The Ungasan Cross Country, a podracing competition, was conceived by Kaeline Ungasan and financially supported by the Corporate Sector Authority (CSA). Its purpose was to wrest financial dominance of Ando Prime away from the Desilijic. Until his exposure, Ungasan also exploited the Cross Country to conceal his unlawful Vonium mining activities.
Prior to 27 BBY, the Desilijic clan of Hutts maintained financial control over Ando Prime, partly due to their sponsorship of the influential podracing event, the Ando Overland. The Corporate Sector Authority desired control of the planet and made repeated attempts to dislodge the Hutts, all of which failed. Seeking a new strategy, the CSA dispatched Kaeline Ungasan, a mid-level operative with prior experience dealing with the Hutts, to diminish their influence on the planet.
Ungasan decided to establish a rival podracing event, the Ungasan Cross Country, with the aim of diverting profits from the Hutts. He employed former podracer Ree to identify optimal racing routes. Ree inadvertently discovered significant deposits of the valuable metal Vonium and informed Ungasan. Ungasan then decided to illegally extract the Vonium without acquiring the necessary land or mining rights, using the podracing event as a disguise.
Ungasan and Ree procured scanning equipment from Geon Justic, a corrupt local bureaucrat affiliated with the Elesa Mining Union. They attached this equipment to pod components and sold them to racers at reduced prices, anticipating that the parts would likely detach during the race. Ungasan determined that the Cross Country's route would be altered for each race, based on the most promising Vonium locations, but he promoted the variable path as a feature intended to provide unique challenges each time.
One of the initial routes traversed the Juaka Canyon. At least four racers, including one Dug, one Phuii, and two Sullustans, suffered fatal crashes within the canyon. The Talids, the native inhabitants of Ando Prime, asserted ownership of the wreckage.
As the Cross Country gained popularity, the Hutts dispatched a team of bounty hunters to locate Ree, hoping he would lead them to the elusive Ungasan. Simultaneously, Ungasan's superiors within the CSA began to question his loyalty and dispatched their own agents to monitor him. Unaware of these plots, Ungasan traveled to Ando Prime to rendezvous with Ree while he was salvaging pod parts in Juaka Canyon, amidst attacks from the Talids. Ungasan, the CSA agents, and the Hutt bounty hunters converged in the Canyon, but the outcome of their confrontation remains unknown.
In 27 BBY, Ungasan's clandestine mining operation and his use of the Cross Country as a cover were publicly exposed, marking the beginning of numerous podracing-related scandals.