RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Raceway holds a special place in Travis Pastrana's heart. It's the track where he made his NASCAR debut in 2012 and now it's the track where he will showcase the plans he has worked on for a long time.
Nitrocross will take over Richmond Raceway on Sept. 7-8 as the Virginia short track near Pastrana's hometown of Annapolis, Maryland, transforms into a half-dirt, half-asphalt playground for the series where cars fly.
"(I) just always had thought, like, what if you took the big semi rigs out of the infield," Pastrana said last weekend at Richmond. "And you could build the track through there, you can put some jumps.
"And the whole open area right up front makes it so we can have that over-under cross right in front of the crowd. I'm sure there's other great NASCAR venues for that, but this is just the one that's always been in my head."
What’s better than having tickets for the NX season opener? 🤔
Having VIP Experience tickets for the NX season opener 😎 pic.twitter.com/XkX2RHLVhX— Nitrocross (@Nitrocross_) August 1, 2024
Nitrocross has featured venues with a variety of purpose-built tracks. Some, such as Wild Horse Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Arizona, have entirely featured dirt. Others have had a mix of dirt and asphalt.
Nitrocross has even featured races where the drivers competed entirely on snow.
"I think it gives you a good mix of everything," said Amanda Sorensen, who competes in the side-by-side class. "When it comes to asphalt, you're really balancing the grip levels there, and then you get on dirt where you have no traction.
"So it kind of challenges the teams as well as the drivers, to adapt to the conditions. But not only that, dirt as a whole is always changing. You have blue groove tracks. You have wet tracks. ...It kind of keeps it very entertaining, keeps the drivers on their toes."
The difference in racing surface is not the only way in which Nitrocross separates itself from other motorsports series. The schedule includes multiple classes of cars competing throughout the day in shorter events. This isn't an endurance series or even one like NASCAR where races take three or four hours to complete.
"Nitrocross is kind of more for the ADHD crowd," Pastrana said. "It's in your face. It's a bunch of short-duration, kind of sprint races."
These shorter races will be put on full display this fall as Nitrocross takes over one of NASCAR's short tracks. The expectation is that this weekend of racing at The Action Track will provide entertainment for the fans and drivers alike.
There is also a belief that it could lead to events at other NASCAR tracks across the country.
"Without a doubt," Pastrana said. "There's a lot of talks, and there's a lot of drivers and a lot of teams that are talking about this. They kind of jumped in when Global Rallycross started and we got a lot of interest.
"And we found out a lot of ways that we can't run a series. With Dana White and with the backing that we have, with the classes that we have, with the entertainment that we have, we truly believe that this sport is here to stay."