X Games shift into higher gear

The hottest sport at the upcoming ESPN Summer X Games has four wheels, two drivers and a big gas tank.

Rally racing is also the latest motor sport to crack the X Games lineup: The first motorized X event was SnoCross snowmobile racing in the 1998 Winter X Games, followed by MotoX motocross stunt jumping in Summer X in 2000. Rally arrived in 2006 when Summer X moved to Los Angeles.

Traditional rally racing -- multiday stage events on mostly dirt roads -- is second only to Formula One in global popularity but has long struggled to gain acceptance because of American fans' obsession with asphalt track racing.

But many action sports stars and fans have gravitated to rally because it is so fast and furious. The X Games version is a one-day event in which vehicles hit speeds in excess of 100 mph while flying from dirt and dust to hot ...