Eight charged up rally cars flew through the streets of Downtown Los Angeles on Sunday Afternoon as Brian Deegan emerged from the dust as the RallyCross winner at X Games 17.

Deegan took full advantage from the start as heavy favorites Tanner Foust and Liam Doran tangled in the first turn. The small window of opportunity was enough for Deegan to slingshot to the lead which he never let go. For Deegan, the win was especially sweet finally getting the better of fellow teammate Foust after finishing second to him last year in both rally disciplines.

"This was the highlight of my life, I've done a lot of things on a dirt bike but nothing tops this moment winning RallyCross at X Games."

The storyline of the afternoon was the decision from Travis Pastrana to compete in RallyCross. Pastrana broke his right leg and ankle Thursday night during the Moto X Best Trick competition seemingly ending Pastranathon before it even started.

With the help of creative engineering by his Subaru mechanics Pastrana quickly learned how to drive using accelerator controls with his hands. For most people if you need to duck tape your leg to the car so you're able to drive with your hands, it's probably not a good idea to compete. Not for Travis, he was excited to race one way or another, "just to be here and have this team and this setup is awesome. I am glad I decided to drive today...this is the best decision at the moment."
Subaru mechanics set up Pastrana's car with accelerator controls.

Travis finished just off the podium in fourth place.

European favorite Marcus Gronholm rounded out the podium with a bronze medal performance. Saturday's Rally winner Liam Doran never bounced back after his run in with Foust in the first turn finishing in dead last.

Here's the official results from Sunday's RallyCross

1. Brian Deegan
2. Marcus Granholm
3. Tanner Foust
4. Travis Pastrana
5. Dave Mirra
6. Rhys Millen
7. David Higgins
8. Liam Doran

After finishing second to Tanner Foust in both rally disciplines last year at X Games Metal Mulisha Godfather Brian Deegan is determined to not let that happen again.

Sure when Deegan first started driving rally it was exciting and fun as something else for him to do at X Games other than Freestyle motocross. But that was then, three years later Deegan wants to win. As much success as he has had in FMX, silver medals don't do it for him, he expects gold.

Deegan has taken to the track logging seat time behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta working on his driving performance with one goal on his mind.



Beating his nemesis and fellow Rockstar teammate will be no easy task; Foust is the overall points leader from the Global Rallycross Championship series heading into X Games.

As the story lines start taking shape heading into Summer X Games 17 rally has started stealing the headlines. This is by far the most anticipated year since it's introduction the X Games audience. This year's coarse will have drivers navigating through the streets of Downtown LA.

The field is stacked with popular personalities Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and Dave Mirra, not too mention the most talented and successful Rally Driver Marcus Gronholm.

If Deegan plans to take the thrown in LA this year the testing track is where it's going to happen. Continue to monitor his progress on Metal Mulisha.com.

After four days and 26 different competitions X Games 16 is in the books. Downtown Los Angeles was filled once again with thousands of dirt loving, shower hating, beer guzzling, black-sock wearing boys in tight pants and girls in skimpy clothes screaming for Ryan Sheckler.

With our ears still ringing, memories of this year's festivities are still fresh. Here's what X fans will be talking about until X Games 17.

1. Where did all the big boys go? More X Games superstars pulled out of competition this year than any other we can remember. The most notable exit was Travis Pastrana, one of the most decorated X Games athletes, who pulled out of Moto X Best Trick due to concern he was not close enough to landing his most difficult trick yet. He joined 3-time defending champ Kyle Loza who also withdrew right before he was scheduled to defend his gold in the same category. Travis then had to withdraw from his favorite event, the Super Rally, due to last-minute mechanical issues with his car. Meanwhile Skateboard Big Air Legend Danny Way pulled out of the competition shortly before the games began. Then, after coming up short in the Vert ramp, X Games golden boy Shaun White mysteriously pulled out of Vert Best Trick. With the A-listers missing from many of the headline acts, something just didn't feel right.



2. Maybe they can finish next time? The most anticipated event of X Games 16 had to be the newest, the Super Rally. With four highly-torqued mini-machines zipping through the LA Coliseum fishtailing through turns and jumping over the massive gap things were bound to get interesting. And when the man who waves the checkered flag didn't get the memo that they added an extra lap to the final things really did. After he waved the flag one lap too early the finalists threw an improvisational demolition derby. For what it's worth, they handed Tanner Foust the gold. He used his experience of racing overseas to win both rally disciplines.


3. Hey, I'm over here Pierre Luc Gagnon managed to 3-peat in Skateboard Vert while the rest of the cameras were following Shaun White, the X Games' biggest draw. To be clear, Shaun White delivered a brilliant performance in the halfpipe, unleashing a new heel-flip body-verial frontside 540. But while the cameras stayed glued to White fist pumping on the deck, PLG was busy topping White's ride by linking a 720 with a kickflip body-verial 540. PLG's gold medal did little to help him emerge from White's shadow. The TV headline was that Shaun White lost. And apparently the loss bothered White. He didn't show up for the Best Trick final ten minutes later.



4. Anyone got a hair dryer?: While the Big Air athletes originally thought it was cool having their mega-ramp outside at the Coliseum, the added danger wasn't revealed until competition began. BMX riders were having major issues with condensation, repeatedly sliding out on their landings and going down hard. Things got so bad they were forced to cancel practice. The Skateboard Big Air Rail Jam was delayed and almost stopped for the same reason. Rumor has it the athletes came together and protested, demanding that next year the ramp be inside or they won't compete.



5. The X factor and the envelope: Paris Rosen's epic failure in the Moto X Best Trick was arguably the scariest moment of the games. Rosen got stuck dangling upside down while attempting a front flip. He soared across the entire length of the Staple's Center and landed on his back, hushing the crowd. Ultimately, this was the Jake Brown moment of X Games 16. We're sure to see the replay for years.




Photos Courtesy of Getty Images

The most unpredictable discipline at X Games 15 will be Rally, a bunch of pimped out rice rockets, with drivers who are known for other things than their driving, whipping around a track including a 70ft jump in the middle of the Home Depot Center.



What makes this year's Rally so great is the drivers that are competing. It is to no ones surprise when Travis Pastrana decided to retire from freestyle moto and do Rally he'd be good, so good that he's the defending 2 time X Games Gold Medalist. It seems like what ever he does he's good at, he just throws up the thumbs up and wins! Fellow crossover athletes Dave Mirra and Brian Deegan aren't expected to do as well, but I'm sure they will make for some entertaining television.

Keep an eye out for Deegan, on Tuesday while I was out at El Toro Marine Base watching Team Ford practice, Deegan was struggling, hitting cone after cone. But after talking to him at lunch, I understood why, he races trucks, not rally cars, in fact that was only the second time he drove his Ford Fiesta that he'll be driving with on Sunday at X Games. He's pretty fired up to jump the Fiesta, he's not sure how the car will jump but he doesn't care, in fact he said, "If I'm losing, I'm just going to launch the frickin fiesta as high as I can and get the crowd excited."



Now for my predictions; if I was a betting man, which I am, so if anyone wants to make a wager, let's do it, Tanner Foust will win gold at X Games 15. After driving with him inside his Fiesta, I couldn't believe how close he gets to every cone and barrier without hitting them. Plus he is a driver, that's what he does, he drives, plus he seemed a little too excited about the jump on Sunday, so he has what it takes to win. I also predict, Pastrana will do something insane that will cost him the victory, Brian Deegan will roll his fiesta at some point in the race, and Mirra will still be known as the golden boy of BMX, not Rally.

Check out some highlights from Tuesday's practice with The Ford Fiesta team at El Toro Marine Base...