Looking Back Nitro Rallycross 2018

Nitrocross (formerly Nitro Rallycross) returns to the place where it all started this weekend, Salt Lake City Utah. Let’s take a look back to the first ever NRX event back in 2018.

What Was Nitro Rallycross?

Nitro Rallycross is the brainchild of Travis Pastrana. If you don’t know who Travis Pastrana is the best way to describe him is somebody who consistently pushes the limits of what should be achievable by a human and a person who has probably broken every bone in their body. If that doesn’t give you an idea of the tracks he’s built then I don’t know what will. Anyways, getting back on track. Nitro Rallycross became known for their over-the-top Rallycross tracks. That are a mix between a regular RX track and a Motocross track. The track in Utah which was used in 2018,2019,2021 and 2023 features a 100 ft gap jump. The gap jump goes over a tabletop jump which goes over the tunnel for the joker lap. Before the start of the 2023-24 season, Nitro Rallycross rebranded to Nitrocross.

The 2018 Event

In 2018 Travis Pastrana and Nitro Circus debuted Nitro Rallycross. A one-off event that saw the top RX drivers from all over the world compete. The 2018 event saw names such as Timmy Hansen, Mattias Ekstrom, Tanner Foust, Ken Block, Travis Pastrana and Scott Speed. Subaru Motorsports USA showed up with 3 cars. With Chris Atkinson, Patrik Sandell and Travis Pastrana each behind the wheel of one. Ken Block and Steve Arpin drove Ford Focus’s. Ekstrom in his Audi S1. Speed and Foust in Volkswagen Beetle’s, and finally Timmy Hansen in a Peugeot 208.

Nitro Rallycross 2018 Results

Day One

Timmy Hansen topped the day of racing, allowing him to skip the heat rounds and advance directly to the semi-finals. Scott Speed and Chris Atkinson also advance straight to the semi-finals. Atkinson set the fastest time during Qualifying but would retire before the day’s end due to his suspension breaking. He returned for the second day of the event. Pastrana, Sandell, Foust, Arpin and Ekstrom battled through heat rounds. Ken Block’s status was unknown heading into the second day after he retired during the first day of competition. 

Day Two

Timmy Hansen, Tanner Foust, Chris Atkinson and Steve Arpin battled in the first Semi-final. Timmy Hansen won the first heat, setting the fastest overall time of both heats. Scott Speed, Travis Pastrana, Patrik Sandell and Mattias Ekstrom battled in the second semi-final. Scott Speed set the fastest time in that heat but was still slower than Hansen. Meaning he started in second for the final. 

Final

Timmy Hansen started the final in pole position, with Scott Speed to his right on the start line. Ekstrom, Atkinson, and Foust filled row two. Pastrana, Arpin and Sandell filled the third and final row. Ken Block was supposed to fill the final spot in the final but was unable to start the race. Turning a 9-car final into an 8-car final as a result. Pastrana and Speed crashed out within the first 5 corners due to a pile-up. Ekstrom and Timmy Hansen battled for most of the race. Timmy Hansen ultimately came out on top. Taking home the inaugural Nitro Rallycross win. Ekstrom finished second and Tanner Foust finished third. 

The second and final day of Nitrocross Oklahoma has come to an end. Fraser McConnell took the event win.

Preliminaries

Group One

Conner Martell and Oliver Bennett squared off in the first prelim. Martell finished fastest to take the win. He was 57.683 seconds faster than Bennett in the session. Martell was never really challenged.

Group Two

Travis Pastrana, Conor Daly and Benito Guerra would face off in the second prelim group. Travis Pastrana took the win, setting a time 1.010 seconds faster than Daly. Guerra wouldn’t start the race. 

Group Three

Robin Larsson, Kris Meeke and Oliver Eriksson competed in the third and final preliminary at Nitrocross Oklahoma. Robin Larsson would win the preliminary, setting a time 1.1 seconds faster than Kris Meeke. Oliver Eriksson wouldn’t start the race. 

Heats

Heat One

Andreas Bakkerud and Oliver Eriksson faced off in the first heat. Bakkerud took the heat win, as Eriksson would fail to finish the heat. 

Heat Two

The second heat would see Fraser McConnell, Conor Daly, Kris Meeke and Oliver Bennett square off in the second heat. McConnell took home the heat win, finishing 5.183 seconds faster than Conor Daly. Both Meeke and Bennett wouldn’t start the race due to mechanical issues. 

Heat Three

Robin Larsson, Kevin Eriksson, Conner Martell and Travis Pastrana would square off in the third and final heat. Larsson would take the heat win, finishing 7.474 seconds faster than Kevin Eriksson. Martell set the third fastest time, finishing 13 seconds slower than Eriksson. 

Last Chance Qualifier 

Group One

Conner Martell, Conor Daly and Oliver Bennett battled for a chance in the Nitrocross Oklahoma Finals in the first LCQ group. Conner Martell would take home the win to advance to the finals. Martell would set a time 7.520 seconds faster than Conor Daly to take the win. Daly would also advance to the finals. Oliver Bennett would finish 50.520 seconds slower than Daly and would be eliminated from the event.

Group Two

The second LCQ group would see Kris Meeke, Kevin Eriksson and Travis Pastrana face off. Kris Meeke would be handed first in the group, although he only completed one lap. This came as a result of both Eriksson and Pastrana failing to finish a lap. Due to these strange circumstances, every driver in the group would advance to the finals. 

Finals

The Nitrocross Oklahoma Finals would see Fraser McConnell, Robin Larsson, Kevin Eriksson, Conner Martell, Travis Pastrana, Kris Meeke, Andreas Bakkerud and Conor Daly square off for the first Nitrocross win of the season. Fraser McConnell would take home the win, finishing 1.548 seconds faster than reigning champion Robin Larsson. Kevin Eriksson took third in the final, 1.451 seconds slower than Larsson. Conner Martell finished fourth in the final, finishing 5.382 seconds slower than Eriksson. Travis Pastrana would round out the top five in the final, finishing 2.808 seconds slower than Martell. 

Nitrocross Oklahmoa Day One Recap

The first day of Nitrocross Oklahoma has come to an end. Qualifiers and the Battle Round took place. Find out more below!

Battle Round Qualifiers

Qualifier One

Travis Pastrana, Fraser McConnell and Robin Larsson would face off in the first qualifier. Travis Pastrana would set the fastest lap in the qualifier, 0.333 seconds faster than McConnell. 

Qualifier Two

Andreas Bakkerud, Kris Meeke and Kevin Eriksson would face off in the second qualifier. Andreas Bakkerud set the fastest lap in the qualifier, finishing 0.489 seconds faster than Kris Meeke. 

Qualifier Three 

Oliver Eriksson, Conor Daly, and Benito Guerra faced off in the third qualifier. Oliver Eriksson set the fastest lap in the qualifier, finishing 1.937 seconds faster than Conor Daly. 

Qualifier Four

Oliver Bennett and Conner Martell faced off in the fourth and final qualifier. Oliver Bennett set the fastest lap during the qualifier, over a minute faster than Martell. As Martell wouldn’t complete two laps so no time was registered. 

Battle Rounds

Group One

Kevin Eriksson, Robin Larsson and Benito Guerra faced off in the first battle group. Kevin Eriksson would take the battle win, finishing with a time 2.654 seconds faster than Robin Larsson to advance to the Battle finals. Benito Guerra would finish the race 28.006 seconds slower than Larsson. 

Group Two

Fraser McConnell, Kris Meeke, Conor Daly and Conner Martell faced off in the second battle group. Fraser McConnel would take the win, beating Kris Meeke by 0.730 seconds to advance to the battle final. Conor Daly finished 3.710 seconds slower than Meeke. 

Group Three

Andreas Bakkerud, Oliver Eriksson, Travis Pastrana and Oliver Bennett faced off in the third and final battle group. Andreas Bakkerud took the win, setting a time a minute and 40.647 seconds faster than Oliver Eriksson.

Nitrocross Oklahoma Event Preview

The 2023-24 Nitrocross season kicks off this weekend with Nitrocross Oklahoma. Find out all you need to know about round one below!

Championship Rundown And Predictions 

Due to Nitrocross Oklahoma being the first round of the 2023-24 season, there’s no championship to recap so far. But that doesn’t stop me from talking about last season and speculating. 

Consistency Is Key

Robin Larsson comes into the season as the reigning champion. Larsson was also the most consistent driver last season, or at least at or near the top consistently. Robin Larsson’s teammate Andreas Bakkerud finished second and was the second most consistent near the top. Are you seeing the pattern yet? If you haven’t here it is, consistency matters in Nitrocross. It’s something every driver from Robin Larsson to Oliver Bennett knows. Nitrocross are designed in such a way that it’s hard not to make a couple mistakes every race. These mistakes make it hard to be consistent. The only real way around this is to try and limit the severity and the number of mistakes made during a race. This is something Larsson and Bakkerud did quite a bit of last season. With Nitrocross being a spec series a mistake that would be small in a non-spec series is pretty large in a spec series. This is a result of everyone being in the same car, and the only real difference between each car is the tuning done on it. 

Predicting Is Hard

Those small differences between each car is what makes Nitrocross fun, and really hard to predict. Nonetheless, I will give a prediction, and I’m going with my gut feeling that Travis Pastrana will take home the first win of the 2023-24 Nitrocross season at Nitrocross Oklahoma. Why? Pastrana had a rather lackluster 2022-23 season, so it would be fitting for the 2021 Nitrocross champion to get off to a hot start. This track was also custom-built by Pastrana, sure every other Nitrocross track has been in some respect, but this is the first fully custom-built Nitrocross track. But as previously mentioned Nitrocross is really hard to predict and a race can change in a tenth of a second. 

Group E Drivers

The 2023-24 Nitrocross Group E drivers were slowly announced over the past week or so. With Fraser McConnell being the first returning driver announced. Following McConnell’s announcement Vermont Sportscar would announce Travis Pastrana and Conner Martell would race for the team during the season. After that, XITE Energy announced Oliver Bennett and Kris Meeke would return to the team. Then Olsbergs MSE would announce Oliver and Kevin Eriksson would compete for them once again. A day later Olsbergs MSE announced Benito Guerra would join the Eriksson’s this season. After that was Andreas Bakkerud and Robin Larsson for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing. Conor Daly was also announced as a driver, but only for round one of the 2023-24 Nitrocross season.

Nitrocross Oklahoma Track Design

Earlier this week Dreyer and Reinbold Racing announced reigning Nitrocross Champion Robin Larsson will return for the 2023-24 season.

Larsson’s 2022-23 Season

Robin Larsson would win three Nitrocross rounds on his way to the championship win last season. Larsson would also take one Battle Bracket win, 7 podiums and nine top-five finishes last season. Larsson’s lowest finish would be eighth at round eight, this would come as a result of a DNF. 

A Bit Of Larsson’s History

Robin Larsson would make his European RX SuperCar debut in the 2014 season. Larsson would win his first-ever event in a SuperCar at the World RX of Portugal. Larsson would go on to take another win in Belgium and two second places in Germany and Italy to take home the European RX championship. 2015 would see Larsson jump to World RX ful-time. Larsson would take home one win in 2015. That win would come in the final round at the World RX of Argentina. Larsson would finish the championship eighth, 20 points behind Reinis Nitišs.
The 2016 season would see Robin Larsson take home no wins and just one podium finish. The lone podium finish would come in round one at the World RX of Portugal. Larsson would finish the 2016 season ninth, 8 points behind Timur Timerzyanov. The 2017 season would see Larsson back in the European RX, and only compete in one round of the World RX. Larsson would win the World RX of Norway in the Euro RX1 class. Larsson would finish the Euro RX season fourth in the championship. The 2018 season would see Robin Larsson join Olsbergs MSE and compete in the World RX. Larsson would take home no wins or podium finishes in the season, and would only place in the top 10 three times. Larsson would finish the season 15th, 1 point behind Anton Marklund. 

Defending The Championship 

Robin Larsson will come into the 2023-24 Nitrocross season as reigning champion. This means Larsson will have another thing to think about as he gets into the season. Defending a championship isn’t easy, it’s even harder in Nitrocross. As it is near impossible to not make a mistake and in a spec series one too many mistakes could cost a driver the round. This is something Larsson and every other driver knows too well. Larsson had one of the fewest mistakes last season, and will likely have one of the fewest this season. But only time will tell if that’s true or not.

Earlier this week Dreyer and Reinhold Racing would announce Andreas Bakkerud will compete for the team during the 2023-24 season. 

Bakkerud’s 2022-23 Season

Andreas Bakkerud finished the 2022-23 Nitrocross season second in the championship. Bakkerud won one round, and one battle bracket to finish second in the championship, 32 points behind Robin Larsson. Bakkerud spent most of the season on the podium. With Bakkerud’s finishing on the podium 7 out of 10 rounds. Bakkerud also only finished outside the top five twice. His lowest finish being eighth at Wild Horse’s pass. This low finish would come as a result of a DNF. 

A Bit Of Bakkerud’s History

Andreas Bakkerud would break into the World Rallycross scene with Olsbergs MSE. Bakkerud would take home his first World Rallycross win at just his second event. That win would come at the World RX Of Great Britain. Bakkerud would also finish second at his first-ever World RX event in Portugal. In the 2014 season Bakkerud took one more win and two more second-place finishes, on his way to placing fifth in the championship, 6 points behind Timmy Hansen. In 2015 Bakkerud placed on the podium just three times. With Bakkerud taking home one win, one second and one third. Nonetheless, Bakkerud moved up one spot from his finish in the 2014 season, finishing fourth 2 points behind Johan Kristoffersson.

In 2016 Bakkerud joined Ken Block’s Hoonigan Racing Division team. Bakkerud took home three wins and six podiums in 2016; finishing third in the championship, 1 point behind Johan Kristoffersson. In 2017 Bakkerud took home four podiums and no wins, finishing the championship in sixth place. He was 7 points behind Timmy Hansen. In 2018, he joined the EKS Audi Sport team, after Ken Block and Hoonigan pulled out of the World RX. 2018 saw Bakkerud get back up to pace, although the didn’t take home any wins, he would finish on the podium six times and finish the championship third 11 points behind Mattias Ekström. In 2019 he would see Bakkerud take his first event win in 2 seasons.

Looking For The Championship 

Andreas Bakkerud was just a bit short of winning the Ken Block Memorial Trophy last season. Bakkerud will look to take the championship this season. He won’t have an easy time, however. As the Nitrocross tracks are only getting bigger and Robin Larsson will be looking to defend his championship. 

Earlier today Nitrocross announced Lia Block as their first Nitrocross NEXT driver for the 2023-24 season.

Block’s 2022-23 Season

Lia Block competed in 4 of the 8 Nitrocross side-by-side rounds last season. With her Nitrocross debut coming in round three of the SxS series at Glen Helen. Block finished seventh at the event, just under 13 seconds behind Jeff Matiasevich. In round four Lia finished a bit higher,in fifth, just under seven seconds behind Robin Shute. Round five in Phoenix would see Lia back down to seventh, and her final round of the SxS series she placed fifth, just over 4 seconds behind BJ Baldwin. 

Lia’s Other Ventures

Lia Block gained some international attention with her recent performances in the American Rally Association. As at Oregon Trail Rally just last month Lia finished second fastest on a couple of stages, just a couple seconds behind reigning champion Brandon Semenuk. It is worth mention that she did that in a 2WD car. She also beat the likes of Jason Bailey and Jeff Seehorn on the stages. Two rather experienced 4WD drivers. Lia’s performance garnered attention from the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. It’s safe to say Lia is a star in the making for the Rally world, and potentially the Rallycross world. We’ll get a glimpse of that this weekend. Lia also currently sits first in the ARA O2WD Drivers championship, 20 points ahead of Micah Nickelson as she heads into the start of Nitrocross season.

Confirmed For Round One

Block has only been confirmed to be competing in the first round of the Nitrocross NEXT championship. Although there isn’t much stopping her from competing in other rounds if she wishes. As the ARA and Nitrocross schedules don’t overlap. It also sounds like Block would like to compete in more than one round this season, but only time will tell if she does or not.

Earlier this week Olsbergs MSE announced Benito Guerra would be joining the team for the 2023-24 Nitrocross season.

Guerra’s History

Benito Guerra joins Nitrocross without much Rallycross background, but he does have a decent background in Rally. As Guerra won the Production World Championship in 2012. After that Guerra would go on to race select WRC events. With Guerra even driving an event for M-Sport at Rally Mexico 2014. Guerra tied for fifth at Rally Mexico 2014. Tying with Martin Prokop, with both drivers finishing 5.1 seconds behind Elfyn Evans.

Guerra would once again race a Ford Fiesta WRC at the 2015 and 2016 runnings of Rally Mexico, not under M-Sport however. He placed 12th in 2015 and 13th in 2016. During the 2017 season Guerra switched to a Skoda Fabia R5, and compete in more events including Rally Mexico. Guerra competed in Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Poland, Germany and Spain that year. With his highest finishes being 12th (3rd in WRC2) at Mexico, Argentina and Germany.

2018 would see Guerra once again race in more than two events, as he would race in Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Finland, and Germany. With his highest finish coming in Portugal where he placed 15th (7th in WRC2). In 2019 Guerra ran multiple races once again, in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Portugal, Great Britain, and Spain. Guerra shined in Rally Mexico, winning the WRC2 class by over 3 minutes and placing sixth overall at the event. Guerra also placed second in WRC2 at Rally Argentina and Rally Chile, and finish the 2019 WRC2 season in 3rd. 

Guerra’s 2022-23 Nitrocross Season

Benito Guerra made his Nitrocross debut at the season finale triple header in Glen Helen. Guerra only raced in two of the three rounds in Glen Helen. He would finish 10th in the second of the three rounds and 5th in the third of the three rounds. 

Joining Olsbergs MSE

Benito Guerra will join the Olsbergs MSE crew for the 2023-24 Nitrocross season. Guerra will race in the third Olsbergs MSE car. With teammates Oliver and Kevin Eriksson in the one and two cars. 

Earlier today Olsbergs MSE announced their 2023-24 Nitrocross driver lineup consisting of Kevin and Oliver Eriksson. 

Kevin Eriksson’s 2022-23 Season

Kevin Eriksson would miss the first two rounds of the 2022-23 Nitrocross season due to an injury. Niclas Grönholm would take his seat for those two events. Eriksson would place last at his first Nitrocross event in a Group E car. His second event would go much better however as he would place fifth. Eriksson would place second twice last season, and top five, five times last season. Kevin Eriksson would finish seventh in the championship last season, just a mere five points behind Conner Martell. 

Oliver Eriksson’s 2022-23 Season

Oliver Eriksson would have a good 2022-23 season for Olsbergs MSE. As he would finish fifth in the championship, and win one event and two battle brackets. Eriksson would also finish in the top five five times. His lowest finish would be eighth which came at rounds two and three. Eriksson would sit just 17 points behind Travis Pastrana who sat in fourth at the season’s end. 

Pushing For A Higher Finish

The Eriksson brothers would have a good 2022-23 Nitrocross season all things considered. As one of them finished in the top five and the other was close to finishing in the top five. Considering Kevin finished seventh after missing two rounds he likely would’ve finished top five or at least sixth if he competed in the first two rounds. For Olsbergs MSE it was a good result, which was helped by a rotating third car. Olsbergs in my opinion is an underdog team to potentially take the Ken Block Memorial Trophy home this season. As both Kevin and Oliver are talented drivers who showed they belong multiple times last season. Even if one of them doesn’t take home the title, one will likely be in the top three to end the season. 

Vermont Sportscar Announces 2023-24 Nitrocross Lineup
Fraser McConnell Returns To Nitrocross

XITE Energy Announce 2023-24 Nitrocross Lineup

Earlier today XITE Energy announced Oliver Bennett and Kris Meeke will compete for the team in the 2023-24 Nitrocross Season.

Meeke’s 2022-23 Season

Kris Meeke was brought in by XITE Energy to begin last season. Meeke filled in for Jenson Button for the first couple rounds. Meeke ended up racing the first two rounds and then missing round 3 and 4 due Jenson Button’s return. Meeke continued in his return for rounds 5, 6 and 7 in place for Button who was struggling to get used to the car on dirt. Due to team orders the team decided to stick with Meeke for the rest of the season as he was comfortable on the surface. Kris Meeke would finish the season ninth in the championship, 74 points behind teammate Oliver Bennett. Meeke, however, didn’t win a round or a battle bracket all season. With his highest finish being third at round six. 

Bennett’s 2022-23 Season

Oliver Bennett had a rather disappointing 2022-23 Nitrocross season for XITE Energy. With the Brit finishing eighth in the championship. Bennett finished in the top five three times last season. With his highest finish being fourth at round four. Bennett came into the season as the favorite to win round one in his home country at Lydden Hill. Bennett only finished in a disappointing ninth at the event. Hopefully, Bennett will have a better season this season, along with some more luck.

Looking For A Better Finish

Both XITE Energy Drivers finished below the top five last season. There wasn’t much hope of Meeke or Button finishing close to the top five as both would miss rounds, regardless if Button took over after round two or not. Meeke also missed the season finale, which didn’t play a whole lot into his final position anyway. As even if Meeke won the event he still would’ve been behind Bennett and finished in ninth. This season will hopefully see both drivers finish higher, but to do that they would need some luck and consistency. Both are things they didn’t seem to have much of last season. As the team DNF’d 4 times, which ties DRR JC for the most DNFs in a season. The difference between the two teams is DRR JC had three drivers, and XITE only had two drivers. 

Vermont Sportscar Announces 2023-24 Nitrocross Lineup

Fraser McConnell Returns To Nitrocross