What a rollercoaster of a weekend at the Nitrocross 2024-25 season opener! Richmond Raceway was the place to be, and let me tell you, it delivered two days of action that will have Dodge fans talking for weeks. But the real showstopper? The debut of the Dodge Hornet FC1-X in Group E. Talk about making an entrance!
Travis Pastrana (Nitrocross Founder) was overheard saying, “Richmond is my hometown track. For me, putting a huge jump on the front stretch for everyone to see, having freestyle moto-cross demos in between the rounds, and knowing the layout of Richmond and always envisioning there could be a rallycross track here… This is why we chose Richmond as our first event this season.”
DAY ONE
The track was a beast – 1.25 miles of pure adrenaline, mixing dirt and pavement incorporating all of Richmond’s high banks with a huge gap jump on the start-finish straight. Imagine having another car or three flying 20′ above you… DURING THE RACE! Nitrocross takes the phrase “Go Big or Go Home” seriously.
Day one saw last season’s champion, Robin Larsson, dominating Group E, but all eyes were on the sleek new Dodge Hornets tearing up the track. After a rocky start that saw him drop from 2nd to 4th place on lap 1, Fraser McConnell fought his way to a third-place finish in his Hornet F1C-X. After his podium finish, McConnell was pumped about repping the Dodge Hornet R/T, saying, “It looked really good out there.” And he wasn’t wrong – these machines were turning heads left and right.
Day One Group E Results:
P1: Robin Larsson DRR JC Monster Energy Dodge
P2: Oliver Eriksson Team OMSE
P3: Fraser McConnell DRR Dodge
Lia Block finished in P6, and Andreas Bakkerud finished in P7 in their DRR Hornets.
DAY TWO
The Dodge Hornets showed they had what it takes to win!
A change to turn one was the talk of the paddock this morning. After every driver in Group E saw multiple 30g or higher impacts when overshooting the landing on the crossover jump, a chicane was added to slow everyone down and reduce landings to an acceptable impact level.
Fraser McConnell, clearly getting to grips with his new ride, got a blistering start and led into Turn 2. A half-spin in Turn 3 cost him the lead, but the Hornet’s power and agility were on full display as he charged back to a second-place finish. This wasn’t just a new car making up the numbers – the Dodge Hornet was here to compete.
Oliver Eriksson took the win, but the real story was how competitive the Hornets were right out of the gate. Even Robin Larsson, Saturday’s winner, found himself behind one of the newcomers, finishing fourth.
The paddock was buzzing about the Dodge Hornet’s performance. Competitors were already talking about how they might need to up their game to keep pace with these nimble new entries. It’s clear that Dodge didn’t just enter Nitrocross to make up the numbers – they came to win.
So, there you have it, folks. Two days of intense racing, two different winners and the spectacular debut of the Dodge Hornet in Group E. Larsson dominated day one, Eriksson snatched the glory on day two, but the real winner has to be Dodge, Dreyer & Reinbold, and the Nitrocross Series. The Hornet FC1-X made a statement that it is here to shake up the Nitrocross world.
If this is how Nitrocross is kicking off the season, with new challengers already mixing it up at the front, we’re in for one hell of a ride. The next round can’t come soon enough, and you can bet those Dodge Hornets will be right in the thick of the action!
The Nitrocross Series consists of five doubleheader weekends. You can catch the rest of the season and the Dodge Hornet F1C-X swarm at the following tracks through March 2025:
Utah Motorsports Campus in Salt Lake City (Oct. 5-6)
Firebird Motorsports Park near Phoenix (Nov. 15-16)
Miami Marine Stadium (Jan. 11-12)
Las Vegas course (March 1-2)
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