2013B NASA RallyCross Challenge Season

The 2013B NASA RallyCross Challenge Season will be the fifth season for the NASA RallyCross Challenge presented by Royal Purple. After the long hiatus due to lack of entries, Dylan Livengood, Revolution Racing, and Mitsubishi return as the defending Drivers, Constructors, and Manufacturers Champions. The season ended after 6 races, due to lack of entries in the seventh round at the Proving Grounds.

Schedule Changes

 * After noise complaints and poor infrastructure, the Gifhorn event was removed after two seasons. Bent Twig was put in its place.
 * NASA held a vote as to which Proving Grounds track would remain on the schedule, and North was removed.
 * In light of the North Proving Grounds being removed, the Talladega SuperSpeedway was granted a slot on the calendar.

Team and Driver Changes

 * Cody Erdmann switches to #82.
 * Citroën Junior dropped Dylan Smith AND Xander Clements after Cheatgate, and did not enter the first two rounds of the championship.
 * Citroën NnN Racing collapsed when Nick DiPalmo left. Nick Kahrs has formed a new team with Keith Sherman.
 * The MONSTER WRT stated that "due to the current cirumstances, we do not wish to take part in the NASA RallyCross Challenge" with their driver Andrew Fessler.
 * Revolution Junior was shuttered and the resources put into the works team.
 * Schwartz Motorsports, Prestige WorldWide, TP Enterprises, Howe Autoport, and Smokey RallyCross dissolved when their respective owners left due to Cheatgate.
 * Due to Schwartz leaving, Daniel Bellamy has formed his own privateer effort.
 * Tristan Hagenstein has purchased his team back from the former owners.
 * Luke Fleming inks a contract with Subaru to get four works cars, much like Josh Mertz did with MRT in 2012B. There will be two Carolina Motorsports teams. A Class, which is the works team, and B Class, which is the semi-works team. Fleming and Dunn LaPradd will drive for A Class, while Jacob Krause and Corbin Wentz will drive for B Class.
 * Keith Sherman and Nick Kahrs form a new team, with semi-works support from Ford.
 * Eric Webler purchases his assets back from Schwartz to become a semi-works team.
 * Brandon Lambert will lead the WRC leading Volkswagen Polo into the NASA RallyCross Challenge.
 * ATN AutoSport returns, this time fielding Tanner Smith.
 * Austin Hakes was signed by Citroën after his impressive showing in Valkenswaard.
 * Dunn LaPradd and Matt Kemp also rotated in the #22 for Valkenswaard.
 * Austin Hakes and Cody Erdmann rotate in the #82 when Erdmann has previous commitments at the Slinger Speedway. Citroën enters him in the #21 when he cannot race.
 * Sean Whitehill is picked up by the Citroën Junior Squad before Charlotte.
 * Tanner Smith signed with the VW WRT after Canada, with VW announcing plans to compete for the works championship in 2013C.
 * After Negus, Citroën withdrew all four entries to reevaluate their RallyCross programme.

Round One - Round of Croft
The first round of the NASA RallyCross Challenge took place, as the four seasons before it, on the Croft Circuit in England. 10 cars competed in the final race. On pole was newcomer Tanner Smith, for ATN AutoSport. On the run down to the first corner, he was alongside Josh Mertz and Mertz had the edge into T1 - until he cut across Smith's nose prematurely and sent himself into the sandtrap. The race was the typical Croft event, a clean, frantic race filled with strategy. Smith held the lead, as Mertz rallied back from 10th (and last) place to get within a carlength of winning the event, thanks to Smith nearly crashing in the Gymkhana section of the course. Smith became the third driver to win in his first start, joining the likes of Elliot Porterfield and David Krikorian. The curse that affected Mertz since 2012A was over, as he finally repeated his second place finish from 2012A. Rounding out the podium was another newcomer, Luke Fleming, with his new Works team, Carolina Motorsports A Class. Defending champion Dylan Livengood had an engine failure on lap two exiting the pitlane, while his teammate Chris Wetz crashed from the transfer spot in the LCQ. Mertz's teammate Cody Erdmann was competing at Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin, which left Mertz in the lone Citroën for the event.

Round Two - Round of Valkenswaard


Round Two of the championship took place in the Netherlands at Valkenswaard. The circuit, vastly different from Croft, however the featured the same beating and banging as in Croft. Coming into the event, Privateer Tanner Smith had upset the paddock by defeating the goliaths of the Citroën and Revolution teams. However, it was a vastly different story in Valkenswaard. Smith found himself on the outside looking in for the final in the Netherlands, while all three Drivers' champions won their respective heats. Going into turn one, Josh Mertz had the edge - but for the second week in a row was sent into the wall, this time by Chris Wetz. Several cars spun, but there was no restart and everyone kept racing. In the eight lap race, the drivers had to take the shortcut twice - and this wreaked havoc. Most, if not all, of the drivers were involved in incidents when the leading car slowed and caught the trailing car off guard, plowing into the leading car and spinning them out. Mertz took this to his advantage as Cody Erdmann crashed into Brandon Lambert and moved Mertz up a spot. There was a bit of tension between the Citroën drivers, as team principal Artus Davignon had told Erdmann to hold position and not challenge Mertz - but that changed when Lambert and Erdmann tangled again. In the midst of this action, it allowed Livengood to pull away unchallenged, except where Mertz found himself within a half a second of the double defending champion until he had snap oversteer and veered off track. This was all the buffer Livengood needed to win his second career race and the first of the season. Mertz ended up spinning out of the final corner and driving in reverse across the finish line, beating Lambert by a bumper. This was the first time all 3 Drivers' Champions were on the podium at once.

Round Three - Round of Charlotte


The first domestic round of the championship took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Charlotte RallyCross circuit. 17 cars attempted to race, with an additional 5 cars unable to make the event. This in turn created the largest entry list at a NASA RallyCross event, of 22 cars. The first heat was a brawl between Josh Mertz and Tanner Smith, with Smith edging the 2012B champion after he drove into the chicane walls on the front straight. The other 3 heats were clean, along with the LCQ. In the LCQ, Semi-works driver Nick Kahrs shocked the paddock by squeaking into the final behind Caleb Paul. The first disqualification of the season went to Jacob Krause, after he repeatedly drove and responded to race control aggresively after they questioned him about his driving. He would finish 17th, the only car without points. The final took the max of three restarts, as each time a car would be sent flipping into turn one. On the final restart, Tanner Smith got the jump - not before Dylan Livengood was close behind. Austin Hakes, in his first race for the works Citroën squad, wadded the field up in the first chicane, causing Caleb Paul to flip and be out on the spot, and causing his championship leading teammate Josh Mertz to be flipped on his side. All cars, aside from Paul, would continue. Halfway into the first lap, contact between Aaron Johnson and Mertz caused Johnson to be out of the race, finishing 8th. Livengood and Smith traded the lead through the 8 lap race, with Lambert close behind. Mertz, for the third consecutive week, was playing catchup to the field, and looked to be in contention for a victory - until contact with Brandon Lambert in the water in turn one broke a component in the engine, leaving Mertz standed in 7th place. Austin Hakes led at the finish on the road - but by the rules, was thrown to the back as he caused what would have caused a red flag on the final restart. Inheriting the win and the points lead was Dylan Livengood, followed by Lambert, and Tanner Smith.

Round Four - Round of St. Eustache
The fourth round of the championship marks the first trip north of the border for the NASA RallyCross Challenge for the 2013B season, the other being Bent Twig. The second smallest field of 13 took to the track in three heats. Winning heat one was Cody Erdmann, in his second race of the season. Second heat honours went to Dutch driver Tristan Hagenstein, a surprise win after he snatched it away from Austin Hakes. Heat Three convincingly went to Josh Mertz. The LCQ was a brawl with Dylan Livengood and Luke Fleming making it through as the remaining cars. It took 3 tries, but the final started with Livengood leading, followed by Mertz. Contact all over the track in the back sent Tanner Smith to the penalty box along with Livengood. Late in the race, Josh Mertz cut the course twice (once without knowing) and failed to visit the penalty box, and thus, for the fourth consecutive week, had something happen to him. For the second week in a row, a Citroën driver was penalized. He was dropped from second to eighth, missing out on the second ever Citroën one-two finish. (Interestingly enough, it was switched for the first one in 2012C, Mertz-Erdmann)

2013B Drivers' Championship
Points are awarded to the top 16 finishers.


 * 1 Car #29 was driving and reacting to race control aggressively in the LCQ, and was disqualified as a result.
 * 2 Car #82 was moved from 1st to 10th after officials deemed he caused a pileup which would have resulted in a red flag on the final restart of the final.
 * 3 Car #81 was dropped from 2nd to 8th after he did not visit the penalty box after he was deemed to excessively cut the track.
 * 4 Car #81 was dropped from 7th to 8th after being accused of "driving aggresively" following an accident with Car #1 which left Car #81 turtled, unable to continue on the final lap.

2013B Manufacturers' Championship
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 * VW wins on the tiebreaker due to more 2nd place finishes.

2013B Privateers' Championship

 * Tanner Smith and the ATN AutoSport team forfeited their Privateers' effort after Smith was hired by the VW WRT.

2013B Nations Cup
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