Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 10:35pm
Since the 1970s, U.S. rallyists have envied and briefly emulated the European model of national championship events with massive television coverage, multiple factory-funded teams and thousands of spectators. In the United States, sponsors such as B.F. Goodrich, Bridgestone, Audi, Toyota, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mazda and Nissan have come and gone in cycles, as has media and fan interest. Meanwhile, the hardcore, longtime hobby drivers continue to perform heroic real-road drifting and masterful car control largely unnoticed.
