Utica Rallycross Series (Season Five)

**Season Five** of the Utica Rallycross Series began March 19th, 2018 in Yuma, Arizona and is set to conclude on June 19th, 2018 in Dead Man's Curve, Australia. Tyler Benoit won the championship, his second in his career. Scott Roush won Rookei of the Year.

## Teams and Drivers

**Changes:**

* Axiom-RaGE Racing Union absorbed RaGE Media, rechristening themselves as Axiom Racing Union. They expanded to a second car, signing former Chaos Racing development driver Jeffery Finguy.
* Benoit Motorsports expands to a second team for Cody Smart, who ran the Dead Man's Curve event for the team in Season 4.
* CJ Racing expands to a second team for rookie Eugene Demax.
* DHL-Aurelio Rallysport scales down to one team, releasing Conrad Wilsson following lackluster Season 4. Chris Aurelio moves to car #2 following Axiom Racing Union's acquisition of car #14 for Jeffery Finguy.
* Evans Engineering Inc. expands to a second team for rookie Scott Roush, who impressed the team with a strong privateer run at Dead Man's Curve in season 4. Matt Evans returns to the team full-time after vacating the ride mid-way through Season 4 after a poor season.
* New team Fallout Racing Inc. enters the sport with rookie Alexander Rowe as the driver.
* New team Full Frontal Motorsports enters the sport with former Dead Man's Curve DNQer William Brock. The car was bought from Thunda from Down Unda.
* New team Malta National Racing Team enters the sport with rookie Aiden Di Gabriele as the driver.
* Robbert Pieete moves to car #6, following Single Guys Racing acquisition of the #15.
* S3 Motorsports expands to a two car team, hiring Season 4 Dubai winner Sean Angel to drive car #5. Mark Holbert returns to the team, driving the #11 car. The cars were purchased from TEAM Motorsports and Maverick GP, respectively.
* //NNSCRA Racing// brought in new investors during the off-season and renamed itself Single Guys Racing. Seth Cole returns, moving to car #15. The team will field a one-off entry for James Shelly at Dead Man's Curve.
* Tanker Motorsports returns for its first full-season attempt since Season 2 with Alex Tanker as the driver.
* Cybertron Racing hoped to run the full season, but came short on funding. James Silverfox will be the driver for Dead Man's Curve.
* William Duncan retired at the end of Season 4. Maverick GP scaled down to a one-off entry with Takato Kitsuta.
* Northwest Motorsports rechristened itself PNW Motorsports and scaled down to a one-off entry for Colin Bartell at Dead Man's Curve.
* TEAM Motorsports down-scales to a one-off entry with Joseph Onesto returning to pilot the car.
* Max Profit Racing, Red Ridge Racing, Redmond Autosports Team, and Winkle Motorsports enter the sport as Dead Man's Curve one-off entries, fielding Max Haltmann, Kyle Basaglia, Isaac Redmond, and Zack Winkle respectively.
* Matt Duell, Kaytlyn Stringer, Nathan Hudson, William Duncan, Neal Evans, Conrad Wilsson, and Anthony Lopez were all regular season competitors that did not return for Season 5.
* Alex Giannatelli, Nick Pericles, Ryan Reso, Annie Thomas, Jonny Gardner, Tylor Thaber, and Cole Baker were all one-off drivers that did not return for Season 5.

## Notable Changes

La Fortuna, a traditional rally hillclimb track in Costa Rica, was added to the schedule to replace Blackpool, which was dropped following a dip in attendance in Season 4. This will mark the first time since Ecuador in Season 2 that the Utica Rallycross Series has visited a Spanish-speaking country.

Budva underwent major renovations during its time off the schedule and returns to its familiar spot at the halfway point of the schedule, replacing Paparone, which was dropped from the tour in favor of the larger La Fortuna circuit.

Sarh returns to the schedule with minor renovations, replacing Nairobi due to Sarh being longer and having more history in the Utica Rallycross Series.

## Race Reports

**Round 1: Yuma**

The hilly stadium dirt track returned to the schedule with no changes from the previous year. It was the fifth year in a row that the track held the season opener.

Rookie William Brock was the first car to take to the race track. Brock, in his first attempt since a DNQ at Dead Man's Curve in Season 3, stunned the crowd with a time that beat the winning time of the previous season. Brock's hold on the lead would last until the fifth driver, Zachary Fitzwater Sr, usurped the position, besting the new track record by a hefty six-tenths.

Two runs later, veteran Stephen Carter one-upped Fitzwater by breaking the track record by a mere one hundreth of a second. Following Carter's time, several drivers had issues on track. Teammates Scott Roush and Matt Evans both wrecked out of the event, as well as Jeffery Finguy in his first full-time effort. Season 3 winner Seth Cole, as well as two-time winner Mark Holbert and rookie Eugene Demax, all floundered on the long jump, but finished the event.

Following Finguy's flip, rookie Alexander Rowe, who was near completely green to rally-style racing, surprised everyone by besting Carter's time, and thus the record, by five tenths. Rowe received one more close challenge by Season 2 winner Tyler Benoit, who ended up losing out to Rowe by a mere three thousandth of a second. Had the scoring system been the same two-decimal scoring system of Season 4, the two would have had to have run a tiebreaker run. No one else was able to catch Rowe, handing Rowe his first career victory and making him the fourth different driver to win in his first start.

**Round 2: Elk Horn Pike**

Elk Horn Pike remained unchanged from the previous seasons, but record low temperatures proved challenging for the drivers and teams. Snow fortunately stayed away from the small Canadian village and the race continued on as scheduled.

Zachary Fitzwater Sr. was the first car up, but despite a competitive lap, Fitzwater crashed out on the "Hole in the Wall" jump. Robbert Pieete became the first car to complete the course with a moderately slow minute thirty-three, before being edged out by three seconds by Tyler Benoit. Two DNFs int he form of rookies Aiden Di Gabriele and Eugene Demax occurred before Chris Aurelio became the first car to break a minute thirty.

Drivers continued to struggle to find speed before Sean Angel, countryman and thirteenth car on track set a fast time of 1:28.321, improving over a second over Chris Aurelio. Seth Cole and Chris Dodd ran times close to Angel, but missed the top spot by five and three tenths respectively. Ray Davis looked to have a time to compete with Angel, but the vehicle cap-sized late into the run, ending his chances. No other drivers were able to get closer, allowing Sean Angel to score his second career victory and become the first Canadian to win at Elk Horn Pike.

**Round 3: La Fortuna**

La Fortuna was the sole new edition to schedule in Season 5. It was the both the first hillclimb event and first race in Latin America since Ecuador in Season 2.

Yuma winner Alexander Rowe was the first car on track. Being a rookie and being at a brand new racetrack, Rowe set a conservative pace. Robbert Pieete edged him out by two seconds the run after. Mark Holbert was tracking well in his S3 Motorsports machine when Holbert attempted to cut the final jump to save time. Holbert miscalculated and ended up getting stuck on a metal-frame sign. Holbert eventually freed himself, but finished with a time heavily off the field.

Chris Dodd made the next big lunge to the top, taking the top spot in the race closest to his home island of Puerto Rico before being topped by Jeffery Finguy, who was attempting to break a streak of bad luck to start the year. Mexico-native Estavas Cortez had many fans at the track, and responded by setting a blistering lap time, taking the top spot and becoming the first driver to break a minute and ten seconds.Several drivers came close, including rookie Eugene Demax, before fellow rookie Cody Smart surprised the field by edging Cortez out by four tenths. Smart's time at the top was short-lived, as Ray Davis set the pace by cracking the minute and nine second mark.

Scott Roush came up two-tenths short and a spirited last minute charge by Alex Tanker came up short, allowing Ray Davis to score his third career victory. The race became the first of the season to have all twenty drivers finish the course.

**Round 4: Meijendel**

The Meijendel circuit remained unchanged from the previous season, but proved to be a challenge to the drivers in Season 5.

Rookie Eugene Demax was the first car up, but inexperience resulted in him flipping his vehicle late into the run. Countryman Robbert Pieete followed, becoming the first car to complete the course, albeit with a time fifteen seconds off the record pace.

After a poor run by Scott Roush, veteran Chris Aurelio picked up thirteen seconds on Pieete to set the fastest time. Yuma winner Alexander Rowe nearly completed the course, but flipped coming to the line. Jeffery Finguy surprised the field with a fast time, usurping the lead from Chris Aurelio.

Finguy's teammate, Estavas Cortez, flipped on his attempt at the late jump and points leader Tyler Benoit, much like Rowe, flipped his car coming to the finish line. Mark Holbert, the previous year's winner, came close to surpassing Finguy, but it wasn't until the thirteenth car up, Stephen Carter, that he was beaten. Carter broke the track record, becoming the first car to break a minute eleven.

Cody Smart flipped exiting the village, Seth Cole flipped on the big jump, Sean Angel was slowed down by the jump, and Matt Evans was nearly injured in a flip on the main jump after the car landed cockpit first on the ground. William Brock came close to beating Carter as the last car up, but ultimately finished fourth.

Carter secured the win, which was the second of his career.

**Round 5: Budva**

Budva was cut from the schedule in Season 4 after a trend towards longer tracks became appealing to the higher-ups at Utica Rallycross LLC. MotoResorts, worried the absence from the schedule would sink the company, made major upgrades to the facility for a Season 5 bid.

The opening jump was made easier, amid complaints from drivers and fans in Season 3. A 360 downward corkscrew turn was added in place of old loop section. The dirt section was expanded, adding more jumps and a double back to a new section of the course that made competitors jump their cars off the roof of the hotel onto a dirt ramp. The event was reinstated amongst acclaim from the Utica Rallycross Series officials and returned as the midway point of the tour.

William Brock was the first car on track, but floundered on the roof jump, flipping his vehicle and becoming the first driver to fail to finish the course. Alexander Rowe became the first driver to complete the course, but struggled heavily on the roof jump. Matt Evans also struggled on the jump, but managed to gain ground on Rowe.

Chris Dodd was fast, but also flipped on the roof jump. Mark Holbert also struggled before Aiden Di Gabriele became the first driver to get a clean run in. The floodgates were open, and the top spot changed each time during the next three runs, with Estavas Cortez, Alex Tanker, and Scott Roush all taking turns in the lead.

After a few close runs, Ray Davis became the first driver to break forty-two seconds. Davis' time in first was short-lived, as Elk horn Pike winner Sean Angel impressed with a fast lap that usurped the lead by a tenth of a second. The field finished out with spirited efforts by Tyler Benoit and Seth Cole, and a flip by Chris Aurelio, but no one was able to beat Sean Angel, who scored his second win of the season and the third of his career.

**Round 6: Sarh**

After being dropped from the schedule in Season 4, Sarh returned with a minor addition of a large dune later in the course which increased speeds going into the second to last corner.

Rookie Scott Roush was the first car on track, setting a competitive time of 53.083. While not a track record time, Roush's time held up surprisingly well, as the next eight competitors failed to usurp the top time, with teammate Matt Evans being the closest with a time a half-second slower.

Cody Smart, whom Roush had a season-long friendly rivalry with, was the first competitor to beat Roush's time, smashing it by over a full second. However, once again, drivers struggled to catch Smart's blistering lap, with the closest being fellow rookie Aiden Di Gabriele's 52.833.

Smart was not safe for long, however, as his boss and teammate, Tyler Benoit, noted for his dirt-racing expertise, was able to best Smart's time by six tenths, snapping the track record in the process. While drivers Mark Holbert and Estavas Cortez came close to besting Smart, none could surpass the Benoit Motorsports cars, resulting in a one-two finish for the team and Tyler Benoit scoring his record-breaking fifth career win, his first since Paparone in Season 3.

Apart from near flips from Alex Tanker and Alexander Rowe, no cars failed to finish the race, the second time all twenty cars finished this season.

**Race 7: Dubai**

Dubai returns to the schedule unchanged from the previous years, despite growing concerns from drivers about the safety of the course following Matt Duell's career-ending injury received in the Season 4 event. Reservations from the local building owners, unwilling to put more money into renovations, shot down proposed plans from track officials to make the finishing line safer.

Rookie William Brock started the race, wrecking in what would become a familiar spot during the race, the end of the Bay Jump. Brock hit the lip of the dock and flipped violently into the water, but was rescued by safety officials. Robbert Pieete followed, also flipping on the jump, but landing on dry land, taking the lead from Brock. Yet another car, Aiden Di Gabriele, ended up in the drink before Zachary Fitzwater Sr., the fourth car up, became the first to complete the course.

Alex Tanker, who had never run the course before, was the next car up. Tanker set a blisteringly fast time, five-tenths off catching Sean Angel's record time set in Season 4. Stephen Carter would come close to Tanker's time a few runs later, but Tanker's time dominated the event.

Tribulations were prevalent for the drivers and teams all day. Matt Evans saw his car sink into the bay, narrowly edging out William Brock before Chris Aurelio had to abort his first attempt at the jump, resulting in a time that exceeded a minute. Both Axiom Racing Union cars flipped on the dirt mound following the bay jump, with Jeffery Finguy failing to finish the race and Estavas Cortez luckily rolling back onto his wheels. Seth Cole clipped a chainlink gate and rolled his vehicle on the bay jump and Sean Angel, the previous year's winner, was flipped in a similar manner to Robbert Pieete as the last of the retirements.

Mark Holbert, in odd fashion, missed the final checkpoint on his run, resulting in Holbert having to use a series of ledges to scale his car down the building and reattempt the final jump again. The technical driving ability displayed wowed the crowd and many team members and reminded many a more controlled version of Xavier Singleton's decent at the track in Season 3.

All the while, Alex Tanker's time held unchallenged. Euegene Demax came close to topping the time as the second-to-last car on track, but only managed a second place effort. Alex Tanker, in his third full season effort and his first since his Season 2 schedule was cut short by funding, won his first career Utica Rallycross Series race. The points leader entering the event, Tyler Benoit, finished seventh, maintaining his lead, but losing some distance on Carter, Tanker, and Davis.

**Race 8: Tel-Aviv**

The Tel-Aviv circuit returned unchanged from the previous season. Season 4 winner Kaytlyn Stringer was not in the field, meaning a new winner at the track was guranteed.

Zachary Fitzwater Sr. was the first car on track. Despite prior experience, Fitzwater ran a fairly conservative minute-long run. Season 4 last placer Sean Angel improved on his run from last year, scoring a 59.131. After another minute time by Estavas Cortez, Aiden Di Gabriele, driving the same car Stringer drove the previous year, picked up a second over angel to take the lead.

He was quickly surpassed by another second by Matt Evans, shocking the field after a dismal Season 5. Championship hopefuls Chris Aurelio and Ray Davis set competitive times, but Jeffery Finguy would be the first to break 57 seconds, taking the lead.

A few slower runs took place before Alex Tanker, the previous week's winner, set an incredibly fast time, taking the lead. Two close-calls followed. Mark Holbert nearly rolled the vehicle after straddling the wall of the highway just before the hairpin and Alexander Rowe nearly flipped his vehicle on the subterranean marina jump. Both finished, albeit slowly.

Chris Dodd came just five-hundreths off of Tankers time with points leader Tyler Benoit once again doing well, slotting in behind Dodd. A horrible handling issue befell Stephen Carter, the final car out, which allowed Alex Tanker to win his second career race and his second in a row. Much like in Season 4, all twenty cars finished the race, with Estavas Cortez anchoring the field.

Leaving the race, only eleven competitors were mathematically eligible for the title. Despite this, all twenty drivers still had a shot at the top ten.

**Race 9: Hong Kong**

Hong Kong returned as one of four tracks that have been on the schedule every year since the series inception, once again, unchanged. Entering the race, points leader Tyler Benoit had an opportunity to secure the championship dependent on the finishes of himself, Ray Davis, and Alex Tanker. Eleven competitors had a mathematical chance of vying for the title entering the race.

Matt Evans, the season 2 winner, was the first car on track. However, despite making the bay jump on the first attempt, and overzealous entry into the dirt-section resulted in his car going off track and into the harbor. Eugene Demax became the first driver to complete the course, but had to attempt the bay jump three times. William Brock and Zachary Fitzwater Sr. improved on Demax's time, but had to make two attempts on the jump each. Season 1 winner Chris Aurelio became the first driver to complete the course in one clean attempt, taking the lead.

Aurelio held the lead as several other drivers struggled. Cody Smart and title contender Stephen Carter both wrecked out in the harbor and in the warehouse sectors respectively, and Chris Dodd had to make multiple attempts at the bay jump. Scott Roush and Estavas Cortez completed the course without fault, but were both slower than Aurelio.

Season 4 last-placer Sean Angel set a redemption-fueled fats lap that usurped Aurelio's time, before immediately being beat by Season 4 winner and second-in-points Ray Davis. Davis held the lead for the majority of the second half of the race. Fellow title contender Alex Tanker, coming off two victories in a row, faltered multiple times on the bay jump, finishing very poorly.

With two drivers left, points leader Tyler Benoit set a blistering time, stealing the lead at the last minute from Ray Davis in a move that would eliminate all but two drivers from title contention. Seth Cole, the last car up and Season 3 victor, was unable to improve on Benoit's time, giving Tyler Benoit his sixth career victory, his second of the season, and put him at a large advantage over Ray Davis, who was almost a race back in points.

Despite the many issues for competitors, only three drivers failed to finish the race, far less than previous years. Due to only two drivers having a shot at the title, eighteen competitors would have to go through the Dead Man's Curve Qualifier

**Race 10Q: Dead Man's Curve Qualifier**

The qualifier race for Dead Man's Curve took place on the same short-circuit as the previous two seasons. Twenty-eight drivers attempted to make the field, eighteen Rallycross regulars and ten Areancross drivers. Much like Season 3, the Arenacross Series finale was run in conjunction with the qualifier. Arenacross-specific results are chronicled in greater depth on the Season 2 Arenacross Race Recap.

William Brock was the first car on track, but did not set a particularly fast lap. Aiden Di Gabriele picked up the pace, taking the spot shortly after. James Silverfox, the first of the Arenacross drivers and one of the fastest in the Season 3 qualifier, struggled and had a poor showing for the second year in a row. Fellow Arenacrosser Takato Kitsuta took the top spot with championship rival Max Haltmann getting a mid-tier time that was good enough to win him the Arenacross title. Rookie Cody Smart soon usurped the lead, reflecting his performance last year, before a rash of incidents resulted in the retiring Estavas Cortez, veteran Stephen Carter, and newcomer Patrick Smith all failing to finish.

Joseph Onesto picked up the pace, securing the top spot as the first car to break thirty-four seconds. Onesto's run would prove to be the fastest of the Arenacross drivers at the end of the event. However, he was quickly beaten by Rallycross regular Seth Cole, who edge him out by a tenth of a second. Cole would hold the lead for awhile, with fast times by Robbert Pieete and countryman Zachary Fitzwater Sr. coming close, but no cigar. Favorite Mark Holbert had an uncharacteristic wreck during his run, effectively eliminating him from the main event.

Zack Winkle was the eighteenth car on track, meaning bumping would begin. Matt Evans and Chris Dodd, former main event winners, set fast laps and easily made the show, knocking some oft he DNFers out of the field. James shelly, who was hoping to get a late season victory to win the Arenacross title, flipped incredibly early, failing to finish and anchoring the field for the second time in his career.

Full-timers Chris Aurelio, Alex Tanker, Eugene Demax, and Sean Angel all worked their way into the field before Yuma-winner Alexander Rowe shocked the field with a blisteringly fast lap after a season of poor performances. Rowe would go onto to win the Qualifier, the first exhibition win of his career, despite a close effort by the final car on track, Jeffery Finguy. Finguy's time knocked Arenacross driver Zack Winkle from the field. Eugene Demax was the final driver to make it in on time.

Of the eighteen drivers to make the field, fourteen were Rallycross regulars, negating the one-off dominance of Season 4. The four full-timers who missed the field were former podium finisher and an early championship favorite Stephen Carter, last year's championship runner-up and Dead Man's Curve prodigy Mark Holbert, rookie William Brock, and Estavas Cortez, who was retiring at the end of the season and hoped to make Dead Man's Curve his final race.

Four Arenacross drivers made the field; Arenacross finale winner and former Rallycross driver Joseph Onesto, Japanese rally racer Takato Kitsuta, Canadian rally racer Isaac Redmond, and gentlemen racer Max Haltmann, who had also scored the Arenacross championship. All but Onesto would be making their first start of their Rallycross careers. Zack Winkle, James Silverfox, Colin Bartell, Kyle Basaglia, Patrick Smith, and James Shelly failed to qualify.

**Race 10: Dead Man's Curve**

Dead Man's Curve remained unchanged from the previous year and once again was the final race on the tour. Entering the event, Tyler Benoit led the standings, almost a full race ahead of his only points competitor, Ray Davis. Benoit needed to finish eighteenth or better, or have Davis finish fourth or worse to win the title.

Seth Cole was the first car on track, but faltered heavily on the bridge jump in Stage 2, missing the jump twice and getting lost trying to get back on track. Sean Angel, the second car up, was set to improved, but flipped late into his debut Dead Man's Curve effort, fesulting in the first DNF of the event. The two poor runs made it easy for Tyler Benoit, as the third car up, to take it easy and finish the course without incident, securing the title.

Joseph Onesto, the first of the four Arenacross competitors that qualified, set a solid time, but fell short of Benoit's time. Aiden Di Gabriele, a rookie to the course, was able to set a solid run to beat Benoit's time and take the lead. After a slow, but complete run from countryman Zachary Fitzwater Sr., Arenacross racer Takato Kitsuta was able to edge out Di Gabriele in his debut appearance.

Kitsuta would hold on against defending winner Chris Dodd and Season 2 winner Matt Evans, as well as Chris Aurelio, who wrecked on the double jump. Ray Davis was next, hoping to at least take the win after being eliminated from the title hunt, but Davis flipped exiting the opening uneven bridge landing, failing to finish.

Robbert Pieete followed, setting an incredibly fast lap, usurping the lead from Kitsuta. Pieete was quickly overtaken by the Qualifier winner, Alexander Rowe, who was having an uncharacteristically good weekend. Rowe held on to the lead over Max Haltmann, the Arenacross champion, who became the highest placing of the one-offs. Rookies were the story of the day, as Scott Roush, already a lock for rookie of the year, broke the track record and beat Rowe by nearly a full second.

The remaining competitors were unable to come close to Roush or the top five, with Cody Smart and Jeffery Finguy flipping on the uneven bridge. Scott Roush got the first win of his career and the first win for Evans Engineering Inc. since Season 2. Roush also won rookie of the year honors. Tyler Benoit was crowned the champion, the second of his career, his first since Season 3, and the third overall for Benoit Motorsports.

## Awards

 Rookie of the Year
 Most Improved
 Most Last Places
 Most Valuable Driver

## Trivia

* 200 runs were made this season.
* Of those 200 runs, 31 resulted in a DNF, putting the finishing percentage for drivers at 84.5%
* This was the first season of the Utica Rallycross Series to feature no female competitors.
* La Fortuna, Sarh, and Tel-Aviv had the lowest attrition rates, with all twenty cars finishing the race.
* Dubai had the highest attrition, with seven cars failing to finish the race.
* No tiebreaker races occurred this season.
* Two rookies won a race this season. They were Alexander Rowe and Scott Roush.
* Three drivers got their first career victory this season. They were Alexander Rowe, Alex Tanker, and Scott Roush.
* Sixteen drivers started every race of the season, the most in Rallycross history.