Hanson Caravans To X Games 16
Monday, July 26, 2010
 Grassroots rally driver Travis Hanson, out of Michigan, and team will be stopping in Indianapolis while on his way to the X Games in Los Angeles. Hanson, who pilots a Subaru Impreza rally car, will be escorted across the country by various Subaru drivers and fans as he drives to Los Angeles for the X Games Rally Car Racing event in which he will be racing. Hanson will be stopping in Indianapolis at Tom Wood Subaru on 96th Street and Keystone, holding a Subaru meet. Due to car preparation the team expects to leave New Hampshire and be in Indianapolis by Monday evening, but that is subject to change. Follow them on twitter @thanson523 for up to the minute route and schedule details for their trip.
After the meet Hanson and team will be escorted out of the city and onto I-70 by the Indiana Impreza Club. Starting in New Hampshire, this will become a historic event and to the team’s knowledge it should the biggest Subaru cross country drive ever, covering just over three thousand miles.
Hanson was only just invited to the X Games, the premier extreme sports event in the world, under a month ago. Rally Car Racing, in which Hanson will participate, is an extreme form of motorsport that sees high powered street cars race heads up against one another on a dirt track with fast strait aways, hairpins, and big jumps. Only twelve people in the world are invited to compete in Rally Car Racing at the X Games, the biggest rally event in the United States. Hanson was one of those.
Hanson has competed all year long with no sponsor and has become known as, “That white Subaru,” by the fans. On news of his upcoming X Games competition his grassroots movement has gained speed and many fans have been donating money and purchasing M22, a Michigan lifestyle company, provided t-shirts at Hanson’s web-site (hansonrally.weebly.com/donations--sales.html).
The Indiana Impreza Club actually managed to raise enough funds to have their name put on the car. Other companies have come out of the woodwork to support the grassroots effort. Team Illuminata Motorsport has teamed up with Hanson and will be providing Braid Wheels. Parts supplier Import Image Racing and clutch manufacture Exedy have also teamed up with Hanson, supporting the team as they press on towards Los Angeles.
Hanson will be competing against some of the great names in rally and racing including, Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and Indianapolis 500 winner Kenny Brack, who won gold at the X Games last year.
This will be a David vs. Goliath battle for the team, except this will be one David vs. 11 Goliaths. Because of lack of big sponsor support, as of this current date, Hanson is actually going into the X Games with his car prepared for the Super Production class in which he usually races. Hanson’s car will be down 200 horse power on his slowest competitor. This doesn’t mean Travis won’t be competitive though—only that every victory will be that much sweeter. Hanson is a rally instructor at Team O’Neil Rally School in New Hampshire and he is confident he will be able to run with the faster cars in the loose dirt.
People are already talking about Hanson and the upcoming X Games. “The biggest upset in X Games rally car racing history came at X Games 14 when Travis beat PWRC favorite Niall McShea [From England] in their preliminary match up. I expect nothing less from Travis at X Games 16,” said J.B. Niday, Rally America’s Managing Director.
"My team and I have worked really hard to get to this point. We have more work ahead of us, but I know we can succeed," said Hanson. Hanson has performed brilliantly this season and looks towards heading to the X Games at the end of the month. X Games 16, where he will try to bring the gold home to his native Michigan.
Hanson’s efforts have captured the imagination of his fans across the country and this has become an American dream in the making. Hanson got his start in rally racing in 2005 after spectating for the first time at the Sno*Drift rally near his home in Michigan. He has gone through leaps and bounds in the sport, competing at the X Games once before and becoming a rally instructor. His current trip to the X Games has given his fans inspiration that if someone puts some heart and hard work into their dreams that they can come true. That’s why they are escorting their hero all the way to the historic LA Coliseum in Los Angeles, California where the battle for gold and glory will take place.
Follow T. Hanson Motorsports on Facebook @T. Hanson Motorsports; Twitter @thanson523; our blog t-hanson-motorsports.blogspot.com/, and web-site hansonrally.weebly.com/.
For more information on T. Hanson Motorsports contact Marketing/PR Director Aaron Pierce at pierceaaron@sbcglobal.net.
|
