BLACKFOOT — Spewing billowing pillars of dust and jostling for position, racers speed down the sloped hills at Lost River Raceway to compete for glory in the new United Rallycross sports league.

The new motorsport experience that is taking shape inside the banks of the Lost River Raceway off U.S. Highway 26 about 15 miles northeast of Blackfoot is breathing life into grassroots racing and laying the foundations for rallycross club sports across the country.

Friends Preston Howell, of Pocatello, and Clayton Mortensen, of Rigby are the founders of United Rally Cross, or URX. The pair conceived the idea last summer because of their passion and shared interest in rallycross racing. The move came after they had difficulties finding rallycross events in the United States outside the professional Nitro Cross league, which recently canceled its season.

“We were really gung-ho on the idea of getting into it, and, after not being able to find anything, we decided to go build the track and a whole series from the ground up,” Howell said. “That was really the idea where it started and what got us here.”

Early on, the two founders had to figure out the rules and define the style of racing, immersing themselves in research to find the perfect balance and begin building everything from scratch. URX currently features three different racing classes URX2, URX4 and URXBaja.

“The whole goal and vision was to make it accessible and affordable for people like us guys who want to get into racing but not for a professional career,” Howell said. “Our whole goal was to make the vehicle class something that’s accessible and affordable to get into. That’s how we came up with our two-wheel drive, four-cylinder class, which is capped at a lower horsepower rating to keep the cars affordable and competitive with each other. Then we got our UX4, which is the all-wheel drive class, which essentially is a Subaru Impreza class, because it fits in there. There are no turbos allowed and it’s all-wheel drive, so under 200 horsepower.”

Inspiration for another vehicle class struck after a visit to Utah where the pair enjoyed thrilling Baja Bug races, which involved an original Volkswagen Beetle modified as an all-terrain vehicle to operate off-road.

Transforming the nearly 30-acre landscape into an adrenaline-pumping, high-octane rallycross destination was no small feat, however, with work on the site beginning in January.

The three-quarter-mile dirt track at Lost River Raceway features tight turns, elevation changes and is designed specifically for wheel-to-wheel rallycross. The track required a significant amount of work and leveling but the duo was able to avoid significant financial pitfalls thanks to Mortensen owning a small excavation company, providing them with the necessary skills and contacts to transform their vision into reality.

“Once we had a blank canvas, we started cutting in the vision of the track that we had put together digitally,” Howell said. “We used GPS and went around and cut in the track. (It took) a lot of work, a lot of dirt moving and getting the soil conditions right.”

Howell added that it’s pretty dry out in the Idaho desert so building the track required bringing in a significant amount of water to wet down the track and pack the dirt to get it to form and mold into something suitable for racing.

“Getting ready for the event required putting up lots of barriers and flags,” Howell said.

Last week, URX United Rallycross held a small inaugural event to test drive the new league. Hundreds of spectators watched the drivers battle on the raceway against the backdrop of sagebrush hills and distant mountain ranges.

Howell feels the first rallycross event was a resounding success, overcoming challenging conditions like strong winds and intense heat.

But these dusty devotees have more work to do before the upcoming race on Aug. 16. The event runs from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Tickets are available online now at $20 for adults and $7 for children 12 and under. Tickets will also be available at the gate.

“Come enjoy the races and food,” The URX website says. “ (It’s grass hillside seating (so) bring a camp chair or blanket.”

Drivers can also participate for a standard $250 entrance fee across all vehicle classes. The window to be featured in the August exhibition is quickly closing.

Utah-based stuntman Jim York will also captivate audiences with a unique halftime show called the Van-Pre, a mini-van demolition derby complete with massive jumps and dazzling displays of destruction.

Future rally races have also been set for September and October. Both Howell and Mortensen hope to be personally involved in the races before the end of their season.

“We’re trying to get comfortable with what we’re doing right now,” Howell said. “It takes a lot of work.”

The ascension of URX United Rally Cross signifies something special for aspiring drivers, race fans and adrenaline junkies — the opportunity to be involved in a community-led, grassroots motorsports movement. For the rest of the summer and into the fall, area residents can experience the smell of racing fuel, the dusty spray of rubble and the raucous rancor of rally car racing in Idaho.

“We’re building a new community,” Howell said. “A racing car culture that’s not really around in our area or anywhere in the country. It’s really exciting to create something new and the amount of drivers that we’ve had that take a risk on us in our first season to come out and build a car and race is really awesome. That really keeps me going, seeing that we’re actually providing something, that there’s other guys who want to do this type of racing. The racing scene is a lot of fun, a lot of excitement. You meet a lot of really fun, cool people. It’s just a good space to be in.”

To purchase tickets or learn more about URX United Rallycross, visit unitedrallycross.com.