FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 5, 2006 |
Contact: Rally America Media Phone: 763-553-2742 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.rally-america.com |
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom won the first-ever X Games Rally Car Racing gold medal, but Colin McRae may have stolen away the signature moment from the debut final at The Home Depot Center.
McRae, who entered Saturday�s �Super Special� ahead of Pastrana by 0.5 second overall, appeared to be headed for the gold as he re-entered the stadium for the final push to the finish line. That�s when the car got loose on McRae and co-driver Nicky Grist and rolled over. True to his reputation as a rally car racing legend, McRae didn�t miss a beat, kept his foot on the pedal, and when the car landed back on its tires gunned to a silver medal finish � missing gold by just 0.52 seconds.
Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino drove away with the bronze medal.
Even Pastrana, who also took home X Games gold on Friday night in the Moto X Best Trick, had praise for McRae following the competition. �It�s an honor to be next to Colin McRae,� said Pastrana. �I�m very surprised to have won the first X Games rally car event. No words can describe it. It�s bee the best week of my life. I�m so happy that rally racing has a presence in the X Games.�
McRae, disappointed the gold got away from him, was still excited about Rally Car Racing�s debut at X Games 12. �It�s not the way I wanted to finish,� said McRae, �But it was the best show we could possibly put on here at X Games. I�m so happy to get the first X Games rally racing silver medal.�
Block added, �It�s exciting to take the first X Games bronze and to be racing in the presence of Travis Pastrana and Colin McRae.�
About X Games 12
The X Games is the definitive annual action sports competition featuring more than 150 of the world�s best athletes competing in: BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and new to this year�s lineup, Rally Car Racing. ESPN and ABC will provide 14 hours of original LIVE X Games 12 programming from August 3-6. ESPN will also present four late-night highlight programs starting August 4, resulting in a total of 18 hours of original programming for X Games 12. SportsCenter, ESPN�s flagship news program, will report LIVE from X Games 12, with the 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter featuring daily event coverage.
X games 12 venues include STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center (Carson, Calif.), Puerto Escondido, Mexico for Surfing and Gorman, Calif. for parts of the Rally Car competition. X Games will remain in Los Angeles through 2009.
Complete listings of all results, releases and photos from X Games 12 are on www.espneventmedia.com.
Contacts:
Danny Chi, ESPN cell (310) 500-5699 or [email protected]
Katie Moses Swope, ESPN cell (213) 276-2803 or [email protected]