Nitrocross Glen Helen Produces Seven Winners Across Four Classes
Lia Block becomes first woman to race in Group E; Robin Larsson extends points lead with two podiums
Image via Matt Kalish
Olsbergs MSE’s Oliver Eriksson became the fourth Group E winner in as many events, and DRR/JC’s Robin Larsson extended his championship lead with his third win of the season, as Nitrocross made its triumphant return to Glen Helen Raceway on Saturday and Sunday for a doubleheader. Despite wicked winds that challenged racers on track and in the paddock alike, the California staple produced some of the most exciting racing of the season, with Group E, SXS, and the Baja Bugs producing different winners on each day, and seven winners across eight features overall.
Larsson earned the Top Qualifier belt over Eriksson on Saturday, but Eriksson and his brother Kevin would win the two semifinals to earn front row starting spots for the feature. When the dust settled on the main event, it was Oliver coming out just ahead of Vermont SportsCar’s Conner Martell, who returned to the podium for the first time since Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park last season; Larsson would edge out the elder Eriksson by just .036 seconds for the final podium spot.
Sunday’s big story was series founder Travis Pastrana stepping out of the other Vermont SportsCar ride to make Lia Block the first woman to race Group E in series history. Unfortunately, while she made the final, a power issue in her last chance qualifier prevented her from starting the race. Instead, it was Larsson back on top, holding off Fraser McConnell after a late Joker Lap and extending his points lead to 23 over Kevin Eriksson, who finished third. The other two podium finishers from Saturday weren’t so lucky; Martell suffered an early incident that relegated him to fifth, while Oliver Eriksson took heavy suspension damage and a DNF after a mid-race battle gone awry.
Fans of Pastrana who missed him in the Group E mix needed only to look to the SXS class to see him running up front, though. He took the Saturday win over points leader Kainan Baker, while Baker got back on top of the box on Sunday thanks in part to a battle with Pastrana that saw the latter roll over and recover to finish sixth. Michael Leach would complete the Saturday podium, while Sunday saw former points leader Tyler Remmereid finish second and Gray Leadbetter earn third place after using Joker Lap strategy to get past Brian Deegan in the closing laps. Baker’s win also came just moments after he started his first NEXT final, finishing seventh as he stood in for Block.
It was only NEXT points leader Casper Jansson, fresh off pulling double duty of his own with Group E last month at Wild Horse Pass, who was able to complete a weekend sweep of his class. Jansson’s pair of wins at Glen Helen made for his fourth and fifth in a row, and have him atop a three-way title fight with Sunday runner-up Jimmy Henderson and three-time winner Lane Vacala of BAK40 Motorsports. The trio are now separated by just 14 points heading into the closing events of the year.
That meant that Ryan Rodriguez’s winning streak in the Baja Bugs, which dated back to Utah Motorsports Campus in August, had to come to an end. Rodriguez held off Blake Wilkey on Saturday by just .279 seconds, but they’d swap positions on Sunday, with Wilkey winning by nearly 10 seconds. The duo remain the only two feature winners since Nitrocross introduced the Baja Bugs at Glen Helen earlier this year.
When the calendar flips to 2024, two more events remain in the current campaign: February 2-3’s trip to GMC Stadium in Calgary, and March 1-2’s finale in Las Vegas. From there, it’s a six-month gap until the 2024-25 campaign begins with an all-new event at Richmond Raceway on September 7-8.