Nitro RALLYCROSS
Nitro Rallycross (NRX) is a rallycross racing series based in the United States. It was founded in 2019 by rallycross driver Travis Pastrana and the Nitro Circus production, with the first season beginning in 2021. The United States Auto Club is the sanctioning body for the championship.
NRX began in 2018 with a single event at Utah Motorsports Campus, with a custom-built circuit that featured the world's largest manufactured jump and the world's most exhilarating permanent rallycross course, complete with a three-way crossover jump, banked dirt turns, and more. Each year, select European standouts join America's top contenders in a winner-take-all clash among the world's best drivers and vehicles.
Tanner Foust, Scott Speed, Ken Block, Timmy Hansen, Mattias Ekstrom, and Travis Pastrana are among the drivers competing in the races. The first-ever NRX podium was won by Hansen, Ekstrom, and Foust in 2018. Kevin and Timmy Hansen took first and third place, respectively, in 2019, while Patrik Sandell came in second.
TRACKS:
NRX courses are designed with a variety of surfaces and jumps. These one-of-a-kind courses have dirt, high-banked turns, and big jumps. The series also competes on "short course" dirt courses like Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Arizona, previously used in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series.
The series extended for the second season in 2022–23 to include races in Canada, Saudi Arabia, and England's Lydden Hill Race Circuit.
FORMAT:
The main Supercar class, the NEXT developing category, and the electric Group E class compete on race weekends.
NEXT has two races per weekend, while Supercars only have one. A weekend is divided into two days, the first of which is reserved for qualifying and the second for racing.
After single-lap qualifying, drivers are matched into battles, which are bracket tournaments where the winner receives a point in the championship. The bracket winner receives pole position for the following day's races.
The second day consists of a series of qualifying races leading up to the final, with the top two finishers in each race proceeding to the final. Eight cars compete in the first two heat races, which last five laps each, while the remaining drivers compete in two semi-final races. The final features ten cars, with points awarded in five-point increments starting with 50 for the winner. The Last Chance Qualifier is for drivers who did not qualify for the final through the heats and semi-finals.