Following the eBay auction for title sponsorship, the Case-Mate – Nitro Circus rally team and Matthew Johnson struggle at X Games after hard crash in practice.

 

August 10, 2009 – Just two weeks ago, X Games rally car driver Matthew Johnson had no agreements for support, but determined that eBay might not only pay for the costs associated with X Games, but also send the right message to brands and the media about the difficulty for many rally teams attending X Games.  “It’s no surprise that 2009 has been a tough year for motorsports and other industries alike. Faced with not being able to attend the big event, we felt eBay might grab the attention we needed to assemble a program to get us to LA to compete,” said Johnson.

At the 11^th hour, the eBay sponsorship auction garnered support from two vital sponsors: Case-Mate and Nitro Circus. Case-Mate is the worlds leading manufacturer of premium quality cases, skins, covers and accessories for BlackBerry, Apple iPhone and other electronics, and Nitro Circus, the merry band of stunters wound into a primetime MTV program starring fellow X Games rally competitor and freestyle motocross superstar Travis Pastrana.

Case-Mate and Pastrana, alongside NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson, were essential in tying together the last minute sponsorship deals. “Without a lot of time to bid, both Case-Mate and Nitro Circus had contacted us. We felt it would benefit both groups to put them together and run as the Case-Mate – Nitro Circus team,” said Johnson. Other partners that came on with Nitro Circus were Ogio and Lovesac.

As part of the Nitro Circus sponsorship, Travis Pastrana, Jimmie Johnson, and Andy Bell all had inside jokes on the car. Jimmie Johnson played along by putting a 15 year old photograph of his crew chief Chad Knaus on the hood of the car with text that read, “Chad is Rad.”  Travis Pastrana exercised his sense of humor with a quote on the car that read, “Driving as graceful as a cat on a treadmill.” The Nitro Circus contribution came in the form of Andy Bell and Streetbike Tommy. Tommy wore a sailor’s cap and rode on the trunk of the car with two thumbs up, while a full-length “beefcake” style image of Andy Bell was run from wheel arch to wheel arch on both sides of the car as a prank on Travis himself.  After some consideration it was determined Andy wasn’t appropriate for the Sunday viewing demographic and his image was removed before competition.

 

 

Following practice Thursday and feeling excited about how strong the rally car was performing, Matthew said, “I can’t thank Travis enough for the support in helping to bring together my newest sponsors;  it’s too bad we’ve got to beat him on Sunday!”

Matthew Johnson has existing support from RalliSpec, Exedy, Rising Sun Tuning, and Soccer Kids of America. RalliSpec has been instrumental in providing top-grade racing motors, rally parts and suspensions for Johnson for the past four years.  Rising Sun Tuning’s Jon Brouillet has been essential in keeping the rally car maintained for the 2009 rally season.

Johnson’s dreams went flat when he missed a braking point during the final practice on Friday, just a day and a half before competition. “The car felt better than ever coming out of a long right hand corner in qualifying. Just as I neared the end of the following straight the car started to misfire and I glanced to see the RPM that it was misfiring… that glance down was just enough to miss my braking point. I couldn’t get the car slowed and hit a wall very hard, mostly destroying the car and creating a lot of work for my crew.”

Back in the pits, the Case-Mate – Nitro Circus rally car was stripped for repair within two hours. The car immediately went to the frame shop, and new schedules were drafted to include off site testing, and graphic application.

Saturday morning the Case-Mate – Nitro Circus crew anxiously waited in the shadows of the Magnaflow lounge. Hours ticked past the expected noontime delivery from the body shop - a sea of parts gathered by crew and friends had been laid out ready for a growing group of mechanics and technicians eager to rebuild the car. Finally, a weary crew was treated to a mostly-straightened Case-Mate – Nitro Circus Subaru WRX at nearly eight-o-clock at night.

 

 

The crew worked feverishly though the night – their last chance to have a fast car for Sunday’s competition, and on Sunday, minutes prior to the call for cars to descend into the stadium, the high-compression Subaru flat-four built by RalliSpec and saved post-crash wth parts supplied by Crawford Performance and Forman Performance barked to life. “It feels like it runs a bit rough, but when it hits boost – it goes!” reported an enthusiastic Johnson after a brief test.

The car was not as healthy as Johnson hoped. Following a flawless practice over the 60’ jump on the floor of the Home Depot Center, Johnson’s first competition run against Metal Mulisha’s Brian Deegan uncovered additional issues with the rebuilt car. Deegan drove a special Ford Fiesta rallycross car brought from Sweden for X Games competition as part of Ford’s pre-launch for the new Fiesta in the US. Despite the very fast Fiesta, it was expected a clean run by Johnson could beat Deegan. Johnson accelerated from the first turn, completely surprised as the rear of the car pivoted into a barrier. “It was running on 3 cylinders and only had rear wheel drive. There was nothing I could do.”  Once on the tarmac section of the course, it was apparent that the car would barely accelerate and a frustrated Johnson limped around the remaining sections of the course.

 

The monumental effort of the Case-Mate – Nitro Circus X Games rally team garnered attention from media and spectators as they worked with absolute commitment at 110% all week long. With no regrets about X Games 15, the team had been challenged to produce a miracle without the necessary resources and spent countless hours repairing the rally car, waiting for parts, and working through the night - right up to game time.

 

As a driver, Matthew Johnson had a tough race and has to look beyond it, “We showed up to LA at the 11^th hour with a very strong RalliSpec car with good potential to make the podium. Without time to practice before arriving at Home Depot Center we were under pressure to set the car up with a very limited amount of practice. Just before our qualifying run the crew made some great changes, and I was suddenly very happy with the car and going much faster. An engine hiccup caused me to glance down at the wrong time - I missed my braking point and couldn’t get slowed before hitting a wall. I’m still in disbelief and completely embarrassed that I made such a mistake. I’m also overwhelmed with all the support from crew and friends and sponsors that came forward to make sure we made it on game day.”  Johnson added, “Fortunately just a couple weeks ago we had a 9^th place finish out of 50 or more entrants in the hardest rally I’ve ever driven, The International Rally of Nations in Mexico. I’m tremendously proud of that result against some of the world’s fastest drivers. I figure if this stuff was easy [racing rally cars] everybody would be doing it.” 

 

Matthew Johnson thanks his sponsors, crew, and friends for their tireless work at X Games, he also promises to be competing and winning again as soon as possible.

 

 

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The Event – The X Games is the premier action sports event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money in sports including BMX, Moto X, Skateboard, and Rally. X Games 15 marked the 15th anniversary of the event, at which over 100,000 people attended over the five days of practice and competition.

 

Rally is the most viewed event in the annual ESPN X Games, the premier action sports event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money in sports including BMX Freestyle, Freestyle Motocross, Skateboard, and Rally. Matthew Johnson was among the dozen invited drivers in 2008 and was granted an early invitation to return in 2009.

 

For 2009, co-drivers – normally critical to complexity of a rally race - were switched out for in-car commentators on the short X Games course. The commentators, 2008 X Games rally co-drivers Chrissie Beavis and Jen Horsey, allowed fans to get closer to the action than ever before with first-hand analysis live from the course.

 

ESPN, The Worldwide Leader in Action Sports, first developed its X Games franchise in 1995. Part of ESPN Original Entertainment, X Games, Winter X Games and All Access are just some of the original action sports programming currently shown on ESPN and ESPN2. In addition to the two U.S.-based events, ESPN has held X Games competitions and demonstration events around the world including Dubai, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, Malaysia, China and Spain.  The global franchise has also expanded its reach to ESPN Action Sports the definitive site for action sports fans, and to consumer products such as X Games bikes, protective gear, skateboards and DVDs.

 

The X Games Rally Car Race aired live on ABC with additional broadcasts in more than 100 countries around the world.

 

The field for the 2009 X Games Rally Car Race was as follows:

 

Matthew Johnson

Travis Pastrana

Ken Block

Tanner Foust

Andrew Comrie-Picard

Dave Mirra

Brian Deegan

Andi Mancin

Piotr Wiktorczyk

Arkadiusz Gruszka

Jimmy Keeney

Kenny Brack

 

 

 

 

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Rally Car Racing - Considered the extreme sport of automobile racing, rally is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Though  emerging in the US, rally is one of the most popular sports in the world and is watched on television by an audience of 816 million people worldwide.

 

The premier American championship, Rally America, is a nine event nationwide series running from January to late October.

 

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Matthew Johnson is a top competitor in the Rally America National Championship and at the ESPN X Games. As a winner of multiple Rally America Championships, Matthew has a strong background in rally and at a young age. Matthew also spends time coaching other rally drivers and privately teaching performance car control to owners of exotic cars. When not behind the wheel, Matthew is usually seen behind a laptop working to strengthen his rally program while enroute to Brooklyn, Denver, LA or North Carolina.

 

Matthew Johnson is the kid that came from rally. He’s pure rally at its roots, working hard to accomplish his dreams. And since Matthew started, he’s worked himself into a couple of National Championships, credibility from his peers, and great group of fans. Other top drivers have come to rally from other backgrounds and with established reputations, but the sport is still waiting to see Matthew rise as the star from within rally. 

 

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Matthew Johnson’s racing is made possible by: Case-Mate (www.case-mate.com); Nitro Circus (www.nitrocircus.com); Rallispec (www.rallispec.com); Exedy Clutch (www.exedyusa.com); Ogio (www.ogio.com); Lovesac (www.lovesac.com); Diebold Autosport (www.dieboldautosport.com);  Rising Sun Tuning (www.risingsuntuning.com); Performance Friction (www.performancefriction.com); Flatirons Tuning (www.flatironstuning.com); and Soccer Kids of America (www.soccerkidsofamerica.org)

Special thanks to all of the people and companies that helped Case-Mate – Nitro Circus make it through X Games, including, Crawford Performance (www.crawfordperformance.com), Forman Performance,  and 10Designs (www.10designs.com).

 

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To follow Matthew’s blog, visit: www.matthewjohnson46.tumblr.com.

 

To arrange interviews or find out more about the team, contact Bill Lockwood at +18025986583 or blockwood@wekickassets.com 

 

Find Matthew on YouTube www.youtube.com/matthewjohnson46 or Facebook www.facebook.com/matthewjohnson46

 

Stay in touch via Twitter - www.twitter.com/mjons

 

Photos credit –  Blockwood

--
Bill Lockwood
Professional Stuff.

blockwood online compilation
http://blockwood.tumblr.com

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http://stuffieatfrom711.com

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www.fiestamovement.com/agent13

Read the old ESPN Rally blog here.
http://espn.go.com/action/blog/rally

Tell me on the phone: 802.598.6583
Or, email me knockonlockwood@gmail.com

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