Travis Pastrana Crowned First-Ever Nitro Rallycross Series Champion

SCOTT SPEED AND TIMMY HANSEN FINISH SECOND AND THIRD IN SERIES STANDINGS; CASPER JANSSON WINS NRX NEXT CHAMPIONSHIP

Nitro RX Series Concludes in Thrilling Fashion at North Florida’s The FIRM

(Jacksonville – December 6, 2021) Travis Pastrana (USA)made history clinching the first Nitro Rallycross Supercar championship. The inaugural series culminated Sunday at North Florida’s The FIRM with action-packed, fast-paced racing. After the dust settled, Pastrana’s strong body of work throughout the campaign sealed his win, followed by Subaru Motorsports USA teammate Scott Speed (USA) and Timmy Hansen (SWE).

To kick things off, Pastrana had a special surprise for The FIRM crowd. When he invited NASCAR star Chase Elliott (USA) to join Nitro Rallycross for the Florida finale as a guest driver, Elliott quickly said yes – but had one condition: that Pastrana skydive. On Sunday morning Pastrana made good on his word, jumping from a plane piloted by Elliott. 

Pastrana then went to work, winning a crucial first heat against Kevin Hansen (SWE). Not only did the victory put him directly into the Florida final, it also completed a sweep of his Nitro RX 2021 heats. Speed followed suit, locking in a final spot with a win in his first heat. Elliott then punched his ticket in the semifinal rounds as did Kevin Hansen.

Timmy Hansen set the pace early in the Florida final with Pastrana close behind him. The lead changed hands on the third lap, with Pastrana holding off his challengers until the final lap when he was overtaken coming out of the joker. Timmy Hansen crossed the finish line first followed by his brother Kevin, with Speed taking third.

While today’s race did not go Pastrana’s way, his prior victories in Phoenix and Southern California were enough to win the first Nitro Rallycross Supercar Championship. Afterwards he said, “Thank you to Subaru and thank you to the fans, thank you guys for coming out.”

Pastrana added, “It’s been an amazing year, it exceeded all my expectations as a driver. I want to win as a driver but even more I want Nitro Rallycross to be the best championship out there. Now we have a proven concept. We had the best rallycross drivers in the world, we had NASCAR Cup championship winners like Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott come out. It was a great first year, and I’m even more excited about the future.”

Timmy Hansen congratulated Pastrana on his historic win. “Massive congrats to Travis, not just today for wrapping up the series title but for this whole year. He has been the one to beat at most races and he put this whole championship together, so I couldn’t be happier for anyone.”

2021 Supercar Championship Final Standings:

PositionNameNationTeamSalt Lake CityMinn.PhoenixSo CalNorthFloridaTotal
1Travis PastranaUSASubaru Motorsports USA25+345+250+450+335+2219
2Scott SpeedUSASubaru Motorsports USA30+450+340+145+240+4219
3Timmy HansenSWEHansen World RX Team50+135+145+230+150+3218
4Kevin HansenSWEHansen World RX Team40+140+420+10+445+2157
5Steve ArpinCANLoenbro Motorsports45+210+215+32520+1123
6Tanner FoustUSADreyer Reinbold Racing15+1152525+182
7Robin LarssonSWEMonster Energy RX Cartel25+10+11530+173
8Andrea BakkerudNORSubaru Motorsports USA102040+171
9Fraser McConnellJAMOlsbergs MSE35+230+10+10+271
10Kevin ErikssonSWEOlsbergs MSE0+235+138
11Kyle BuschUSA 3535
12Cabot BighamUSADreyer Reinbold Racing3030
13Oliver ErikssonSWEOlsbergs MSE2050+10+127
14Ronalds BaldinsLATOlsbergs MSE2020
15Chase ElliottUSA 1515
16Oliver BennettGBRXCITE Energy Racing0+11
16Liam DoranGBRMonster Energy RX Cartel0+11

Supercar Final (North Florida):

FinishCar #NameNationTeam
121Timmy HansenSWEHansen World RX Team
29Kevin HansenSWEHansen World RX Team
341Scott SpeedUSASubaru Motorsports USA
4199Travis PastranaUSASubaru Motorsports USA
54Robin LarssonSWEMonster Energy RX Cartel
624Tanner FoustUSADreyer Reinbold Racing
700Steve ArpinCANLoenbro Motorsports
89AChase ElliottUSA 

After an exciting series of NRX Next racing, it also came down to the finale. All eyes were on Casper Jansson (SWE), who came into North Florida in first place and looked to lock up the series title. Sage Karam (USA) took the checkered flag in today’s race, but it was not enough to catch Jansson in the series standings: Karam finished in second and Martin Enlund (SWE) came in third.

Nitro RX showed that the future of Rallycross is bright. Jansson was thrilled with his victory and said, “This is my first season of Rallycross and I’m really happy. I have leveled up very much and I learned a lot.”

2021 NRX Next Championship Final Standings:

PositionNameNationRC1RC2RC3RC4RC5RC6RC7RC8RC9RC10Total
1Casper JanssonSWE50404525204050503045395
2Sage KaramUSA302050505040455050385
3Martin EnlundSWE45455045302525403540380
4George MegennisUSA25503020454545204520345
5Lane VacalaUSA40353540353520352015310
6Eric GordonUSA35252535252030251525260
7Conner MartellUSA403035304035210
8Kyle SchwartzUSA1515253085
9John HoltgerUSA403070
10Simon OlofssonSWE302050

NRX Next Final (Round 10):

FinishCar #NameNationTeam
124Sage KaramUSADreyer Reinbold Racing
236Casper JanssonSWEEnlunds Motorsport
360Martin EnlundSWEEnlunds Motorsport
421Conner MartellUSA 
505Kyle SchwartzUSASTS RX
699Eric GordonUSABak 40 Motorsport
79George MegennisUSA#YellowSquad
855Lane VacalaUSADreyer Reinbold Racing

The special Side-by-Side contest featured a star-studded roster competing in off-road UTVs. Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) earned the victory followed by Kory Willis (USA) and Robbie Maddison (AUS) in second and third place, respectively. Hailie Deegan (USA) narrowly missed out the podium finishing in fourth place.

Side-By-Side Final (Round 4):

#BibNameNation
119Mikaela Ahlin-KottulinskySWE
217Kory WillisUSA
31TRobbie MaddisonAUS
41Hailie DeeganUSA
515Cody MartinUSA
6615Hubert RowlandUSA
7714Tyler VacalaUSA
826Scottie LawrenceUSA
922Blake WilliamsAUS
944Jordan BerzaUSA

Nitro Rallycross looks to come back even stronger in 2022. For information on how and when to experience Nitro RX’s high-flying action, check https://www.nitrorallycross.com/.

2021 NITRO RALLYCROSS SCHEDULE

Sept. 24-25 // Utah Motorsports Campus // Salt Lake City, Utah

Oct. 2-3 // ERX Motor Park // Minneapolis, Minnesota

Nov. 13-14 // Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park // Phoenix, Arizona

Nov. 20-21 // Glen Helen Raceway // Southern California

Dec. 4-5 // The FIRM // North Florida

ABOUT NITRO RALLYCROSS

Launched in 2018 by motorsports icon Travis Pastrana and the innovators of Nitro Circus, Nitro Rallycross has revolutionized motorsport. With innovative purpose-built courses, banked turns inspired by the wide-open action of Supercross and short-form, head-to-head competition, Nitro Rallycross creates high-impact, thrill-packed racing. NRX’s custom-built permanent tracks – featuring the biggest jumps seen in motorsports – create unrivaled racing excitement. The full-throttle competition is now set to go global, as Nitro Rallycross expands into a full standalone championship series. Looking ahead to 2022, NRX will also add an electric Supercar circuit featuring the all-new FC1-X, the most powerful Rallycross vehicle ever built. For more information, visit NitroRallycross.com.

Nitro Rallycross is part of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment. Thrill One is a next-generation content company that lives at the nexus of sports, entertainment and lifestyle, combining the resources of Nitro Circus, Street League Skateboarding, Nitro Rallycross and Thrill One Media. A multi-media platform founded in 2020, Thrill One is dedicated to creating mind-blowing action sports events and original content, fueled by the most daring athletes, talent and brands in thrill-based entertainment. It also boasts one of the largest aggregate social audiences in action sports, with more than 40 million followers across its multiple brand pages and channels. Visit thrillone.com/ for additional information.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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