Hoping to add a little extra spice to its support races, Speedway Motorsports will play host to three Global Rallycross events in 2012.

The series will run following the Nationwide Series event May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, June 9 during the IndyCar race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, following the Nationwide race July 14 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Sept. 29 during the Camping World Truck Series weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Ken Block, Tanner Foust and Travis Pastrana have competed in the series in the past. Their names are well known among those who follow action sports.

“We’re not trying to appeal to one particular segment, although the Global Rallycross definitely appeals to a younger demo,” said SMI President Marcus Smith, whose company has seen admission revenues drop by 30 percent since 2008. “It’s going to be really exciting to every race fan.”

The series, which has a big presence by Ford, features production-based compact cars highly modified for competition to produce more than 600 horsepower. With all-wheel drive, Global Rallycross cars accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than two seconds.

“For Ford, Global Rallycross is an important fan outreach that allows us to connect with new generations of fans by showcasing our exciting new vehicles,” said Ford Racing Director Jamie Allison.

The race tracks, approximately one mile in length, are made up of asphalt and dirt and include a crossover 70-foot gap jump along with tight turns and snap directional changes. A typical show includes multicar heats with an eight-car main event.

The rallycross tracks will use some of the racing surface at each site as well as portions of the legends tracks already cut into the frontstretch trioval.

“We’re going to have a course that is suitable for rally racing but will leave it perfect and pristine for [Cup] racing the next day,” Smith said. “It won’t be anything that’s going to impact the NASCAR main track racing surface.

“We’re going to use some ramps that you’ve seen in our prerace shows in the past.”

The four SMI events will make up the bulk of the six-race Global Rallycross schedule.

“With these great facilities, we can bring this really exciting form of entertainment and more youth-oriented [events] to the track,” said Rallycross President Brian Gale.

The Global Rallycross also will be part of the X-games in Los Angeles this summer.

“This relationship will put our sport in front of both the great fans of NASCAR and IndyCar and we couldn’t be happier,” said Rallycross co-founder Chip Pankow. “In addition, we’re hoping to bring some new fans to [SMI] events.”

There has been speculation that NASCAR might become involved in Rally racing as a way to attract new fans.

Last October, NASCAR Chairman Brian France dismissed that idea.

“We look at all kinds of motorsports, and sport that we could have an impact in or a marketing opportunity,” France said. “You've seen some crossover drivers or riders in motorcycles and otherwise, so that's not anything new.

“So we'll continue to be opportunistic to try to see when we can expose NASCAR to a different audience. We do that racing and non-racing, and that's just – there's no plans for us getting in rally or any other business like that.”

Source: http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/SMI_looking...

Now I'm not saying Robby should run these, but how hard could it be to tuck a rally car into the back of the Hauler?