Snapshots: Nitro Rallycross at Glen Helen
Images via Matt Kalish
The 2022-23 Nitro Rallycross season wraps up later today at Glen Helen Raceway with the 10th and final round of action of the inaugural Group E season, the NRX NEXT World Finals, the return of the Van Prix, and much more. Here’s a look at some of the key moments of the event so far—be sure to tune in to Peacock this afternoon to see who will win the championships!
Robin Larsson has been a force to be reckoned with in the NRX Group E standings since winning the season opener at Lydden Hill, but the pressure of the series’ first-ever tripleheader weekend hasn’t been kind to him. A DNF in the Friday feature and fourth place on Saturday have allowed his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing teammates, Andreas Bakkerud and Fraser McConnell, to close the gap coming into the final round.
2021 Supercar champion Travis Pastrana is mathematically still eligible, too, although he’ll have the steepest hill to climb at more than 50 points back. Not only will he need another win and points-heavy day like he had on Saturday, he’ll also likely need Larsson to miss Sunday’s final. Nonetheless, giving the late Ken Block’s snow camo livery a win at Glen Helen was a long-awaited and cathartic moment for everyone on Saturday night.
One week after winning her class in the Mint 400, Sara Price is pulling double duty at NRX in both the side-by-side and Class 11 races. The former Chip Ganassi Racing Extreme E driver is facing off in SXS against her replacement, Amanda Sorensen, and is teamed up with UFC legend Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the buggies.
It was all smiles from NRX Next Europe champion Tommi Hallman on Saturday night after winning the first of two finals on the weekend. Hallman paired up with Team Faren for the one-off event.
The same goes for Bakkerud on Friday as he took his first win since Strangnas in Sweden over the summer…
…and Pastrana on Saturday, who got up close and personal with the thousands of fans who cheered him on to victory.
A surprise—but effective—addition to the Group E field came in Timo Scheider, who replaced Kris Meeke at Xite Energy Racing due to injury. Scheider impressed by spending time out front on Friday and earning a podium in his first race in the car.
But Cerrone may be the most famous crossover name in the field. One of the winningest fighters in UFC history, he’s since transitioned into off-road racing, kicking off his career at the Mint 400 and now running a full-time UTV Pro Unlimited program before jumping into Class 11s for this weekend.
Olsbergs MSE won the most two recent Group E finals on snow—with Oliver Eriksson (shown here) at Trois-Rivieres and Kevin Eriksson in the non-points Calgary Stampede event. In their return to dirt, Oliver led the team with a fourth place on Friday, while Kevin returned the team to the podium by finishing second to Pastrana on Saturday.
While the Class 11s aren’t taking NRX’s signature gap jump, that doesn’t mean they aren’t hitting the skies. Friday race winner Blake Wilkey shows off with a little air time.
Although he never ran a race in Group E, Ken Block’s presence permanently altered rally events of all kinds for the better. NRX was among the first sanctioning bodies to retire his number 43, and the series announced this weekend that it would also rename its championship trophy in honor of Block. Pastrana has been carrying one of Block’s vintage paint schemes since Trois-Rivieres, while Block’s daughter Lia is also running the same look at this weekend’s 100 Acre Wood Rally.