The by Travis Pastrana and Nitro Circus in 2018 created Nitro Rallycross series announced on Friday (March 12) a calendar with five races in North America for its 2021 season. This follows the news back in December about Nitro Rallycross expanding to a standalone championship series (see this article).
Five events, to take place in four months, are currently scheduled with the series opener on September 24-25 at the Utah Motorsports Campus at Tooele, UT – the home of Nitro Rallycross. Then two consecutive race weekends are planned on October 2-3 and October 9-10 at respectively Wild West Motorsports Park at Sparks, NV and ERX Motor Park at Elk River, MN.
Afterwards the series moves on to Wildhorse Pass Motorsports Park at Chandler, AZ for the penultimate event on November 13-14 before heading to Florida for the season finale on December 4-5 at Florida International Rally & Motorsports Park (Starke, FL).
According to the organizer each stop will feature vast purpose-built tracks incorporating innovative course designs, mixed surfaces and the biggest jumps in the sport.
“It is so awesome to see the momentum building for Nitro Rallycross,” Travis Pastrana, creator of Nitro Rallycross said.
“The reaction from teams has been fantastic. We’ve already confirmed more Supercar entrants than ever before in an NRX event [no details were provided however].
“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.”
Joe Carr, CEO of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, holding company of Nitro Rallycross, adds, “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.”
Each event will also include a separate ‘NRX Next’ competition to provide the next generation of emerging talent an opportunity to hone their skills in this pioneering new motorsport discipline. ‘NRX Next’ will be in the same philosophy and similar to the RX2 series in the FIA World Rallycross Championship during the past seasons.
Drivers from both ranks will also have the opportunity to train on NRX’s courses year-round, ramping up progression further still, since all tracks will be a permanent addition to each facility.
Travis Pastrana explains further: “With Nitro Rallycross, we are looking to redefine what’s possible and to do it as safely as we can,” he said.
“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.”
In 2022 the global expansion of the series is set to continue. A 10-race series is planned for 2022 with a winter race in Canada to add ice and snow to the conditions the drivers will face. Additional races will follow before the action shifts across the Atlantic to Europe and the Middle East.
Following the move to ‘electric’ in Motorsport. Also with the 2022 series the introduction of a transformational electric SUV Supercar class is foreseen.
In the United States people can watch the series for free on Peacock – NBCUniversal’s streaming service – providing up to eight hours of streaming for each event. In addition, a one-hour highlight show will air after each race on NBCSN.
“With our fans being predominantly young and digitally-savvy, a streaming leader like Peacock is the perfect home for us.” Joe Carr said. “We are excited to partner with NBCU across both their streaming and linear platforms for our 2021 season.”
For viewers outside the United States series organizer said to have in place already distribution deals in over 140 countries following partnerships with Tencent, beIN Sports and SuperSport.
The racing series also mentioned that foundational partner Red Bull has extended their multi-year alliance while another foundational sponsor, Yokohama, also returns, expanding their involvement to become the official tire partner for the series. Subaru Motorsports USA – which has participated in NRX from the beginning, with drivers like Travis Pastrana and Scott Speed – is now joining as a series sponsor. Returning sponsor O’Reilly Auto Parts has also significantly increased their commitment.
Details for fans about attending events in-person and ticket sales were not (yet) provided.