Scott Speed capped off his return to rallycross by topping qualifying for the Nitro Rallycross season opener at the Utah Motorsports Campus.
After finishing second to Timmy Hansen in timed one-lap qualifying earlier in the day, Speed fought through the ‘Battle Bracket’ to face off against Subaru team-mate and NRX pioneer Travis Pastrana in the final of four rounds of head-to-head racing.
The pair made an equal start to the three-lap final, with Speed holding a slender advantage early on. The blue and yellow Blue Angels-like Subarus flew in formation for the rest of the contest, but with Pastrana twice attempting an undercut on Speed on the first banked hairpin, but to no avail.
On the final lap, Pastrana clipped the tires before the gap jump, ending any hope of passing Speed, who cruised to victory.
The all Subaru, all American qualifying final was set up after Pastrana defeated Steve Arpin, while Olsbergs Ford man Fraser McConnell fell victim to Speed.
Photo: Trevor Lyden/DirtFish Media
Speed also had to beat Kevin Hansen – who in-turn knocked out the third Subaru of Andreas Bakkerud in the opening round – en route to the qualifying bracket final, but had one less opponent, receiving a bye in the first round as a result of his top-two solo run result.
Pastrana meanwhile had to take on Timmy Hansen in a nail biting contest, swapping the lead multiple times on the first lap. Pastrana kept with Hansen for the full three laps, until a broken wheel rim in the joker lap forced Hansen’s retirement.
In the first round, Pastrana also beat Liam Doran by over five seconds, making good use of the Subau’s startline advantage.
Final qualifying order (Supercars)
Scott Speed, Subaru
Travis Pastrana, Subaru
Fraser McConnell, Ford
Steve Arpin, Hyundai
Timmy Hansen, Peugeot
Tanner Foust, Audi
Kevin Hansen, Peugeot
Oliver Bennett, Mini
Kevin Eriksson, Honda
Andreas Bakkerud, Subaru
Liam Doran, Audi
Robin Larsson, Audi
Oliver Eriksson, Ford
Cabot Bigham, Audi
In the NRX NEXT season opener Casper Jansson led from lights to flag, beating a charging Martin Enlund, who raced through a puncture in the closing stages, and Lane Vacala to the win. Eric Gordon, making his rallycross debut, was fourth and the final untroubled runner in the final.
Simon Olofsson, who started on par with Jansson, finished fifth, two laps down after a stoppage, while George Megennis failed to finish, retiring with a puncture after a moment where he was pitched onto two wheels after clipping a tire barrier over the tabletop jump.
Indianapolis 500 regular Sage Karam was set to take part in the final but failed to make the starting grid because of an electrical issue that prevented the #24 Dreyer & Reinbold machine from starting.
Sierra Car’s first final of the weekend was won comprehensively by 2019 ARX3 champion John McInnes.
He rocketed off to an early lead and looked set to take a comfortable victory until he stopped on the last lap.
With OP Andersen closing in, McInnes was able to get his car re-fired in time to complete the victory. Sierra Cars lead designer Andersen remained in second with Ethan Raap third. Two-time Crandon Off-road champion Andrew Carlson retired from the four-car final early on.
