Robin Larsson won the second part of Nitrocross’ Utah double-header after a bizarre scenario where his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC RX Cartel teammate Andreas Bakkerud failed to take the mandatory joker lap.
Bakkerud crossed the line first at the end of the four-lap final, but after not completing one tour of the longer route on the course, was hit with a 30-second penalty that relegated him to fifth.
Larsson’s win was his first of the season, but it was Kevin Eriksson who was in control for much of the final after resisting an early challenge from Bakkerud. Larsson led half the field into the joker on the first lap, and was then able to take advantage of the clear air that afforded him to overhaul Eriksson on the final lap and cross the line 0.337s in front of the Olsbergs MSE driver.
Bakkerud’s penalty allowed Tanner Foust to move up to the podium too, his first in Nitrocross since the 2018 Nitro World Games.
Fraser McConnell was classified fourth ahead of Bakkerud, bouncing back from a disappointing Friday where he missed the final entirely, while Conner Martell was sixth and Oliver Bennett seventh – another driver to make the main after missing out on Friday. Oliver Eriksson was classified eighth after retiring from the final on the first lap with a mechanical issue.
Ahead of the final, Kevin Eriksson was the top qualifier in the morning, allowing him to skip the heat races which were won by Benito Guerra – who prevailed in an attritional race where Bennett struggled with visibility after sustaining damage and Pastrana retired after contact with McConnell that resulted in the Jamaican driver being excluded – and Martell.