Andreas Bakkerud made history as the first driver to win both finals in a double-header weekend at Nitrocross at Utah Motorsports Campus on Sunday.
Just like on Saturday, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing JC driver Bakkerud started the final from pole position and took teammate Robin Larsson into the first corner. From there, the duo held their positions for the remaining four main laps.
Larsson, however, faced intense pressure from Conner Martell in the last two laps, a duel that resulted in a big crash for Martell, also involving Lia Block.
Approaching the final corner, Larsson and Martell were side by side with the Vermont SportsCar driver opening up and hitting the wall of the pit lane. The resulting dust cloud covered the entire start/finish straight, leaving Block with zero visibility and she crashed into Martell’s stricken machine at full speed.
The crash gave Oliver Eriksson third place, securing a repeat podium from Saturday. Eriksson avoided a DRR podium sweep by getting past Fraser McConnel on the final lap, after Jokering a lap later than the Jamaican who had spun out.
Tanner Foust overcame the late-race crash to finish fourth, while Block was classified fifth after limping across the finish line, with Kevin Eriksson in sixth after being pushed off the track immediately after merging from the Joker on the first lap following contact with McConnell.
McConnell was seventh after the race, with Martell classified eighth – although he had set the fastest lap before retiring.
Larsson now takes the points lead with a 12-point advantage over Oliver Eriksson, while Bakkerud’s consecutive wins mean he now sits in third in the standings, 28 behind the top spot.
FINAL RESULTS OF NITROCROSS SALT LAKE CITY II
Mitchell De Jong dominated Sunday’s Nitrocross NEXT EVO final, after coming out of the first corner on the first lap in the lead. He and Tommi Hallman went into the corner side by side, with De Jong getting the upper hand.
Hallman then had to defend against Casper Jansson, with the Finn managing to hold onto second, ahead of the current NEXT champion.
Kainan Baker won the second Side-by-Side final of the weekend after passing Kory Willis by alternating his Joker strategy, leaving it late to take the alternative path. Banks Hovey, another late joker taker, finished second, while Gray Leadbetter came in third.
Oliver Flemente won the second Baja Bugs final of the weekend, ahead of Kyle Zirkus and Nick Eisenhouer.
