McConnell, Janson, Pastrana take win at Glen Helen Nitro RX

Fraser McConnell backed up his first top qualifying result at Glen Helen Raceway to claim his first victory in the premier Nitro Rallycross Group E category.

McConnell started the final from pole after taking an early heat win on Sunday and withstood a start-line challenge from fellow Dreyer & Reinbold JC driver Robin Larsson to hold on to an early advantage.

However, when Larson decided to take the wild card on the second of six laps, he got some fresh air and started to take time out from McConnell. On the fourth lap, McConnell responded with a 6.1s lead over Larsson, who was fourth behind Bakkerd and Oliver Eriksson, who was also not kidding yet.

On the last lap, the leading three finally took a longer route. McConnell passed Larson, and Larson and Monster Energy RX Cartel co-driver Bakkerud collided in Turn 4 just after the merge.

Larsson took the win to take his third consecutive runner-up finish, continuing his streak of top-three finishes, while Bakkerud settled for third, securing his third DRR JC podium finish in three rounds.

Oliver Bennett took his best place of the year in fourth place, taking advantage of the last corner to bring together the Olsbergs MSE duo of Kevin and Oliver Eriksson.

Conner Martell finished the final heats in seventh place on a hot weekend for his Vermont SportsCar team. A gearbox problem meant he had to battle with only four-wheel drive in first and second gear and only rear-wheel drive in third gear to make the final.

However, he had a better result than teammate Travis Pastrana, who crashed out of the first heat and was unable to restart the car. He then crashed into the wall in his semi-final, requiring extensive repairs, which meant he couldn’t make it to the grid in time for the Last Chance Qualifier, ruling him out of this weekend. With Jenson Button withdrawing and only nine cars entered prior to this, a start in the LCQ would have secured him last place.

At NRX NEXT, George Megennis looked set for his second win of the double weekend in the Development class after winning the opening heat and taking pole in the final. A strong start for 2021 champion Kasper Jansson saw the two take the first three turns back-to-back.

A late wildcard call by Megenis on the first lap gave both men space, but it was Jansson who made the most of it to take the win away from Megenis and Jimmy Henderson.

​​​​​​​While his weekend in the top class was one to forget, at Side-by-Sides Travis Pastrana was able to salvage something by winning the second class final of the weekend. He won after a racing battle with Grégoire Michaud.

However, the final was initially red-flagged due to incidents on the first lap involving Brian Deegan and Letizia Buffoni. Deegan battled Pastrana for the race lead at the start but then crashed at Turn 4, one turn after Pastrana himself nearly went over, while Buffoni’s day ended early after she suffered damage to the left front of her own inclination.