Rally Cross racing brings something new, exciting to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

LEXINGTON - Just when you thought Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has seen it all.

This year, the Cooper Tires ARX Series will make two stops at Mid-Ohio, marking the first time the historic race track has hosted rally cross racing.

"We are excited about it," Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course President Craig Rust said. "It is going to be a busy year. This year is a good time to add events — especially with the rally cross, which brings in a different demographic to Mid-Ohio."

The 2019 motor sports season at Mid-Ohio is the biggest and most diverse in track history for its spectators. The season kicks off with the Acura Sports Car Challenge on May 3-5 before the Cooper Tires ARX makes its first appearance on June 8-9. Traditional events like the Vintage Grand Prix and the AMA Vintage Motorcycle days highlight the end of June and beginning of July before the Honda Indy 200 rolls in at the end of July.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series runs again Aug. 9-10, which normally marks the end of the season for Mid-Ohio, but not this year. The National Auto Sport Association Championships brings its biggest race of the year to Mid-Ohio on Sept.18-22 before ARX makes its return on Oct. 5-6.

It is the first time the Cooper Tires ARX Series will run a major championship event in the Mid-West.

"We are bringing a close to 2018 and no doubt about it, we had a good year," Rust said. "The races were well attended and had great sponsorship for the events and for us to be able to continue that in 2019 is great."

The ARX Series will feature a different style of racing than what the traditional Mid-Ohio spectator is used to. Races are typically shorter in time, but feature a ton of action including asphalt and dirt racing. The event will be held in the legendary keyhole portion of the track and will feature a dirt jump in the infield.

"The neat thing with rally cross is it is challenging operationally," Rust said. "There is a new challenge for us this year because we have never hosted this type of racing before. We are getting in on the ground floor with this series and we have been working very hard to make sure this is something we can do because Mid-Ohio is a completely different place than where they have gone before.

"We have looked at everything from how we are going to build this course and make sure it is up to the standards of the ARX as well as if we can leave it there for the season since we are running at the beginning and at the end of the 2019 season. We don't want to have to fill it in and grow grass back, but we also need to make sure every other racing series is comfortable with it being there and making sure it is safe."

Another goal with bringing rally cross racing in is to hopefully open the eyes of the younger generation of race fans to everything Mid-Ohio has to offer.

"Rally cross tends to trend a little younger with the spectators, so if we can get the 25-year old fan out here who didn't grow up under the hood, but spent the time to put the cool wheels on the Civic and making his car look cool, that is awesome," Rust said. "Hopefully those fans take a look back and say they had fun at Mid-Ohio and maybe now they want to check out other things we have going on."

With the expansion to a nine-race schedule in 2019, the future looks very bright for Mid-Ohio and if all goes well, the biggest spectator racing season in history of the track may not end with 2019. With all of the phone calls coming in from different motor sports series wanting to run at Mid-Ohio, this could just be the beginning.

"What makes Mid-Ohio attractive is the history of the track along with our abilities to host the different sanctioning bodies within motor sports," Rust said. "The track suits all of the racing bodies very well and we are in the Mid-West so for a geographic standpoint, it is perfect."

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

Twitter: @JakeFurr11

2019 Schedule

Acura Sports Car Challenge (IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship), May 3-5

Cooper Tires ARX of Mid-Ohio, June 8-9

Vintage Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, June 21-23

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, July 5-7

The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio (IndyCar Series event), July 26-28

NASCAR Xfinity Series event, Aug. 9-10

NASA Championships, Sept. 18-22

Cooper Tires ARX of Mid-Ohio, Oct. 5-6