In the last few years it seems more and more familiar faces from other action action sports keep showing up in rally car racing.  A few years back, freestyle motocross riders Travis Pastrana and Kenny Bartram made the transition, with success.  In fact, Pastrana has conquered the sport with the same intensity that made him a FMX superstar.

Pastrana won his third-straight Rally America Championship this season, edging teammate Ken Block (founder of DC Shoes) and cementing his place among the best of the sport.

Joining Pastrana and Block on the Rally America Championship series this season was BMX rider Dave Mirra, who juggled his rally racing with BMX contests.  Still, Mirra performed better than any other rookie driver this season and was honored as “Rookie of the Year” as a result.

The first of the 2009 season’s nine stops will kick off on January 30 with the SnoDrift Rally.  Visit the Rally America site for more.

Each year, the month of November is the time when men get together and grow their moustaches (FOO MANCHU for us Asians) in recognition and awareness for men’s health.  Funds around the world are raised each year for the cause.

In support of Movember, DC is hosting an online eBay Auction, which will feature limited edition items for bid. The Auction will run from November 12, 2008 to November 22, 2008. 100% of the proceeds raised from the auction will go to Movember and prostate cancer research.

Auction items include autographed paraphernalia from DC team riders including , Devun Walsh, Aaron Biitner, and the DC Surf Team. Plus autographed items from Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Adam Sandler, Panic At The Disco and many more.

The eBay Auction is live NOW, and will end on Saturday, November 22nd at 5 PM PST. Start bidding over at EBAY.

Here is a list of things up for auction.
Here’s the full list of stuff up for grabs:
Nate Adams Autographed DC Poster (x 4)
Year’s Supple of DC Shoes – 12 pairs of shoes
Ken Block Autographed Subaru Photography Book
Dave Mirra Autographed 2009 MirraCO Manual Magazine (x2)
Autographed DC Lauri Heiskari XFB 155 Snowboard
Spy Sunglasses – Search and Destroy: The Zed
Razia’s Shadow – Autographed CD
Cutie is What We Aim For Autographed Poster
Autographed Billy Madison DVD
Allan Cooke Autographed DC Shoes
Dave Mirra Autographed DC Shoes and Shirt
Dave Mirra Autographed DC apparel and footwear
Electric Sunglasses- Killowatt
Spy Sunglasses – The Wilshire
Panic at the Disco – Autographed Album
Rob Dyrdek Complete Skateboarding Deck
Allan Cooke Autographed Bell Helmet
Electric Sunglasses
Spy Sunglasses – The Natural: Hailwood
The Friday Night Boys- Autographed Poster
DC x Mike Shinoda Remix Series Autographed Xander Shoes
Autographed DVD copy of Dude Cruise – Surfing Movie
DC x Peter Saville Collaboration Outerwear Outfit
Chad Kagy Autographed Bell Helmet
The Providence – Autographed Poster
Dave Mirra Autographed Gold Standard 2008 Shirt
Autographed Rob Dyrdek Deck
Dave Mirra Autographed DC Shoes
Autographed Danny Way Original Photo by Mike Blabac
The Hush Sound – Autographed Poster
Allan Cooke Autographed DC T-Star Shirt
Electric Sunglasses – The Bickle AMX
Autographed Waterboy DVD
DC x Mike Shinoda Autographed Pride Shoes
Autographed DC MLF 158 Snowboard
Ken Block Autographed Poster
Ken Block Autographed Pro Spec 1.0 Racing Shoes

Mirra and eight other riders will join Daniel Dhers, Mike Spinner and Rob Darden in the finals on Friday, where Dhers hopes to be the first athlete in the history of the AST to have a perfect season.  Dhers is already all but assured of his third Dew Cup Win.

Missing from the prelims was Scotty Cranmer, who was expected to take part in his first contest of the season following a broken foot earlier this summer.

Among the notable riders to miss the cut were an injured Steve McCann, Dennis Enarson and Diogo Canina.

Dennis Enarson cr. AST

The BMX Park finals will take place on Friday from 4:00-5:30 p.m. and unfortunately will not be broadcast on TV.

For more about the contest, check out AST.com.

Here’s the lineup for Friday’s final (in order)

12. Alessandro Barbero
11. Drew Bezanson
10. Ryan Guettler
9. Allan Cooke
8. Ryan Nyquist
7. Austin Coleman
6. Garrett Reynolds
5. Craig Mast
4. Dave Mirra
3. Rob Darden
2. Mike Spinner
1. Daniel Dhers

BMX Park Prelim Results – PlayStation Pro
October 16, 2008 – Top Nine Advance

1st – Mirra, Dave – 90.67
2nd – Mast, Craig – 90.33
3rd – Reynolds, Garrett – 89.67
4th – Coleman, Austin – 89.17
5th – Nyquist, Ryan – 88.67
6th – Cooke, Allan – 88.50
7th – Guettler, Ryan – 88.33
8th – Bezanson, Drew – 87.67
9th – Barbero, Alessandro – 86.83
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
10th – Young, Gary – 86.83
11th – Mackay, Colin – 86.67
12th – Tooker, Marcus – 86.67
13th – Enarson, Dennis – 86.17
14th – Canina, Diogo – 85.50
15th – Hunt, Brian – 85.33
16th – Sieg, Dan – 84.83
17th – Wirch, Scott – 83.67
18th – Kiraly, Kevin – 83.33
19th – Whitton, Alistair – 83.33
20th – Harrington, Josh – 83.00
21st – Dillewaard, Dave – 81.33
22nd – Toohey, Jaie – 81.17
23rd – Napolitan, Anthony – 80.67
24th – Laird, Mike – 79.67
25th – Thompson, William – 79.00
26th – Salyers, Glenn – 78.00
27th – Perry, Joshua – 76.67
28th – Wade, Morgan – 74.67
29th – McCann, Steven – 71.67
30th – Klinger, Seth – 70.67
31st – Dosch, Brandon – 70.00

Those three poker players that I’ve just mentioned withstood a field of thousands to win their titles.  Now Dave and company want to play their game?  I hope they know what they’re getting themselves into.  Go to Mirrabikeco.com to see what they’re up to and what their objective really is.  I just hope that Fossilman doesn’t show up or he’ll smoke these guys. 

Pastrana and Carolyn Bosley | cr. CHRISTIAN PONDELLA/SHAZAMM/ESPN IMAGES

As a rally car driver, you have to depend a lot on your co-driver.  So when Travis Pastrana lost his co-driver Jim DeChamp after he crashed during his Moto X Best Trick contest appearance on Friday, he turned to one of the best.  Carolyn Bosley was the co-driver to the late Rally Car legend Colin McRae, and no doubt she was a big part of why Pastrana was able to cinch the gold medal Sunday in the Rally Car Racing Super Special event.

Pastrana was up against last year’s winner, Tanner Foust, who gave a good fight and had the lead until hitting some safety barriers (though he was able to finish the race).

There was a tie for third-place after both racers, BMX rider Dave Mirra and DC Shoes founder Ken Block, could not drive in the match due to mechanical problems.  A tie was called, and Mirra went home with a bronze medal and a record 23rd X Games medal.

Keep reading for more about the final…

Travis Pastrana and Co-Driver Carolyn Bosley Make a Great Team; Win the Rally Car Racing Super Special Final
Dave Mirra is Unstoppable as He Wins Yet Another Medal

LOS ANGELES – It was an electrifying head-to-head race against X Games veteran Pastrana and last year’s Rally Car Super Special champion Tanner Foust. Pastrana was forced to make an eleventh hour swap in his co-driver, choosing the late Rally Car legend Colin McRae’s former co-driver Bosley. The decision was ultimately fruitful as the two took the final and seized the gold.

“It’s tough because it’s single round elimination. You have to really push. It’s all about going for it,” Pastrana said about his winning rally.

Foust came out of the gate blazing and cleared the immense dirt jump with no problem, but ran into trouble as he exited the arena and drove onto the tarmac, sideswiping his car against the safety barriers. It was at that point Pastrana seized upon the moment to take the lead. Foust finished the course successfully, but still behind Pastrana to take home the silver medal.

“Now that we’ve had two years in this event we feel we can build a car that better suits this event and come back even stronger,” Foust said.

Perhaps one of the most unexpected occurrences in the Super Special final was Mirra tying for bronze with Ken Block. Both qualified into the bronze medal match, but both experienced mechanical problems that kept both of them from driving in the match. A tie was declared which subsequently awarded Mirra his 23rd X Games medal, a seemingly untouchable record for most medals ever won at X Games.

“Just to be here to try and do this is great. Medaling after less than a year of doing this is amazing,” Mirra said. Mirra began practicing and competing in rally in late 2007. This is his first X Games Rally Car Racing appearance and his 13th X Games.

RALLY CAR RACING SUPER SPECIAL
FINAL RESULTS Results from ESPN X GAMES 14 at The Home Center in Carson, Calf. on Sunday, August 3, 2008. (Final Standings)

Driver / Driver / Hometown / Hometown

1. Travis Pastrana / Carolyn Bosley / Annapolis, Md. / South Burlington, Vt.
2. Tanner Foust / Chrissie Beavis / Capistrano, Calif. / San Diego, Calif.
3. Dave Mirra / Alex Kihurani / Greenville, N.C. / Philadelphia, Pa.
3. Ken Block / Alex Gelsomino / Rancho Santa Fe, Calif / Los Angeles, Calif. /

Robinson had the edge through the first two of the scheduled four runs but then Dave Mirra came through with a huge 93.33 score after landing a 360 no-handed backflip over the 50-foot gap followed by a high flair.  Moments later, Kagy pulled ahead with a 94.33 thanks to a flipwhip over the 70-footer and a flatspin 540 tailwhip on the quarterpipe.  Similar to the battle between Danny Way and Bob Burnquist the night before, it came down to the final run.

Mirra went first, pulling another no-handed 360 backflip over the 70 foot gap followed by a flair whip on the quarterpipe.  The 94.66 looked strong until Kagy uncorked a back flip tail whip followed by a boosted flat whip on the quarterpipe.  The 96.00 set Staples on fire and when Kevin Robinson tried his final run a few minutes later, the end was already set.

Check out the official release below as well as all the results (there were four more riders, after all).

Chad Kagy and Dave Mirra Battle for the BMX Big Air Gold

Kagy Goes Deep into his Bag of Tricks to Take First
LOS ANGELES- There was no holding back from the competitors in tonight’s BMX Big Air final as the riders progressively stepped up the difficulty and height after each run and pushed each other’s limits.

It all came down to the wire during the final of four runs. Mirra was holding the top position with a score of 94.66 from a no-handed 360 backflip over the 70 foot gap to a lofty, flair whip on the quarterpipe, but was knocked down to second place when Kagy dropped into the ramp for his final run just moments later.

All eyes in the stadium turned to Kagy as he launched off the gap jump into a back flip tail whip and then layed out a boosted flat whip on the quarterpipe, earning a score of 96.00 and clenching the gold medal.

Kagy may have won the gold, but his respect went to Mirra. “Mirra surprised the heck out of me. Good job, Dave. He was motivated to do this the right way and it pushed me.”

Trailing in third place behind Kagy and Mirra was former two-time BMX Big Air Champion Kevin Robinson who put up a good fight with a solid no-handed 360 into a no-handed 540 on the quarterpipe.

“I can go home happy with a bronze because I landed my new tricks in my second run,” said previous champion, Robinson. “The double flair in my last run didn’t work, but I’m so happy for Chad for his well deserved win tonight.”

Catch more BMX excitement tomorrow during the BMX Freestyle SuperPark and Vert starting tomorrow at 1 p.m. PT.

BMX FREESTYLE BIG AIR FINAL RESULTS
Results from ESPN X GAMES 14 at The Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calf. on Friday, August 1, 2008. (Final Standings)

Rank  – Name  – Run 1  – Run 2  – Run 3  – Run 4  – Best Run
1. Chad Kagy  – 83.00  – 83.00 – 94.33 – 96.00: 96.00
2. Dave Mirra  – 80.66 – 90.33 – 93.33 – 94.66: 94.66
3. Kevin Robinson  – 84.33 – 91.00 – 83.66 – 83.00: 91.00
4. Steve McCann  – 83.33 – 82.33 – 90.00 – 81.00: 90.00
5. Allan Cooke  – 85.33 – 87.33 – 80.66 – 89.00: 89.00
6. Morgan Wade  – 83.66  – 83.00 – 82.66 – 86.66: 86.66
7. Anthony Napolitan  – 85.00 – 83.33 – 80.66 – 83.33: 85.00

Already invited are such action sports stalwarts like Travis Pastrana, Kenny Bartram and Dave Mirra along with Tanner Foust and Ken Block.

Check out the following press release to learn more about the event and the latest standings for the 2008 Rally America National Championship.

Rally Stars Battle for X Games Wildcard Spot at NEFR

GOLDEN VALLEY, MINNESOTA (Rally America Media) –The top rally drivers on the continent are set to take on the rugged forest terrain of Maine and New Hampshire when the Rally America National Championship Series moves to the East Coast for the New England Forest Rally on July 11 and 12.

Heading into Round 6, the top three drivers in the series are separated by just three points and it is expected to be an exciting battle.

Andrew Comrie-Picard is leading the standings in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. One point behind is Subaru Rally Team USA’s Travis Pastrana in his Subaru WRX STi, with Ken Block another two points behind him.

In addition to the 2008 Rally America National Championship title, New England Forest Rally competitors are vying for the Last Chance Qualifier entry into X Games 14, to be held in Los Angeles this August 3rd.

The event’s top-finishing driver who has not already earned an invitation to the X Games will earn the coveted last-chance spot.

Among the contenders for the final position are Rockstar Energy’s Andy Pinker, who is sitting in 11th overall in the standings after being dogged by mechanical trouble all season.

Wildcard driver Niall McShea, a former Production World Rally Champion, will also be a contender. The Irish driver has yet to battle the current crop of Rally America competitors, but it’s expected he has the talent to walk away with a win.

For the third consecutive year, rally racing will be featured in the Summer X Games, with the first six races of the 2007 Rally America season serving as qualifying events for the popular action-sport competition.

Already confirmed as invited X Games drivers are: Tanner Foust, Ken Block and Travis Pastrana — the three medalists from last year’s race — and Andrew Comrie-Picard, Matthew Johnson, Antoine L’Estage, Kyle Sarasin, Patrick Moro, and Nathan Conley. Two others will be selected from the rally community at large.

Challenging logging roads with some of the longest stages on the circuit set the tone for the New England Forest Rally. Always a favorite with drivers due to the technical demands of the course, this rally is also a crowd pleaser because of its stunning scenery and wildlife.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and 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 more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

Six vehicle classes, ranging from stock to highly modified, compete under the Rally America banner. Eleven different automobile manufacturers are represented in Rally America events, led by Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series.