first time. This is an amazing opportunity to race this car, on these tracks!
“I will take it step-by-step to get into the car and the type of racing, but it’s very exciting to join a championship winning team like JC, with Robin as my teammate, to go racing in America.”
“It’s special to me that we gave Mikaela her first drives in rallycross, in Supercar Lites in Europe,” added JC Raceteknik team principal Joel Christoffersson. “She has been away and achieved so much, so it will be great to work with her again this weekend, and give her the opportunity to race in the top category. She doesn’t know the car at all, but what she does have is a lot of experience of electric race cars, so that can only help her get up to speed and we are excited to get going with the first races on Friday in Crandon!”
Ahlin-Kottulinsky’s relationship with JC Raceteknik in rallycross goes back more than a decade, as they partnered for the RallyX campaign in 2014. That same year, she became the first woman to win a race in a Volkswagen-supported championship, as she took a victory in the Scirocco-R Cup at the Norisring in Germany. From there, she moved into the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, where she scored four victories in five seasons and finished second in points in 2021.
Over the past five years, Ahlin-Kottulinsky has been a mainstay in Extreme E. She won her first race alongside Johan Kristoffersson at Rosberg X Racing in 2022, and the start of an active four-year winning streak. In 2023, Ahlin-Kottulinsky won the Extreme E title and finished third in the RX2e championship, earning three victories and nine podiums in total across the two series.
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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Lukas Andersson, JC Raceteknik Add #RallyXAmericas to 2026 FC2 Program
Top Swedish talent Lukas Andersson and JC Raceteknik will extend their RallyX partnership into the all-new Americas series for the 2026 season. Currently in his debut season in the First Corner FC2 Supercar, Andersson will be behind the wheel of an FC2 in North America starting on June 19-21 at Crandon International Raceway.
“This is a dream for me,” Andersson said in a team release. “From a small kid looking at the trophy trucks going around those cool tracks, it’s something you dream of. To get this opportunity, I’m so happy and grateful to everyone who is helping me. It’s going to be amazing.
“I’m pretty comfortable in this car, but the competition will be strong I am sure and a lot can happen. The driving style should suit me, going sideways and flat out. I’m going there to enjoy it, it’s going to be an amazing experience – I’ve never even been to the USA – but of course every time you get in the car you want to do the best you can.”
“Since working with Lukas as a junior driver, his talent has been clear,” added Joel Christoffersson, JC Raceteknik team principal. “Every step he has taken with us he has immediately had the raw speed you need. It’s a much easier process to help a driver to has the speed to become more consistent, than it is to make a slow driver fast, but it all still takes time. Lukas is really maturing into a rounded driver, and we’re excited to be making this next step in his career with him at Crandon this weekend.”
Andersson and JC Raceteknik have established themselves as a formidable driver-team partnership over multiple disciplines in RallyX history. After finishing second in Crosscar Junior points in 2022, Andersson earned a promotion to Supercar Lites in 2023. He placed third the standings that year with three wins and four podiums. He improved to second in the championship in 2024, winning four races that season, and duplicated the result in 2025 with three victories and seven podiums.
Andersson’s 2026 RallyX season has seen him take his first two FC2 wins, first at Valkenswaard in the South division in the season opener and most recently at Alvsbyn in the North division. He has six podiums in eight total races so far, including at least one at every track he’s competed on this season.
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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#RallyXAmericas: Jimmy Henderson: “I Dream of Crandon at Night”
With just days remaining before the inaugural RallyX Americas season starts at Crandon International Raceway, fans at “The Big House” will get their first taste of how a rallycross event differs from the off-road truck and UTV racing they’re used to. But that doesn’t mean that they’ll be short on familiar names to root for.
Jimmy Henderson was the first driver to confirm his seat in the Hypercar class, committing to the 2026 season with Team OMSE in a First Corner FC1 back in April. Having found plenty of success at the track over the years, including last year’s Crandon Pro 4 World Championship win, it’s safe to say he’s very excited to get the season started at a familiar track.
“I dream of Crandon at night,” Henderson says. “It is just one of the best facilities I’ve ever been to, and it’s run by a great family. I’m friends with the fans and the Flannerys, and I love the facility. I love the racetrack, the flow of it, the banking in the turns. If I had to call a home track, that’s what I’d call mine—my first win was at Crandon, so it means a lot to me.
“I just think that the fans are going to love it. And being in the seat for a new class coming to Crandon, where I have so many fans, I’m just excited to put on a show for them and trying to win that first one.”
While many drivers competing in RallyX have run on similar courses before, few have as much experience at Crandon itself as Henderson. He feels like that familiarity will give him an advantage out of the gate.
“I do think it’ll give me an advantage because I understand the track and the dirt,” he continues. “The dirt in off-road means a lot—how dry it is, what it does as it dries out, where you get holes. I understand that track very well, but then they prep it a little bit different for us to run also, so that may go out the window.”
That said, a double duty weekend isn’t without its challenges. Unlike most of the other drivers who will be managing two short course classes, Henderson will have to switch between two different track layouts and two completely different vehicles when he goes between the FC1 and his Pro 4 truck. Still, he feels well prepared for the challenge of going between the two.
“I’m very serious about physical fitness, so I work out a lot,” he explains. “(And) we run the simulator every day—I might be in Legends, one day it might be NASCAR, it might be Super Late Models. I change it up a lot. So many things over the years, to me, are just getting in the car and once I know how it works, it kind of comes after that.
“We were testing Pro 4s this (spring) in two completely different trucks with different motors, and I ran almost identical laps. So I’ve got experience jumping in different vehicles at different times, and I’ve had a pretty good success doing that. I’m just going to have to remember to take the Joker!”
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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Romet Tsirna Joins #RallyXAmericas Grid for 2026 Season Opener at Crandon
Estonia’s Romet Tsirna will expand his 2026 RallyX program to include the opening round of the Americas championship on June 19-21 at Crandon International Raceway. Tsirna, who has established himself as a front-runner in the First Corner FC2 Supercar with Team OMSE and the support of Pace Motorsport in Europe, will take part in the same class with the team in Crandon.
“Romet has taken to the FC2 very quickly in Europe, and it’ll be exciting to have him with Team OMSE in Crandon,” said Kevin Eriksson, Team OMSE principal. “Coming off a great weekend in Älvsbyn with two podiums, he should be in contention for some more podiums in his American debut as well.”
“I’m really excited to make my debut in RallyX Americas at Crandon,” added Tsirna. “I can’t wait to discover the atmosphere of the Crandon event!”
For five seasons, Tsirna was a consistent presence in RallyX’s Crosscar class in Europe, including two top-five points finishes over the past two years. Highlights from those two seasons include three runner-up finishes in 2024, one at Kouvola and two at Estering, and a breakthrough victory at KymiRing last year.
2026 has marked Tsirna’s first season in an FC2 car in Europe, and his progress so far has been strong. Initially classified as a Pro-Am entry, he took his first win in that division on the first weekend of the season at Valkenswaard, and has since been promoted to full Pro status. He currently sits third in RallyX North FC2 points with four straight podiums across the past two events.
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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SCHEDULE: RallyX Americas | 2026 Rounds 1 and 2 at Crandon
The inaugural RallyX Americas season is officially here! The Brush Run Speed Festival at Crandon International Raceway plays host to the first two rounds of the championship, as the world’s top drivers take on the Hypercar and Supercar classes. Here’s a look at the schedule for the weekend:
FRIDAY, JUNE 19
- 9AM: Practice
- 10:30AM: Timed Practice
- 2:30PM: Round 2 Heat 1
- 4:30PM: Round 1 Heat 1
- 5:30PM: Round 1 Heat 2
SATURDAY, JUNE 20
- 8:15AM: Warmup
- 3PM: Round 1 Semifinals
- 7:30PM: Round 1 Finals
SUNDAY, JUNE 21
- 7:45AM: Warmup
- 10:40AM: Round 2 Heat 2
- 2:15PM: Round 2 Semifinals
- 5:35PM: Round 2 Finals
BUY 2026 RALLYX AMERICAS TICKETS:
- June 19-21 | Crandon International Raceway | Click here
- June 26-27 | Eldora Speedway | Click here
- August 22-23 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Click here
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WATCH LIVE: 2026 #Yes2Motorsport #Yes2 Hours of Crandon
Don’t miss tonight’s #Yes2Motorsport #Yes2 Hours of Crandon! It’s two hours of multi-class off-road team racing at iRacing’s virtual Crandon International Raceway.
Broadcast produced by Maconi Entertainment
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