Fraser McConnell overcomes nightmare crash to finish third in Group E final at Nitro Rallycross Minneapolis

By October 03, 2022

During a dramatic weekend of racing, Jamaica’s Fraser McConnell overcame a significant challenge on Saturday to finish third on Sunday in the Group E final at the Nitro Rallycross Minneapolis.

The 24-year-old McConnell crashed and rolled during qualifying on Saturday and it was uncertain whether he would have been able to compete on Sunday. However, his team worked all night Saturday to get his car ready and he was able to return on Sunday to finish second in Heat One of qualifying behind Travis Pastrana, who would go on to win the final ahead of championship leader Robin Larsson.

McConnell would win his semi-final heat finishing the race 2.535 seconds ahead of Oliver Eriksson. Andrew Carlson would finish third, 3.920 seconds behind Eriksson.

In the final Larsson started in pole position with Travis Pastrana, Conner Martell,  McConnell,  Eriksson and Andreas Bakkerud who also crashed on Saturday.

Andrew Carlson and Oliver Bennett would fill the rest of the grid.

Pastrana would go on to take victory, despite finishing 3.793 seconds behind  Larsson. Fraser McConnell would come in third, 1.330 seconds behind Larsson.

Afterwards, he praised his team for putting the car back together in time to race on Sunday.

"I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again! If it wasn’t for @dreyerreinboldracing @jcraceteknik I wouldn’t have been able to compete today (Sunday). After a nightmare of a Saturday, bringing home third place was a nice way to show my appreciation for the guys pulling an all-nighter fixing the car," he posted on Instagram Sunday.

Following the outcome, Larsson remained the Group E championship leader 21 points ahead of Bakkerud, who remains second. Fraser McConnell will remain third, 11 points ahead of Travis Pastrana. Pastrana would move into fourth after winning the event and taking home 53 points on the weekend.

Leighton Levy

Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.

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