The 2023 SCCA® RallyCross® National Tour was short but potent. This year’s Tour involved a duo of events sandwiching the RallyCross National Championship. The first RallyCross National Tour of 2023 took place at Jackson County Fairgrounds in Cottageville, WV, in early September. The RallyCross National Championship jumped into action one month later in early October – then on Oct. 28-29, 2023, the Tour headed to Lancaster, CA, just north of Los Angeles, for the final stop taking place at Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.
The RallyCross National Tour in Lancaster, CA, attracted a hardcore crowd of drivers gunning for the win, with battles taking place across the entire spectrum of classes and featuring everything from stunt drivers to serial winners to pickup trucks. Want to know what happened? Let’s dive in…
The Action
In Stock Front Wheel Drive, Danny Downey (a stuntman who is most recently credited with working on blockbusters like Barbie and Oppenheimer) was gliding through corners with incredible – and clean – speed. Could he keep enough space between himself and Brad Turnbull? With a difference of 9.9sec, Downey’s talented driving proved fruitful, earning him the class win.
Speaking of movies, Stock Rear Wheel Drive was Ford vs Fe…Frontier. Charles Graham debuted his Ford Crown Vic in honor of the National Tour, and his choice of car did not disappoint as he slid through corners with great flair and speed – some of which caused a few cones to meet their match. The result? John Black in his new Nissan Frontier snagged first place.
Stock All Wheel Drive was the largest class of the weekend, the field brimming with talent. Father and son Mike and Jeremy Colvin co-drove their 2016 WRX STI as a duo to be reckoned with. In the end, 0.13sec made the difference of Jeremy in third and Mike in second. However, longtime rally driver Lon Peterson clinched the win with a nine-second lead – Peterson’s skill and rally driving history certainly paid off.
Prepared Front Wheel Drive was a runaway, with Sanjay Singh besting Jay Potter by nearly 73sec.
Porsches, Bugs, and BRZs, oh my! Prepared Rear Wheel Drive had the most variety of RallyCross cars with a Porsche Boxster, GR86, 1986 VW Bug, and BRZ to name a few competing for this class win. Clinton Padilla and his Toyota GR86 proved to be the best combo, coming in in first place.
Prepared All Wheel Drive: Knock knock? Who’s there? Rod knock…knock…knock…knock. Jeff Kleeman in his WRX wagon managed to pull off the win even when his car’s engine started knocking. And he won by an astounding 77 seconds.
Mod Front Wheel Drive? And a Birdie for the win. D’John Keith in his VW Golf held his own with a 22sec lead.
Modified Rear Wheel Drive was the battle of the BMWs and brother vs. brother, as Benji and Baby Carvallo dueled it out double driving their E30 against Tyler Johnson-Williams in a 2005 330i. Many cones saw some rubber, but Johnson-Williams took the win with 23sec to spare.
In Modified All Wheel Drive, the race was Civics vs. Subarus. Who won? Austin Dowda in his (you guessed it) 1991 Honda Civic bested the Subarus to keep his winning streak alive, holding off Elijah Kleeman and his newly caged WRX.
More to Come
The 2023 RallyCross season has concluded, and planning for 2024 is well underway. We already know a considerable amount of information about the 2024 RallyCross National Championship. Will there be a RallyCross National Tour to complement the action? Keep an eye out for more info right here, as well as on SCCA’s RallyCross Facebook page.
Photos by Jenna Cooper
