Teenage rally sensation Lia Block will contest this weekend’s Nitrocross season opener in Oklahoma.
The Block House Racing driver has taken this year’s Green APU American Rally Association by storm, winning the Open 2WD class on the last three rounds and currently sits sixth in the overall standings.
The 16-year-old will step outside of stage rallying this weekend, when she competes in Nitrocross’ junior and development formula NEXT. Block will drive a stock four-wheel drive NEXT car (formerly known as the lites class) run by rallycross expert Andreas Eriksson’s Olsbergs MSE firm.
Speaking about the announcement, Block said: “I’m so excited to compete in Nitrocross this season. I’ve gotten a taste of the intense, door-to-door action that Travis and Nitro Circus have cooked up, especially racing side-by-sides last year.
“Now, I look forward to the challenge of stepping things up and battling in the NEXT class against other talent from around the world. This is a true dream come true, after watching my dad race rallycross from such a young age.”
Block is no stranger to wheel-to-wheel racing, having competed in karting.
The Nitrocross opener at MidAmerica Outdoors in Jay this weekend marks her latest step into a series where he father Ken excelled.
A source told DirtFish: “NEXT is the perfect place for Lia to find her feet in Nitrocross. I’m sure there’s going to be a chance for her to test an FC1-X at some point this season, but for now the crucial thing is for her to take her karting racecraft and make that fit on an RX circuit.”
