I just wanna say I'm so happy that there's an American content creator covering this sport. I love RX and I'm always happy to see someone else sharing the passion.
For a sport that's as fast paced and action packed as rallycross and a world where the ppls attention spans are basically non existent now It's wild how rallycross isn't more popular when it honestly deserves it.
@@guidemissile1494I think the problem with the sport is the car lack any features that is unique than each other For example the sounds of the car or the looks of the car itself
I went to a Nitrocross race in 21, when they were still using the petrol cars, and went to one last year to see the electric cars. Gotta say, the electric cars didn't move me. The most exciting race was the baja bug class. To me they died when they got rid of supercars.
Agreed. There's just something about electric race cars that doesn't move me the way gas-powered ones do. And to top if off, it became a spec series, which just added to the indifference.
Booked a flight to Miami RIGHT before they announced the cancellation of the series this year. It was supposed to be for a friend's birthday so now we're just gonna go indoor karting and hang out at his house for those two days.
@DriveLineRX I mean, I was just interested in watching cars go vroom lmao. He’s at least coming with me to Formula Drift in 2025 so we’ll get to have some fun then.
I think the big problem is there wasn't any interest from TV networks, and obviously the change to EV was probably more expensive than they accounted for
remember the subaru team was the *only* factory team in 2021. hell the only one after 2018. the audi and peugeot teams were jc racetecnik and team hansen (then privateer teams who were using the old works wrx cars), and after '21 hansen went back to europe to focus on the new wrx regulations and jc stuck around and bought 4(then more) fc1's. The remaining teams switched to the fc1 because the fc1 wasn't tearing whole corners off of the car when landing the huge nitro jumps. An RX1 is a circuit racing car that happens to jump, not a car designed to jump. They are not rally cars. this was why the factory subarus were the only models in 2021 to not really suffer any race ending mechanical failures, they had the finance and workshop to develop rally car suspension and systems into their rallycross car. A luxury the privateer teams did not have For what it is worth, mr. chip pankow (the nitrocross general manager) has been disappeared from the thrillone media website's list of executives, and has made his accounts private. I suppose this is the "management change" the press release mentions. The man who has previously headed up the likes of.....Roborace. yeehhh
I feel like everyone forgets that Subaru was trash pre 2019. It doesn't matter how much manufacture support you have, so long as your team is capable of learning and improving. That's why I'd argue the Hansen's were on par with Subaru in 2021. I actually have not heard of Chip Pankow before but since he was involved with Roborace, there's no way he should be meddling with an actual racing series. Hopefully RallyX Americas Leauge can get some better management than him.
@@DriveLineRXwas also the founder of GRC back when.....not that there *was* a correlation, I don't know enough to say that Subaru in Nitro Rallycross 2021 reads just like Toyota in LMP1 imo. Last man standing. Them turning up with their semi trucks, foldaway hospitality areas and army of rally mechanics compared to every other supercar team working out of a shipping crate. It is commendable that Timmy was in championship contention when he was DNF'ing qualifying races with suspension failures and the like. Member the "slow race" from Phoenix with him and Larsson Way I see it if RallyX can't make american rallycross work then no one can. they have been doing this since 2015 and only now are they making a "global" move. OMSE and the Erikssons (who run Rallyx) might not have the world championships or drivers titles but they have built the one "constant" in modern RX
I can't wait for next year, I simply wanna see how rallyX will expand in Europe and America, it's just a nice series, and as you said, it's free, it has a nice coverage, and if you tell me, rallyX is the perfect competitor against World RX, It has soo many categories, soo many drivers, soo many circuits, its just too good. And above all, It is free. It's perfect for Rallycross fans like me, it's too good. Thanks for the video buddy, I'll wait for your next one! P.s.: I wanna add one thing, other than RallyX new season, I'm excited for the new Extreme H season, I don't know what you think about it or if you even know about it, and if you do, i hope you will make a video about, i found it a good racing series. Thanks again for your time DriveLine!
Thank you! I think the RallyX and World Rallycross competition could easily send rallycross back into the spotlight. As far as Extreme E/H goes though, I don't really have any strong opinions on it. They need a stronger schedule, considerably better advertising, and they could've let the hydrogen cars race the electric cars. Regardless it'll be interesting to see how the Hydrogen cars handle the tracks.
Honestly I'd rather have them merged. One world wide series. Its a problem with many on dirt motorsports, see motocross. You got basically all talent in MXGP, but then you got arguably 2-3 riders in AMA which could compete, Tomac even at the top
Yep. Spec-chassis with electric motors are killing manufacturer involvement and sponsor involvement, as well as fan engagement. People interested in electric vehicles are not interested in motorsports and vice versa.
I did. I stopped following Nitrocross the minute they announced that their main class would be EVs only. Spec ones, at that. It felt like they just stripped away a big part of the appeal of rallycross- the engines and the exhausts popping. The decision for World RX and Nitrocross to go all EV just seemed more baffling when IMSA and WEC went to hybrids with great success so far. Even BTCC and WRC opted for hybrids and managed to maintain a consistent following by choosing hybrids- they seem like the best balance between excitement and innovation. Even as someone who watches and likes Formula E, I don't think making the main classes in the top rallycross championships in the world all-electric was the right move. The organic popularity for EVs just doesn't seem to be there. Those who like them mostly seem to buy them for practicality rather than recreation, and from dedicated manufacturers like Tesla or Rivian. There didn't seem to be enough of a crossover between EV and motorsports fans to justify making the only US rallycross series in this case all electric. It felt like the appeal of diverse sounds and machines that made GRC and 2021 Nitro Rallycross so great for me was just being replaced for no real reason. If they really wanted to race EVs, Nitrocross should have just given them their own standalone series, or at least allowed them to race against ICE and hybrid cars like World RX does now. Making them the main class turned me away for good.
@@deeperatmosphere Hyundai recently entered a pair of Ioniq N EV racecars in the Exhibition class of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb this year. You would not have known they were electric if you only identified them by their sound. They sounded like a superbike or an old CART open wheel car and weren't at all silent like most EVs. If Nitrocross was set on doubling down on EVs, they could have done something similar with the spec Olsbergs Group E car. It's disappointing the idea seemingly wasn't at least considered. Preserving an appealing engine sound, even if the cars were electric, might have helped them keep more traditionalist fans who got into rallycross because of things like the sound.
Great video man! The history of american rallycross is nuts... I'll never forget the golden era around 2012 when it felt like it was the next big thing. Going to watch GRC in Charlotte with multiple factory teams and a packed crowd was amazing. The format will always be great, we just need the right promoter to put it together again.
Was a big fan of GRC and ARX. This series never really caught on with me, however. Never had a problem with the series going Electric. Didn't like that there were no manufactures. Would have been cool to see a Ford Mustang Mach E Rallycross car. Also was so bummed when they brought back the gap jumps. The 2012 X Games soured me on them. Not to mention, airing the races on Rumble was a bad decision as well. Do hope that Rally X Americas can bring a lot of success and stability that is much needed for the region.
Couple of points I wanna make: 1 - great video, very good audio quality, care and attetion which is often forgotten, nice content selection to ilustrate what you are talking about as well as just the right amount of humor for my taste. Keep at it, you will surely grow from here, only way possible is up tbh. Earned a sub 100%. Great job! 2 - I feel the nitrocross has suffered from the bad side of "americanism", from an european motorsport loving POV I honestly think the series got all the bad things from today's more internet focused society and got rid of the good things, motorsport is still a bit of a purist sport, if you take away what people are used to you take away what they like and more often than not people will likely gravitate to other things they like instead of giving things that are changing a chance. This being said, rallycross is probably my favorite motorsport and I can only but imagine what america could be able to achive if it did it right, I think the AMA and Supercross series is a great example of what nitrocross could really be compared to the rallycross scene. Much love
Seeing Dana White, Rumble, and Public Square as collaborators on Nitrocross should’ve been a red flag from the start. Evidently, none of them know how to profit or make good decisions.
yeah, i like racing saw some of what nitrocross was doing passively and thought it was cool, but seeing rumble in the top corner there was a red flag for me too. Turns out the Anti-woke stream guys might be scaring the advertisers and public square is ran by weird ideological freaks too. i know a lot of ppl are gonna get after me about "politics" here but i really don't think advertisers like being shown on a platform that hosts Nick "Your Body, My Choice" Fuentes.
It's not even the political beliefs of who run the companies, it's their angle is exploiting those beliefs. Why should I think that anyone there gives a shit about the series?
As an englishman, I was actually proper pleased when the NRX (calling it that cause its better) was coming to Lydden, it actually prompted me to get into motorsport photography, too. The FC1-X's are absolute weapons on tracks like that, but it's a MAJOR shame that they fumbled the bag, especially with the saudi round we was meant to get
Once they became basic electric specs cars, I never watched another event. I absolutely LOVED 2021 & all the previous years back to GRC. Hope future series learns.
Stadium super trucks would be awesome on these tracks along with the petrol cars. I was disappointed when they went all electric. They alienated a lot of fans and race teams that invested a lot of money for this sport. They could still have the electric cars as well so many other classes. Damn shame.
You can defend electric vehicles all you want but no matter how well they race it takes away the soul from each car and makes the racing feel less pure as well as skyrockets the cost to run a team as batteries can't just have parts changed out and have to be totally replaced or you risk blowing the car up
If they absolutely had to go electric because of bad market research or whatever, they should have at least done what Hyundai did for their Pikes Peak racecars this year. They could have programmed a cool exhaust note into the cars so new and old fans alike would associate a great sound with the spec Olsbergs cars, and the sensory part of the rallycross experience would have been preserved. I think that would have made the EV transition much easier to accept. It was handled the wrong way in my opinion. The spec cars and lack of sound turned away traditional fans, and I don't think there's enough of a crossover between environmentalists and motorsports fans for an all EV main class in the only American rallycross series to work over the long term. I watch and enjoy Formula E because that's its own series. It isn't trying to replace Formula 1 or IndyCar. EVs were the main class in the only American rallycross series. They replaced the ICE cars from the GRC and 2021 Nitro Rallycross days, and that was exactly why I felt Nitro Rallycross was no longer for me.
Even then, hybrids have been a problem for involvement due to the cost, look at BTCC, they just had to ditch the hybrids in favor of biofuels for that reason.
@@GamersHolyArmy i agree but with any new tech its gonna be expensive. I still believe its the better alternative but its gonna be about 10 years before we get another crack at it
@@kpegc No, that's the worst solution. It's a slap in the face. Have you ever watched a movie and the sound is horrendously off for the vehicle? I am sure you have because that's almost all movies. It really kills the experience and makes it worse. Just own whatever vehicle and sound they make. Maybe they could do an unlimited gas class to go along with the electric class? Or even combine them? I realize they are trying to create electric fans, but the RX1 class is very restricted while the electric car has almost double the power and a purpose built race chassis. It would be cool to see the same level of innovation and power from more cars regardless of powerplant.
If the series is starting in October I would not hold your breath on ERX returning as a track in RallyX. MAYBE if it is the season opener, but Minnesota in November and later is a no go.
I was never a big Rally or RX guy but I live in Utah and decided to go to the races this year. I was freaking hooked. The cars were cool. The track was awesome. The racing looked good. The accessibility was pretty good I thought. The presense of hero cards, a roblox activation, and the at track advertising made me think that the series was in a decent spot for the niche RX space it occupied. I ended up getting Dirt Rally 2.0 and ran Dirt Road on iRacing and ive had a really fun time with it, so im sad to see this series go. Will look out for RallyX soon!
I went to every single Nitro event at Utah since the very first one. Until this year (I had scheduling conflicts I couldn’t rectify). And lo and behold, my favorite driver, Andreas Bakkerud, wins not 1, but 2 races that weekend. And then the whole series folds. I feel partially responsible.
I know nothing about rally cross more of a nascar dude but this video kind of makes me want to watch what rallyx is gonna do next year definitely gonna mark my calendar for their season to start
Personally I believe in the sport as such, and with the right organisers Rallycross can be big. The races are short enough that they don't draw out into endless laps without overtakes, and the short tracks with various surfaces offer an interesting viewing experience. Also the races are short enough that you can combine the sport with other events at the same venue, which allows beginner series that won't draw much of a crowd to feature at bigger venues (for example a junior RX event between two MX races, if the tracks allow it). When it comes to electric vehicles I am a bit divided. On one side Rallycross is a sport where electric vehicles could fit in well. Range and recharge times aren't much of an issue, instant torque and the lack of gears would work in their favour, top speeds are low, and some clever managing of the 4 motors could make them seriously quick. On the other side there's the lack of noise and the question of how closely related to road cars these electric racers should be. A series where the racers are based on road cars could be a marketing opportunity, and might get manufacturers on board. On the other side most electric compact cars are built heavily around economy rather than sheer driving pleasure. This creates the difficult (but not impossible) task of finding a middle ground between a car that is interesting to race and one that is relatable enough to keep the "win on sunday, sell on monday" idea alive
I had no idea Nitrocross even became it's own series. I only found out when I wanted to rewatch the X-games exhibition a couple weeks ago. IMO, i would have prefered it if it had either stayed an X-games event or merged with other RX series. Perhaps even both. A stop on the WRX calender whenever and where ever X-games is happening but that's wishful thinking.
I went to ERX both years and it was great even with the electric cars (although i certainly prefer the ICE ones). I will never understand why they decided to suddenly go international instead of just focusing on growing the events they had.
Wow, I know rallycross is obscure here in the US, but I didn't expect the news that it's been tried and failed (to establish itself) here three times already!
This sucks. From the outside, it looked like a solid foundation was built. Attendance numbers were good, the support series grew in entries, and the races were more accessible vs World RX. The fully built spec cars were a more attractive package for teams over the FIA RX1e spec powertrain - as much as we like traditional supercars, frequently shipping them over from Europe would get expensive, therefore unsustainable in the long run.
I hope RallyX goes great in the US, but I do have fears about it being too soon. The RallyX Americas championship seems kind of rushed, possibly pouncing to fill that hole left by Nitrocross, and it really seems like things are not in place and they are not ready.
Ngl I never heard of this series up until now, but the track design reminds me of Dirt 2 of all things, especially with all the high jumps. It's a shame it's attached to Dana White, which means it had to deal with Dana-White-Branded-Bullshit like dogshit AI art and having it on Rumble. The EVs probably did it in, too.
Maybe the difference between rally in the usa and Europe is that the usa has pickup trucks whereas those arent big in europe, therefore rally is europes only offroad option. The USA has off road truck racing (both desert and short course) that in turn doesnt allow the space for rallycars to be as popular in america as it is in europe. And those cars just don't sell in america. They tried to market them as economical cars for the millenial crowd after the recession but now automakers are barely even making gas cars. All those grc cars of 2012-17 arent even made anymore except the Subaru i think. I wonder if it could survive if one or two shops like Olsbergs and VSC just became big chassis builder shops, kinda like how KB Titan and Elite pretty much supply the whole NHRA pro stock field, and drivers basically rent cars and programs from them. Pro stock was on its deathbed half a decade ago and now its back and booming. Maybe we need more off road suspension companies to be involved but they may already be maxed out in off road truck/sxs racing and not see the value of spending money on unpopular hatchbacks.
PS, I wasn't a fan of the way the series was presented. They had that one really annoying American commentator. And whoever street bike Tommy is, he's better seen and not heard.
Not surprised .Its a great sport and product but moving to Electric killed it. No one , i repeat no one is excited to watch quiet electric things slide around. imagine if FD went electric. interest would die overnight. EV cars are okish to drive but not at all interesting to watch live or online unless you've got FE style of close racing and action.
Man, I just started getting into rallycross, Ive been following other forms of racing for years, but I have recently been looking into building a rallycross car to participate with(rx8 maybe?), as theres a colorado rallycross club
maybe it's just me who like em but maybe try bringing back the factory teams like how subaru did it in '21 season? and/or try making an ev division like how they did with F1 and FE
I never watched this kind of racing since X games (and less face it, that was stage rally cars on a closed track). It makes no sense for a stand alone series for these cars. The logical solution is to just run the cars with established off road racing series. RX and short course off road is simply not different enough.
These races should've been paired with Subaru festivals and car shows where the enthusiast fanbase is already there. When they got rid of the 2wd class after 2011 is when the series actually started going downhill in my opinion. It got rid of the grassroots support it needed to grow and survive.
idk, if 40+ year old NASCAR teams don't have leverage over NASCAR and the France/Kennedy family, then I highly doubt that Dana White had the ability to do literally anything except give them money.
The thing is a Swedish company RallyX are bringing what's basically a replacement for Nitrocross in form of RallyX Americas, bringing all the RX1 supercars along with RallyX's open regulations to the states starting next year
rallyx is planning to continue with the cars already in america, the fc1 and fc2. they are not planning to bring the rx1 cars back to america Edit: I will add that they are planning on bringing across both the crosscars and open 2wd divisions from europe to america. The presentation video on their channel displays what categories they are planning to race where
Dana White, Travis pastrona, and Nascar have all been meeting and with the new Nascar electric car looking more like a rally car than stock car, I'm pretty sure a new series is coming.
Dana White is working on a NASCAR EV series, my guess is that he killed NR the second he got locked into a deal with them. The NASCAR EVs so far aren’t inspiring confidence… The France family would never sell NASCAR but if somehow Dana White obtained it I think I’d just stop watching racing, or legitimately anything at all. (The primary sport I watch is NASCAR, some INDYCAR, and a small bit of rally, might check out RallyX too)
The France's laughed him out the building fyi, he isn't involved anymore after he tanked Nitrocross, the NASCAR EV project is also basically dead in the water due to EV sales tanking.
I will say though I think rally cross in general is not very popular, I know anyone personally, the races are to short, rally cross came out on iracing and instantly died I don’t think these series struggling is a coincidence, it’s cool watch for a few minutes and no doubt requires a lot of driving talent but does not seem very serious like other Motorsports such as normal rally f1 imsa WEC and indycar, I would add nascar but with a playoff system and stage racing and stage points it’s a joke.
I stopped watching when they went fully electric. Such boring cars, no sound, nothing close to a road version, no manufacturer rivals. Boring, boring, boring. Who cares how much power they make if you cant tell the difference between 600 and 1000hp in a electric car? Theres nothing exciting about EVs racing. Name anything. Please. There is no spectacle.
Ev’s are just boring, rally cars or rally cross cars are awe for the 4 cylinder revving to the moon the pops and bangs and the anti lag I don’t care if electric cars have 2000 hp…. Snooze
Americans that refuse to believe there's more to racing than just horsepower and top speed really piss me off. Lol Rally racing is amazing, most American race fans are morons for not joining *the rest of the world* in the joy that is rally.🤷Lol Edit: too stubborn to even enjoy rally racing video games as a matter of fact. Lol RallyX in "Dirt4" was amazing... But they'd rather turn left for a half an hour even in the virtual world I guess.
Now now, oval racing does have it's merits. The side by side, wheel to wheel action at 150 mph can put on a good show with the right format. With that said, I still think short course and rallycross could appeal to Americans with some half-decent marketing.
@JollyRogerRacing000 I dunno, is electric woke? It's more of an alternative to fossil fuels. Depending where you live, electric cars are more of a burden on the environment and not to say anything about Elon wokeness.
@kai325d3 anywhere that has coal fuelled power greatly negates the environment benefits of electric cars, much of the minerals are mined in areas with low regard of the environment. So not all places but they aren't always as environmental as they advertise to be.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I just wanna say I'm so happy that there's an American content creator covering this sport. I love RX and I'm always happy to see someone else sharing the passion.
Absolutely. We need more media covering these forms of motorsports
For a sport that's as fast paced and action packed as rallycross and a world where the ppls attention spans are basically non existent now It's wild how rallycross isn't more popular when it honestly deserves it.
@@sdx3918 it's literally just mario kart as an actual sport, how has it not blown up worldwide
@@guidemissile1494I think the problem with the sport is the car lack any features that is unique than each other
For example the sounds of the car or the looks of the car itself
@nazmijdt i don't see an issue with that, the track design alone is weird and unique enough to set itself apart
The problem is that the leagues are run by morons.
@@nazmijdtNascar and Formula have like, 0 tolerance for any kind of difference in their vehicles lol
I went to a Nitrocross race in 21, when they were still using the petrol cars, and went to one last year to see the electric cars. Gotta say, the electric cars didn't move me. The most exciting race was the baja bug class. To me they died when they got rid of supercars.
Agreed. There's just something about electric race cars that doesn't move me the way gas-powered ones do. And to top if off, it became a spec series, which just added to the indifference.
Booked a flight to Miami RIGHT before they announced the cancellation of the series this year. It was supposed to be for a friend's birthday so now we're just gonna go indoor karting and hang out at his house for those two days.
If the Miami track was anything like the Las Vegas track, you'll probably have a better time karting than at Nitrocross anyways
@DriveLineRX I mean, I was just interested in watching cars go vroom lmao. He’s at least coming with me to Formula Drift in 2025 so we’ll get to have some fun then.
Karting is the next best thing, also amazing fun.😉
I think the big problem is there wasn't any interest from TV networks, and obviously the change to EV was probably more expensive than they accounted for
remember the subaru team was the *only* factory team in 2021. hell the only one after 2018. the audi and peugeot teams were jc racetecnik and team hansen (then privateer teams who were using the old works wrx cars), and after '21 hansen went back to europe to focus on the new wrx regulations and jc stuck around and bought 4(then more) fc1's.
The remaining teams switched to the fc1 because the fc1 wasn't tearing whole corners off of the car when landing the huge nitro jumps. An RX1 is a circuit racing car that happens to jump, not a car designed to jump. They are not rally cars. this was why the factory subarus were the only models in 2021 to not really suffer any race ending mechanical failures, they had the finance and workshop to develop rally car suspension and systems into their rallycross car. A luxury the privateer teams did not have
For what it is worth, mr. chip pankow (the nitrocross general manager) has been disappeared from the thrillone media website's list of executives, and has made his accounts private. I suppose this is the "management change" the press release mentions. The man who has previously headed up the likes of.....Roborace. yeehhh
I feel like everyone forgets that Subaru was trash pre 2019. It doesn't matter how much manufacture support you have, so long as your team is capable of learning and improving. That's why I'd argue the Hansen's were on par with Subaru in 2021. I actually have not heard of Chip Pankow before but since he was involved with Roborace, there's no way he should be meddling with an actual racing series. Hopefully RallyX Americas Leauge can get some better management than him.
@@DriveLineRXwas also the founder of GRC back when.....not that there *was* a correlation, I don't know enough to say that
Subaru in Nitro Rallycross 2021 reads just like Toyota in LMP1 imo. Last man standing. Them turning up with their semi trucks, foldaway hospitality areas and army of rally mechanics compared to every other supercar team working out of a shipping crate. It is commendable that Timmy was in championship contention when he was DNF'ing qualifying races with suspension failures and the like. Member the "slow race" from Phoenix with him and Larsson
Way I see it if RallyX can't make american rallycross work then no one can. they have been doing this since 2015 and only now are they making a "global" move. OMSE and the Erikssons (who run Rallyx) might not have the world championships or drivers titles but they have built the one "constant" in modern RX
I can't wait for next year, I simply wanna see how rallyX will expand in Europe and America, it's just a nice series, and as you said, it's free, it has a nice coverage, and if you tell me, rallyX is the perfect competitor against World RX, It has soo many categories, soo many drivers, soo many circuits, its just too good. And above all, It is free. It's perfect for Rallycross fans like me, it's too good. Thanks for the video buddy, I'll wait for your next one!
P.s.: I wanna add one thing, other than RallyX new season, I'm excited for the new Extreme H season, I don't know what you think about it or if you even know about it, and if you do, i hope you will make a video about, i found it a good racing series. Thanks again for your time DriveLine!
Thank you! I think the RallyX and World Rallycross competition could easily send rallycross back into the spotlight. As far as Extreme E/H goes though, I don't really have any strong opinions on it. They need a stronger schedule, considerably better advertising, and they could've let the hydrogen cars race the electric cars. Regardless it'll be interesting to see how the Hydrogen cars handle the tracks.
Honestly I'd rather have them merged. One world wide series.
Its a problem with many on dirt motorsports, see motocross.
You got basically all talent in MXGP, but then you got arguably 2-3 riders in AMA which could compete, Tomac even at the top
No noise, no thrill. When will they learn people just DO NOT like EVs either in their driveway or on the racetrack?
Once they switched to EV'S I lost all interest. How many others did the same?
Yep. Spec-chassis with electric motors are killing manufacturer involvement and sponsor involvement, as well as fan engagement. People interested in electric vehicles are not interested in motorsports and vice versa.
I did. I stopped following Nitrocross the minute they announced that their main class would be EVs only. Spec ones, at that.
It felt like they just stripped away a big part of the appeal of rallycross- the engines and the exhausts popping. The decision for World RX and Nitrocross to go all EV just seemed more baffling when IMSA and WEC went to hybrids with great success so far. Even BTCC and WRC opted for hybrids and managed to maintain a consistent following by choosing hybrids- they seem like the best balance between excitement and innovation.
Even as someone who watches and likes Formula E, I don't think making the main classes in the top rallycross championships in the world all-electric was the right move. The organic popularity for EVs just doesn't seem to be there. Those who like them mostly seem to buy them for practicality rather than recreation, and from dedicated manufacturers like Tesla or Rivian.
There didn't seem to be enough of a crossover between EV and motorsports fans to justify making the only US rallycross series in this case all electric. It felt like the appeal of diverse sounds and machines that made GRC and 2021 Nitro Rallycross so great for me was just being replaced for no real reason.
If they really wanted to race EVs, Nitrocross should have just given them their own standalone series, or at least allowed them to race against ICE and hybrid cars like World RX does now. Making them the main class turned me away for good.
Same here, Loved the concept but ev's killed the interest even though the racing is still good..
@@kpegc on Point. 👌🏻
@@deeperatmosphere Hyundai recently entered a pair of Ioniq N EV racecars in the Exhibition class of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb this year.
You would not have known they were electric if you only identified them by their sound. They sounded like a superbike or an old CART open wheel car and weren't at all silent like most EVs.
If Nitrocross was set on doubling down on EVs, they could have done something similar with the spec Olsbergs Group E car. It's disappointing the idea seemingly wasn't at least considered.
Preserving an appealing engine sound, even if the cars were electric, might have helped them keep more traditionalist fans who got into rallycross because of things like the sound.
Great video man! The history of american rallycross is nuts... I'll never forget the golden era around 2012 when it felt like it was the next big thing. Going to watch GRC in Charlotte with multiple factory teams and a packed crowd was amazing. The format will always be great, we just need the right promoter to put it together again.
Was a big fan of GRC and ARX. This series never really caught on with me, however. Never had a problem with the series going Electric. Didn't like that there were no manufactures. Would have been cool to see a Ford Mustang Mach E Rallycross car. Also was so bummed when they brought back the gap jumps. The 2012 X Games soured me on them. Not to mention, airing the races on Rumble was a bad decision as well.
Do hope that Rally X Americas can bring a lot of success and stability that is much needed for the region.
0:13 hank schrader breaking bad
he really fell off
Couple of points I wanna make:
1 - great video, very good audio quality, care and attetion which is often forgotten, nice content selection to ilustrate what you are talking about as well as just the right amount of humor for my taste. Keep at it, you will surely grow from here, only way possible is up tbh. Earned a sub 100%. Great job!
2 - I feel the nitrocross has suffered from the bad side of "americanism", from an european motorsport loving POV I honestly think the series got all the bad things from today's more internet focused society and got rid of the good things, motorsport is still a bit of a purist sport, if you take away what people are used to you take away what they like and more often than not people will likely gravitate to other things they like instead of giving things that are changing a chance. This being said, rallycross is probably my favorite motorsport and I can only but imagine what america could be able to achive if it did it right, I think the AMA and Supercross series is a great example of what nitrocross could really be compared to the rallycross scene.
Much love
Seeing Dana White, Rumble, and Public Square as collaborators on Nitrocross should’ve been a red flag from the start. Evidently, none of them know how to profit or make good decisions.
yeah, i like racing saw some of what nitrocross was doing passively and thought it was cool, but seeing rumble in the top corner there was a red flag for me too. Turns out the Anti-woke stream guys might be scaring the advertisers and public square is ran by weird ideological freaks too. i know a lot of ppl are gonna get after me about "politics" here but i really don't think advertisers like being shown on a platform that hosts Nick "Your Body, My Choice" Fuentes.
It's not even the political beliefs of who run the companies, it's their angle is exploiting those beliefs. Why should I think that anyone there gives a shit about the series?
I would love an amateur league of rallycross where people can signup to drive in their personal cars
Going electric killed the series for me I tuned out it became soulless with those over glorified RC cars
The issue is the noise, everyone loves the roar, the while, the scream, it's a major factor and anyone saying otherwise is probably a tesla driver
As an englishman, I was actually proper pleased when the NRX (calling it that cause its better) was coming to Lydden, it actually prompted me to get into motorsport photography, too. The FC1-X's are absolute weapons on tracks like that, but it's a MAJOR shame that they fumbled the bag, especially with the saudi round we was meant to get
Once they became basic electric specs cars, I never watched another event. I absolutely LOVED 2021 & all the previous years back to GRC. Hope future series learns.
1.03k subs? Wild
Rip RX, I liked the sport, in general rally cross is cool as fuck
Am I hearing skylanders music??
Indeed you are!
HELL YES YOU ARE
amazing video. you got my like and sub!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stadium super trucks would be awesome on these tracks along with the petrol cars. I was disappointed when they went all electric. They alienated a lot of fans and race teams that invested a lot of money for this sport.
They could still have the electric cars as well so many other classes.
Damn shame.
You can defend electric vehicles all you want but no matter how well they race it takes away the soul from each car and makes the racing feel less pure as well as skyrockets the cost to run a team as batteries can't just have parts changed out and have to be totally replaced or you risk blowing the car up
Hybrid will always be the way to go. But these people never learn
If they absolutely had to go electric because of bad market research or whatever, they should have at least done what Hyundai did for their Pikes Peak racecars this year.
They could have programmed a cool exhaust note into the cars so new and old fans alike would associate a great sound with the spec Olsbergs cars, and the sensory part of the rallycross experience would have been preserved. I think that would have made the EV transition much easier to accept.
It was handled the wrong way in my opinion. The spec cars and lack of sound turned away traditional fans, and I don't think there's enough of a crossover between environmentalists and motorsports fans for an all EV main class in the only American rallycross series to work over the long term.
I watch and enjoy Formula E because that's its own series. It isn't trying to replace Formula 1 or IndyCar.
EVs were the main class in the only American rallycross series. They replaced the ICE cars from the GRC and 2021 Nitro Rallycross days, and that was exactly why I felt Nitro Rallycross was no longer for me.
Even then, hybrids have been a problem for involvement due to the cost, look at BTCC, they just had to ditch the hybrids in favor of biofuels for that reason.
@@GamersHolyArmy i agree but with any new tech its gonna be expensive.
I still believe its the better alternative but its gonna be about 10 years before we get another crack at it
@@kpegc No, that's the worst solution. It's a slap in the face. Have you ever watched a movie and the sound is horrendously off for the vehicle? I am sure you have because that's almost all movies. It really kills the experience and makes it worse. Just own whatever vehicle and sound they make. Maybe they could do an unlimited gas class to go along with the electric class? Or even combine them? I realize they are trying to create electric fans, but the RX1 class is very restricted while the electric car has almost double the power and a purpose built race chassis. It would be cool to see the same level of innovation and power from more cars regardless of powerplant.
@@GamersHolyArmy WRC have also ditched hybrids and their 2027 regulations are essentially dusting off the old Group S Rulebook.
If the series is starting in October I would not hold your breath on ERX returning as a track in RallyX. MAYBE if it is the season opener, but Minnesota in November and later is a no go.
I was never a big Rally or RX guy but I live in Utah and decided to go to the races this year. I was freaking hooked. The cars were cool. The track was awesome. The racing looked good. The accessibility was pretty good I thought. The presense of hero cards, a roblox activation, and the at track advertising made me think that the series was in a decent spot for the niche RX space it occupied. I ended up getting Dirt Rally 2.0 and ran Dirt Road on iRacing and ive had a really fun time with it, so im sad to see this series go. Will look out for RallyX soon!
I went to every single Nitro event at Utah since the very first one. Until this year (I had scheduling conflicts I couldn’t rectify).
And lo and behold, my favorite driver, Andreas Bakkerud, wins not 1, but 2 races that weekend.
And then the whole series folds.
I feel partially responsible.
Best Rallycross is FIA World RallyCross Monster Energy. Monster Energy needs to intervene.
What the actual hell is nitro cross 😭
I genuinely did not know what it was before seeing this video
I like rallycross but never heard of nitrocross 😭
I know nothing about rally cross more of a nascar dude but this video kind of makes me want to watch what rallyx is gonna do next year definitely gonna mark my calendar for their season to start
i was not expecting the skylanders music, i know so little about rallycross but i stayed for the music alone lol
Personally I believe in the sport as such, and with the right organisers Rallycross can be big. The races are short enough that they don't draw out into endless laps without overtakes, and the short tracks with various surfaces offer an interesting viewing experience. Also the races are short enough that you can combine the sport with other events at the same venue, which allows beginner series that won't draw much of a crowd to feature at bigger venues (for example a junior RX event between two MX races, if the tracks allow it). When it comes to electric vehicles I am a bit divided. On one side Rallycross is a sport where electric vehicles could fit in well. Range and recharge times aren't much of an issue, instant torque and the lack of gears would work in their favour, top speeds are low, and some clever managing of the 4 motors could make them seriously quick. On the other side there's the lack of noise and the question of how closely related to road cars these electric racers should be. A series where the racers are based on road cars could be a marketing opportunity, and might get manufacturers on board. On the other side most electric compact cars are built heavily around economy rather than sheer driving pleasure. This creates the difficult (but not impossible) task of finding a middle ground between a car that is interesting to race and one that is relatable enough to keep the "win on sunday, sell on monday" idea alive
I loved that all the cars were equal though
It should have been the subaru cup
I had no idea Nitrocross even became it's own series. I only found out when I wanted to rewatch the X-games exhibition a couple weeks ago.
IMO, i would have prefered it if it had either stayed an X-games event or merged with other RX series.
Perhaps even both. A stop on the WRX calender whenever and where ever X-games is happening but that's wishful thinking.
I went to ERX both years and it was great even with the electric cars (although i certainly prefer the ICE ones). I will never understand why they decided to suddenly go international instead of just focusing on growing the events they had.
Nitrocross literally got me into RX in general and now i have nowhere to watch it without paying for the online thing😢😭😭ill check out Rally X i guess
I went to the 2 races they held in Minnesota, was fun, granted i liked the combustion cars more, but im disappointed they're gone none the less
Wow, I know rallycross is obscure here in the US, but I didn't expect the news that it's been tried and failed (to establish itself) here three times already!
Rally cross was supposed to the future. NASCAR sucks now. About the only exciting race series is WEC, IMSA and Indy car.
It's a damn shame.
This sucks. From the outside, it looked like a solid foundation was built. Attendance numbers were good, the support series grew in entries, and the races were more accessible vs World RX. The fully built spec cars were a more attractive package for teams over the FIA RX1e spec powertrain - as much as we like traditional supercars, frequently shipping them over from Europe would get expensive, therefore unsustainable in the long run.
I hope RallyX goes great in the US, but I do have fears about it being too soon. The RallyX Americas championship seems kind of rushed, possibly pouncing to fill that hole left by Nitrocross, and it really seems like things are not in place and they are not ready.
First I've heard of Nitrocross, might be the last too. Go figure...
R.I.P
rallycross its just falling apart everywhere like goddam
Everywhere except RallyX TV!
@@DriveLineRX Probably because the Finns know how to run RallyCross.
Ngl I never heard of this series up until now, but the track design reminds me of Dirt 2 of all things, especially with all the high jumps. It's a shame it's attached to Dana White, which means it had to deal with Dana-White-Branded-Bullshit like dogshit AI art and having it on Rumble. The EVs probably did it in, too.
I neve knew about this
Nitrocross used to have various neat classes before the shift to Group E, like Baja Bugs were run at some races
Maybe the difference between rally in the usa and Europe is that the usa has pickup trucks whereas those arent big in europe, therefore rally is europes only offroad option. The USA has off road truck racing (both desert and short course) that in turn doesnt allow the space for rallycars to be as popular in america as it is in europe. And those cars just don't sell in america. They tried to market them as economical cars for the millenial crowd after the recession but now automakers are barely even making gas cars. All those grc cars of 2012-17 arent even made anymore except the Subaru i think. I wonder if it could survive if one or two shops like Olsbergs and VSC just became big chassis builder shops, kinda like how KB Titan and Elite pretty much supply the whole NHRA pro stock field, and drivers basically rent cars and programs from them. Pro stock was on its deathbed half a decade ago and now its back and booming. Maybe we need more off road suspension companies to be involved but they may already be maxed out in off road truck/sxs racing and not see the value of spending money on unpopular hatchbacks.
PS, I wasn't a fan of the way the series was presented. They had that one really annoying American commentator. And whoever street bike Tommy is, he's better seen and not heard.
Motorsport and Skylanders music
Hell yeah
oooohh is that the skylanders soundtrack in the backround??!!! if so amazing brought back some memories ahah
i went to watch the vegas round on youtube when they streamed it and there was an ad break in the middle of a race left and never looked back
Good
Not surprised .Its a great sport and product but moving to Electric killed it. No one , i repeat no one is excited to watch quiet electric things slide around. imagine if FD went electric. interest would die overnight. EV cars are okish to drive but not at all interesting to watch live or online unless you've got FE style of close racing and action.
Whats new about Portugal WRX round?
They decided to go to Lousada and not Montalegre this year. Lousada hasn't been used since the early 2000s and the track has changed a lot since then.
Man, I just started getting into rallycross, Ive been following other forms of racing for years, but I have recently been looking into building a rallycross car to participate with(rx8 maybe?), as theres a colorado rallycross club
I was one of the people in person in canada last year and we didnt really miss anything lol the bugs had some amazing races
They're going a real bad job with advertising/drawing viewership interest because this looks cool.
The EV crossovers killed the sport
I was a fan of nitrocross before i looked into the connection it had to people and sponsors I can't support personally.
maybe it's just me who like em but maybe try bringing back the factory teams like how subaru did it in '21 season? and/or try making an ev division like how they did with F1 and FE
I never watched this kind of racing since X games (and less face it, that was stage rally cars on a closed track). It makes no sense for a stand alone series for these cars. The logical solution is to just run the cars with established off road racing series. RX and short course off road is simply not different enough.
Gotta bring back the combustion engines and open up a beginner class or a grass roots class
These races should've been paired with Subaru festivals and car shows where the enthusiast fanbase is already there. When they got rid of the 2wd class after 2011 is when the series actually started going downhill in my opinion. It got rid of the grassroots support it needed to grow and survive.
idk, if 40+ year old NASCAR teams don't have leverage over NASCAR and the France/Kennedy family, then I highly doubt that Dana White had the ability to do literally anything except give them money.
The thing is a Swedish company RallyX are bringing what's basically a replacement for Nitrocross in form of RallyX Americas, bringing all the RX1 supercars along with RallyX's open regulations to the states starting next year
rallyx is planning to continue with the cars already in america, the fc1 and fc2. they are not planning to bring the rx1 cars back to america
Edit: I will add that they are planning on bringing across both the crosscars and open 2wd divisions from europe to america. The presentation video on their channel displays what categories they are planning to race where
@@iamthedrumandbassfarmer8735 Crosscars already basically exist in NA, and the Open 2WDs can be tweaked to allow clapped out old Camaros to run.
Electric SUVs are boring.
Listening to the cars is just nails on a chalkboard
Dana White, Travis pastrona, and Nascar have all been meeting and with the new Nascar electric car looking more like a rally car than stock car, I'm pretty sure a new series is coming.
I saw them live in Minnesota then the following year they dropped the stop and since I couldn’t go live I didn’t really care anymore
'in 2022 NitroX went fully electric'
'NitroX is dead'
oh I wonder why.
I like that "author bias", XDD
It's going to be the same thing with motocross/supercross. They want to switch to electric bikes and it is going to flop big time if they do
Dana White is working on a NASCAR EV series, my guess is that he killed NR the second he got locked into a deal with them. The NASCAR EVs so far aren’t inspiring confidence… The France family would never sell NASCAR but if somehow Dana White obtained it I think I’d just stop watching racing, or legitimately anything at all. (The primary sport I watch is NASCAR, some INDYCAR, and a small bit of rally, might check out RallyX too)
The France's laughed him out the building fyi, he isn't involved anymore after he tanked Nitrocross, the NASCAR EV project is also basically dead in the water due to EV sales tanking.
I knew before the video started that electric drives were involved. Such clownery
I will say though I think rally cross in general is not very popular, I know anyone personally, the races are to short, rally cross came out on iracing and instantly died I don’t think these series struggling is a coincidence, it’s cool watch for a few minutes and no doubt requires a lot of driving talent but does not seem very serious like other Motorsports such as normal rally f1 imsa WEC and indycar, I would add nascar but with a playoff system and stage racing and stage points it’s a joke.
When did Dana white try to buy nascar?
Any motorsport loses me as soon as I hear EV
Agreed bro 🤝
I’m sorry but my family own essay and it wasn’t our fault or the fia’s fault I can tell you that for a fact
"it managed to show the world that electric cars can be cool" yeah, then why it's dead? is it because electric cars suck?
Grc wasn’t even global
I don't wanna see vacuum cleaners going at mach fuck on a dirt track.
.
.
.
.
.
Well..that does sound kinda sick if it was actual vacuum cleaners 😂
sounds like RC cars lmao
I stopped watching when they went fully electric. Such boring cars, no sound, nothing close to a road version, no manufacturer rivals. Boring, boring, boring. Who cares how much power they make if you cant tell the difference between 600 and 1000hp in a electric car? Theres nothing exciting about EVs racing. Name anything. Please. There is no spectacle.
Ev’s are just boring, rally cars or rally cross cars are awe for the 4 cylinder revving to the moon the pops and bangs and the anti lag I don’t care if electric cars have 2000 hp…. Snooze
I stopped watching when they went to EV
Good riddance electric cars never were and never will be cool
Electric cars suck thats why
Americans that refuse to believe there's more to racing than just horsepower and top speed really piss me off. Lol Rally racing is amazing, most American race fans are morons for not joining *the rest of the world* in the joy that is rally.🤷Lol
Edit: too stubborn to even enjoy rally racing video games as a matter of fact. Lol RallyX in "Dirt4" was amazing... But they'd rather turn left for a half an hour even in the virtual world I guess.
Now now, oval racing does have it's merits. The side by side, wheel to wheel action at 150 mph can put on a good show with the right format. With that said, I still think short course and rallycross could appeal to Americans with some half-decent marketing.
I went to a nitrocross event at Glen Helen. After the first lap of the electric cars I went back to the pits to look around at the real stuff
Sucks
Go woke, go broke?
What's woke here? Certainly not, Dana White.
They tried to not be woke and went broke.
@JollyRogerRacing000 I dunno, is electric woke? It's more of an alternative to fossil fuels. Depending where you live, electric cars are more of a burden on the environment and not to say anything about Elon wokeness.
@@ndh06 I mean, literally nowhere is electric cars more of a burden after a few years
@kai325d3 anywhere that has coal fuelled power greatly negates the environment benefits of electric cars, much of the minerals are mined in areas with low regard of the environment. So not all places but they aren't always as environmental as they advertise to be.
Please make overdrive 7 please 🙏 🙏
Oh I don't think he will
overdrive 35 is reportedly in the works.....
yes thank you Geebiz get rid of this slave-based racing you guys know where they get the Col bolt from
ironically i was the 199 like lol.