Conner Martell will once again race for Vermont SportsCar in Nitrocross’ upcoming 2024-25 season.
Martell has raced for the team since the all-electric Group E class’ inception in 2022, finishing the last two seasons sixth and seventh in the points.
“I’m super-stoked to be back at Nitro this year in Group E again with VSC,” he told RACER. “I’m happy to get back to the track, see everybody, and be with the team.
“I think it’s going to be an awesome year, I’m going to put my head down and do the best that I possibly can outside the race car to be fully prepared for the season. It’s been a long off-season but I’ve been doing some rallies, I’ve been staying in a car as much as I can, so hopefully that pays off this year and we can get some good results. Time to kick some butt.”
While Martell has been a long-term member of the Vermont SportsCar operation, also serving as the company’s test driver, he admitted that it wasn’t a certainty that he would be back this year.
“What I was going to do was kind of up in the air for the whole off-season, if I was going to run it again or not,” he said. “Thanks to VSC, they’re putting their trust in me again this year and I’ve got to really get my head down and do a bit better. The last two years have been very tough.”
Martell, the 2018 ARX2 champion, has taken two podiums in Nitrocross so far, claiming second behind teammate Travis Pastrana – who is not confirmed, but expected to race with Vermont Sports Car again this year – at Firebird Motorsports Park in 2022, and second again at Glen Helen Raceway last season. Martell wants to add to that podium haul this season, and said finding consistency will be key to that.
“My goals for the season are to be more consistent,” he said. “I think last year we had some decent finishes but both of the last two years I’ve only got one podium so I’m not super-happy with that.
“I just need to try and be consistent in the car and try to stay out of trouble. Some of it’s bad luck – and that’s just rallycross – and some of it’s mistakes that cost me big. So I’m really just trying to plan ahead for each race and make a game plan with the team before every time we go out on the track to minimize those mistakes and minimize putting myself in bad positions on the track.
“I’m going into it with a positive attitude, and I’m just going to send it like I always do.”