Nitro Rallycross, the series masterminded by Travis Pastrana and Nitro Circus, will launch its inaugural season at the Utah Motorsports Campus in September and will take in five different venues across four months.
The series has become a standalone championship of its own and will kick off its first campaign at the home of Nitro Rallycross across the weekend of 24-25 September.
The following weekend will see Nitro Rallycross race at Wild West Motorsports Park in Nevada before taking in ERX Motor Park near Minneapolis in Minnesota on 9-10 October. A month break follows before the series arrives at Wildhorse Motorsports Park in Arizona on 13-14 November, with the season concluding 4-5 December at the Florida International Rally & Motorsports Park (The FIRM).
“It is so awesome to see the momentum building for Nitro Rallycross,” said rallycross legend Pastrana. “The reaction from teams has been fantastic.
“We’ve already confirmed more supercar entrants than ever before in an NRX event. Building four all new, unique and crazy tracks for this year to go along with Utah Motorsports Campus is something all of us have been working toward for years.
“It’s going to be round after round of new challenges and excitement.”
Pastrana says the intention of Nitro Rallycross is to push the boundaries of the possible, and this will see a lot of high-octane, high-flying action both at a professional level but also with NRX NEXT, which is aimed at the up-and-coming talent.
“With Nitro Rallycross, we are looking to redefine what’s possible and to do it as safely as we can,” added Pastrana. “Pushing the envelope on such unique and high-flying courses requires time and practice.
“Now, having access to these tracks gives teams the chance to test the new jumps, learn more about the different surfaces and find new lines, ultimately giving drivers the confidence to open it up on race day.”
The different venues will all offer different challenges to the drivers, with desert tracks, mountains and wetlands all being taken into account, and all will push the drivers hard in cars with incredible acceleration rates. The 600 HP supercars can out-accelerate a Formula 1 car!
Joe Carr, the CEO of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, which is the parent company of Nitro Rallycross, says he believes NRX is the future of motorsport, and the five-race series will usher in a ‘new era’ of rallycross in the United States.
“We truly believe that NRX is the future of motorsport and our 2021 series will usher in a new era of rallycross in North America and beyond,” said Carr.
Plans are already afoot to expand the series to ten rounds in 2022, with a winter race in Canada already in advanced stages of negotiations. The expansion is also set to see the series branch out into Europe and the Middle East.
Red Bull has already extended their partnership with Nitro Rallycross, while Yokohama will return as the official tyre supplier. Subaru Motorsports USA have come in as a series sponsor, while long-term sponsor O’Reilly Auto Parts has expanded its own commitment to the series.
The championship is set to be broadcast in the United States on Peacock via peacocktv.com, while additional content will be broadcast on NBCSN. Plans for viewing the series in over 140 other countries are still in motion.
“With our fans being predominantly young and digitally-savvy, a streaming leader like Peacock is the perfect home for us,” said Carr. “We are excited to partner with NBCU across both their streaming and linear platforms for our 2021 season.”
