Coley and Jarod DeAnda announced as the broadcast duo for the Nitro Rallycross race series
In just over 100 days, the engines start and the lights go green on a Nitro Rallycross (NRX) season unlike any other. For the first time, NRX isn’t a one time showcase event. NRX is now a full blown series.
When Travis Pastrana announced in December of 2020, that Nitro Rallycross (NRX) would become a stand alone entity with multiple races and eventual races across the globe, drivers have been lining up to make NRX a featured event on their competition calendars.
The green flag drops this Fall in Utah where Nitro Rallycross begin its first of five events in four months across North America. Each stop will feature vast purpose-built tracks incorporating innovative course designs, mixed surfaces and the biggest jumps in the sport. Each track Pastrana has built so far changes the level of insanity that tracks are built.
But who will be calling the insanity?
The dynamic duo of Andrew Coley, famed rallycross announcer and Jarod DeAnda, the voice of Formula Drift and a car culture ambassador, will be in broadcast booth for NRX’s inaugural season. Basically, these are the two biggest names in their respective fields and now they are coming to NRX.
With over 10-years of experience covering the biggest events in racing on BBC, ITV and Eurosport, Coley will provide expert commentary and detailed play-by-play at every NRX stop. “I passionately love the sport and Nitro Rallycross is where the future is headed,” Coley explains. “It’s unlike anything else in motorsport.”
Coley has announced NRX from the very beginning, but the property will now be his primary rallycross commitment going forward as part of a multi-year agreement and is the subject of this weeks Behind the Action Feature.
One on One with Andrew Coley
AST: How has it been to broadcast events while not being live at the event due to restrictions?
Coley: It is just not the same. I like to be able to talk to the drivers between the races to hear their insights because it shapes my broadcast later. It adds the color to it. It brings the commentary to life. Im fortunate to have the relationships with the teams and drivers built on mutual respect that affords me the ability to bring a viewer behind the drivers seat and add some perspective that is not always as visible. I cannot wait to be back at the track and speaking to the drivers and looking into their eyes.
AST: What do you see about these tracks that Travis designs that you love the most?
Coley: I remember at the first race in 2018 seeing the track for my first time and seeing the gap jump for the first time along with the table top jump and tunnel directly below the gap jump and you just cant compute all the track nuances at once. Travis always thinks, “How can we make this more awesome?” NRX pushes the track and builds a track to make the cars race at a high level. I loved seeing the reactions from the European drivers who are the main roots of the sport, with them all saying that this was the best rallycross track in the world. You cannot fathom the scale and size of these tracks he builds unless you are witnessing it with your own eyes. Having only had tracks built in Utah, I am really anxious to see what track designs Travis comes up with at the other stops in the series. It is quite possible that he designs the best five rallycross tracks in the world.
AST: Does the element of surprise and different track design make it more difficult or more fun to announce?
Coley: I love to be challenged when I am announcing. If the race starts and I am barely able to keep up with six cars in turn 1, I know that the race is going to be a blast to broadcast. I love the holeshot scenarios that are created by NRX. Six cars don’t fit into the space built for one car, so the adrenaline of calling the action is absolutely brilliant. I enjoy having each and every race throw me a curveball to talk about and in a lot of ways, the uncertainty of what may or may not happen probably is what appeals the most to rally fans across the world. The short format of the sport makes it a very easy sport to intake in short amounts of time.
AST: From a traditional rallycross standpoint, NRX has been viewed in some circles as not good for the sport as a whole because it is so different in many elements. How do you perceive it having been around the sport for the past decade?
Coley: I think there will be a small change that happens to NRX as it transitions from a one off race and into a series. I believe that NRX is the future of the sport and that is why I made the move to NRX from the World Championship race announcing because I believe in the attitude at Nitro and where the sport is going. The atmosphere around the sport within the Nitro family will make this successful. An example of this was during one race, the drivers complained that there were too many big rocks on the course. So Travis said, “Ok lets all meet at 4 o’clock and walk the track all together as drivers and pick up the rocks. That is the kind of leadership that Travis brings to NRX and why it will continue to grow.
In addition to that, there is a lot of pressure on manufactures to go electric and in a lot of ways adding that type of racing into the NRX profile with an electric car race and even the NRX Next series to develop new drivers, so it shows that Nitro and Travis have a plan to continue to grow.
NRX Race Details
Utah Motorsports Campus, NRX’s home since its 2018 inception, will kick off the 2021 series on September 24th and 25th. Back-to-back weekends at Wild West Motorsports Park near Reno, Nevada and ERX Motor Park outside Minneapolis, Minnesota will immediately follow. Then on November 13th and 14th, the racing resumes at Phoenix’s Wildhorse Motorsports Park before culminating December 4th and 5th at The FIRM (Florida International Rally & Motorsports Park) located between Jacksonville and Gainesville.
As the series expands into more markets across the globe, each will feature purpose-built permanent tracks in keeping with the spectacular size and scope of Nitro Rallycross’ original Utah home, but with a wide variety of locations reflecting each race’s unique environments. Every track will be different, with diverse settings and surfaces ranging from urban areas with paved streets to remote expanses with dirt and ice tracks. Each location will also showcase extraordinary backdrops encompassing deserts, forests, mountains, cityscapes and more.