2016A NASA RallyCross Challenge Season

The 2016A NASA RallyCross Challenge season was the eleventh season of the championship. Josh Mertz returned to defend his title from 2015A, along with the partial championship lead from 2015B. He returns to his old team, Red Bull Subaru MRT, as Aftershock Motorsports dissolved after the hiatus. However, Mertz was unable to win the championship.

Background
Amsoil replaces longtime entitlement sponsors Rockstar Energy and Royal Purple, after ten seasons of sponsorship of the championship. The rulebook was tweaked for 2016A, which includes three car constructor teams and a new points system.

Calendar Changes

 * The NASA Proving Grounds has been re-added, as track officials fixed the jump that caused controversy in 2015A.
 * New races in Barcelona and Aspen have been added.
 * Munich returns for the first time since 2014B.
 * Riverside becomes the sole endurance round.
 * Croft, Island Rally, Talladega and Irwindale have been discontinued.

Team and Driver Changes
The driver rosters for several teams were shaken up at the end of 2015B, and also a few changed during the course of the season.
 * Josh Mertz and Dylan Livengood closed Aftershock Motorsports, and returned to Red Bull Subaru MRT and Revolution Racing, respectively. Also, after a sabbatical, Cody Erdmann returned to partner Mertz at MRT.
 * Tanner Smith left Revolution Racing to join Area 52, partnering rookie Jonathan Taylor.
 * Steve Rada left MRT following 2015B, and formed H&H Racing as a factory Volkswagen squad. He hired rookies Philip Kraus and Victor Vallee to pilot the other entries.
 * Before the Spanish Grand Prix, Revolution Racing expanded to three cars, fielding an entry for the returning Dylan Smith.
 * After the Spanish Grand Prix, Steve Rada withdrew his entry.
 * Before Canada, Doug DeNise returned with his private Subaru squad.
 * After Canada, Tanner Smith left the NASA RallyCross Challenge, leaving Jonathan Taylor as the sole driver.
 * Before Negus, Casey Lester also returned with his private Mitsubishi effort.
 * After Aspen, Jonathan Taylor left citing poor finishes to be the reason of the exit.
 * Also after Aspen, Victor Vallee was indefinitely suspended due to criticizing Race Control on a number of occasions.
 * Before Bent Twig, Zack Johnson announced his return for the first time since 2013A.
 * Also before Bent Twig, Philip Kraus moved from H&H Racing to Area 52 Racing.

2016A Drivers' Championship
Points are awarded to the top 16 finishers.


 * N1 Car #81 was put to the back in the final after the stewards found him to have intentionally wrecked Car #7 in Semi Final B.
 * N2 Car #13 was disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix due to multiple infractions, but still retained points for ninth place. As a result, seventh, eighth and ninth moved up one place.

2016A Manufacturers' Championship
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