Tanner Foust is returning to Nitrocross for the second and third rounds of the 2023-24 season at the Utah Motorsports Campus, in what will be his first starts in the series since 2021.
The American will race for XITE Energy Racing alongside Oliver Bennett, taking the spot of Kris Meeke who shared the second XITE entry with Jenson Button and Timo Scheider last year, and ran at the season opener in Oklahoma in June.
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Foust is a U.S. rallycross stalwart with four championship titles and a record 24 event wins across Rally America rallycross, Global Rallycross, X Games, and Americas Rallycross, as well as a record 25 consecutive heat wins at the height of Volkswagen’s dominance in the discipline.
But after starting every race from when rallycross made its way Stateside in 2010 until the conclusion of 2021, Foust has been absent since Nitrocross – then known at Nitro Rallycross – moved to a single-make, all electric formula at the start of 2022. Instead he has been focusing on Extreme E with McLaren and various other projects, but remained interested in a return to Nitrocross in some form, and almost made a one-off return last season only for the deal to fall through.
“I knew I was going to be doing Extreme E with McLaren but I wasn’t sure about signing on for a very hectic schedule,” he said last year. “I would rather focus on one championship and come in as a guest driver every once in a while for now.
“I think it’s starting to find some traction again, but that’s going to be a building process, and when it gets there I’ll definitely be in the mix.”
Foust joins a field that will also include IndyCar racer Conor Daly and YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, as well as reigning champion Robin Larsson, 2021 champion Travis Pastrana, 2021 European Rallycross champion Andreas Bakkerud, and current points leader Fraser McConnell.
In the feeder classes, all three of Ken Block’s children will be in action, with U.S. rally and Extreme E driver Lia once again racing in the second-tier NEXT category, while her younger siblings Mika and Kira will be sharing an entry in the Can-Am Side-by-Side class in what will be both of their debuts on the Nitrocross bill.