Unique auto racing event coming to Las Vegas in March

Action sports star Travis Pastrana highlights the Nitrocross season finale race planned for this spring in Las Vegas.

The race is scheduled to take place March 1 and 2 at a space located behind Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood. Nitrocross and Caesars entered into a multiyear agreement to host the race there.

Nitrocross combines short-form racing and action sports on tracks that feature jumps and banked turns, to add an excitement level most race circuits can’t provide, according Brett Clarke, chief revenue officer of Thrill One Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of Nitrocross

“It’s a really unique form of racing,” Clarke said. “It’s short-form racing. So every heat takes about 5-6 minutes. Every 15 minutes there’s a new race on the line. It’s a completely different experience to NASCAR or Formula One or anything else that most fans have seen.”

The event will have a festival-like feel, with Nitro Circus action sports demonstrations, activities for fans and live music throughout the weekend. Details about which musical acts and other details will be released at a later date.

Nitrocross is under the Thrill One Sports and Entertainment umbrella, which also includes Nitro Circus, Street League Skateboarding and Superjacket Productions.

UFC President Dana White and Red Rock Resorts Vice Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta purchased Thrill One last year. They have since begun looking at adding events in Las Vegas, where they’re based. Last year they held a Street League Skateboarding event at UFC Apex.

Pastrana has a long history in Las Vegas, taking part in the first U.S. Nitro Circus show held at MGM Grand and successfully jumping the Caesars fountains in 2018.

“Vegas is where you want to be as far as spectacle,” Pastrana said. “You get a lot of crowd that comes out there from all over, not just the local audience… This is kind of a rebirth for Nitro in general, Nitro Circus and Nitrocross. So we’re really looking forward to making this a staple (event).”

Each event is part of a full standalone series featuring four racing classes, headlined by Group E, where the likes of Pastrana, Robin Larsson, Tanner Foust and Conor Daly battle it out on the ground and in the air in the FC1-X electric race car. Those vehicles are custom built by Nitrocross. They feature 1,000 horsepower and go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.4 seconds.

“For me it took me a few rounds, a few test sessions, before I could keep the wheels from spinning out,” Pastrana said. “It was the first time I’ve been in a racing series where it wasn’t which team could make the more power, it’s completely up to the driver.”

The other racing classes are the Next, which is a support class to Group E and is headlined by Lia Block, daughter of late rally driving legend Ken Block. The SXS (side-by-side) and the Baja Bug class round out the race classes.

With the multiyear agreement in place with Caesars Entertainment for the space, Nitrocross will build out and deconstruct their course and festival ground each year.

“We’ll bring in dirt and bleachers and surfaces to build the track and bring in all the fan amenities and the fan elements,” Clarke said. “We’ll build that track and it will be a fully fledged racing circuit and event site. Within four or five days after the event we will return the parking lots as they currently are. … Unlike a Formula One (track) that takes months to build, we’ll be in-and-out in about 18 days.”

There will be different ticketing options for fans from general admission to VIP hospitality spaces, with tickets starting at around $30 each day.

To finally secure Las Vegas for the series’ season finale is a relief for all involved, including Pastrana, as he sees the city not just as the epicenter of racing, but professional sports in general.

“For us it’s been a long time coming,” said Pastrana, who founded the racing series in 2018. “We’ve really been trying to get Vegas as our final round… We wanted to show that we could take a full-scale Nitrocross track and put it in a city environment and still make it as spectacular, if not more spectacular than we can with dirt and hills.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.