Andreas Bakkerud ended a winless streak stretching across two seasons to win the third round of the 2024-25 Nitrocross season at Utah Motorsports Campus.
The Dreyer & Reinbold JC driver started the Final from pole position alongside teammate Robin Larsson, with both having won their heats and semifinals and the two choreographed their start to perfection to remain one-two after the first corner.
Behind them in the battle for third, Fraser McConnell — in a third DRR JC machine — made contact with Conner Martell at the joker merge, McConnell having taken the alternate lap along with Kevin Eriksson and Tanner Foust on that first tour. Martell prevailed, while Oliver Eriksson took advantage of the bump to move up to second, having started the Final from last place after advancing with the Last Chance Qualifier.
While they were formation flying at the front, the duel between the Monster Energy-branded DRR Dodges at the front was far from settled. By the second lap, Larsson began to apply the pressure. Bakkerud responded with a string of session best sector times on lap three.
Martell, meanwhile, had closed up to both as they headed onto their fourth and final lap. All three were set to take the joker on that final tour, but Martell missed it, destroying his hopes of a first podium of the season.
That handed an unlikely podium to Richmond Day 2 winner Oliver Eriksson. Martell was eventually classified seventh after being handed a 30-second penalty for his indiscretion, behind McConnell, Kevin Eriksson, and Tanner Foust.
The final should have been an eight-car affair, but Viktor Vranckx didn’t take the start after suffering a motor failure five minutes before the final.
Lia Block was the other absentee from the final after losing out in the LCQ to Foust and Eriksson. Foust began the day as top qualifier, but a third in his heat and a fourth in his semifinal meant he was unable to fully capitalize on his strong start to the day.
With third in Saturday’s main event, Oliver Eriksson maintains the points lead, but his advantage shrinks from 11 points to just five ahead of Larsson, who gained 10 points on the OMSE driver. McConnell maintains third, while Bakkerud’s stellar day moves him up to fourth overall.
RESULTS
Tommi Hallman won the first Nitrocross NEXT Evo final of the weekend, after gapping a hard-charging Mitchell De Jong in the first half of the race.
De Jong resisted a late challenge from Casper Jansson, and repassed the Swede with two turns to go to lock in second place. Jansson, who was the only one of the leaders to not joker on lap one, initially lost time on the top-two by battling Patrick Gruszka for third, but was able to recover to challenge De Jong on the final lap when he jokered himself and closed the gap.
In Side-by-Sides, Travis Pastrana defeated Cash LeCroy for the win, with Jacob Geisendorff completing the podium. Pastrana made a poor start, but held the lead as early challenger Kainan Baker jokered. Pastrana took the alternate lap on his next tour, and thanks to a cleaner run through it than Baker, was able to keep ahead.
A broken rear toe link prevented Baker from maintaining his charge, with Geisendorff snatching the final podium place as Baker came to a brief halt after a half spin coming off the “Talladega berm” after the joker merge.
Hailie Deegan was fourth on her return to Nitrocross, having made the final via the LCQ, which put her at the back of the eight-car final grid.
After an aborted start, which cost Lucy Block and Jim Jork, Greg Shapiro was victorious. Scotty Lasater had a sizable lead at the end of the opening lap, but a fastest lap for Shaprio allowed him to close in and get by. Lasater ultimately had to settle for second, with Joe Terrana rounding out the podium.
