Red Bull Frozen Rush event at Sunday River set for Jan. 8, 9

NEWRY — Sunday River Resort will host its second annual Red Bull Frozen Rush event on Thursday and Friday Jan. 8 and 9, Director of Communications Sarah Devlin said.

The event, which consists of a series of head-to-head races using off-road trucks, began in 2013, when eight professional truck drivers raced two at a time along a track spanning the lower slopes at South Ridge.

The inaugural race attracted around 10,000 spectators and was filmed by NBC. The race later aired on the afternoon of the Super Bowl.

While the event won’t air prior to the Super Bowl in 2015, it will air on March 1 on NBC.

One new element of the second Frozen Rush event is the addition of a live Web stream on the day of the event.

“This year, the fans can watch the event live from their computer,” Devlin said. “The 900-horsepower Pro 4 trucks will dig their spiked tires into the snow to speed through trees, soar over 50-foot gaps, hit multiple jumps, weave through flags and blast around 8-foot tall berms — all while reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour.”

The first day of the event will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, with a qualifying round. After the qualifying round, the pits will open to spectators in the Barker Parking Lot, where people will have the chance to meet the drivers.

The second day of the event begins at noon, with the main event lasting from 12:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

According to the Sunday River Resort website, people can attend for free if they watch the event from the designated spectator area. There will be additional viewing areas farther uphill, though lift tickets will be required in order to access them.

An autograph session with the drivers will take place from 3:30 p.m. in the Red Bull Tent at South Ridge Lodge.

The drivers participating in the Frozen Rush event are Ricky Johnson, Bryce Menzies, Greg Adler, Johnny Greaves, Scott Douglas, Rob MacCachren, Carl Renezeder, Todd LeDuc, Brian Deegan, RJ Anderson and Chad Hord.

Devlin said that the Web stream of the event will begin at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, on redbull.com/frozenrush, adding that the stream will also be accessible online through Android and iOS applications.

The Red Bull Frozen Rush, which airs nationally on NBC and NBC Sports, is part of the Red Bull Signature Series, a program that airs extreme sports competitions, ranging from snowboarding and downhill skiing to mountain biking and freestyle motocross.

For more information, call Sunday River at 824-5143.

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