During the early 2010s, Mitchell deJong was one of the rising stars in rallycross with race wins and titles in a plethora of Lites series ranging from Global Rallycross to the FIA World Rallycross Championship. However, his career ended up on hold by 2018, though he stayed virtually fresh as a sim racer.

Seven years after his last real-life racing action, deJong found himself behind the wheel of a NEXT EVO during last weekend’s Nitrocross season opener at Richmond Raceway. Despite the long absence, he did not have to shake off any rust as he held off reigning Nitrocross NEXT champion Tommi Hallman to win the first race. While Hallman returned the favour the next day, deJong still wrapped up the slate by finishing second.

deJong was called into action by Bak40 Motorsports on relatively short notice. Even then, he was the fastest driver in NEXT qualifying before winning his heat race and semi-final on Saturday. He set the pace early in the final and kept Hallman at bay for the win.

“A lot of unknowns coming into this weekend but everything just seemed to fall into place,” he said following the Saturday win. “I’m getting more and more comfortable with the car and all the races leading up to the semi-final and final went pretty much perfect and on-point.”

The successful weekend adds to an impressive portfolio for the 26-year-old, who won the 2014 GRC Lites title and an X Games gold medal that year. He has also triumphed in the FIA World and European Rallycross Championship’s Lites divisions as well as RallyX on Ice, winning the latter’s 2017 crown before committing to sim racing full time. On the esports side, deJong has competed in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing and Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup.

Hallman was not the only 2023/24 champion to start the season on a strong note as Group E’s Robin Larsson ushered in Dodge’s Nitrocross era by winning on Saturday. Last year’s runner-up Fraser McConnell hoped to sweep the weekend for the marque on Sunday but spun on the first lap and was passed by Oliver Eriksson.

Larsson’s win marked the first victory for Dodge at Richmond since Kasey Kahne won the 2005 NASCAR Cup Series spring race there. Richmond marked a bit of a throwback to using stock car ovals for rallycross, one that deJong was familiar with as GRC frequently made such stops. He won both NASCAR track dates at Charlotte and Daytona during his 2014 GRC Lites campaign.

“I’ve never even been a spectator in a NASCAR track, and now we’re racing there,” Hallman quipped after his Sunday win. “It’s so different to what I’m used to.

“In Europe, it’s not the same. This is so much more adrenaline filled. Big jumps and a really difficult track, especially this one, so it’s great.”

Final race results

Round #1

Group E

Finish	Number	Driver	Team	Laps	Margin
1	4	Robin Larsson	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	6	Leader
2	16	Oliver Eriksson	OMSE	6	+ 1.068
3	35	Fraser McConnell	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	6	+ 1.962
4	31	Viktor Vranckx	VMV Racing	6	+ 8.498
5	21	Conner Martell	Vermont SportsCar	6	+ 8.382
6	57	Lia Block	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	6	+ 9.108
7	13	Andreas Bakkerud	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	5	+ 1 lap
8	34	Tanner Foust	OMSE	1	+ 5 laps
DNS	23	Kevin Eriksson	OMSE	0	DNS

NEXT EVO

Finish	Number	Driver	Team	Laps	Margin
1	24	Mitchell deJong	Bak40 Motorsports	6	Leader
2	87	Tommi Hallman	SET Loenbro	6	+ 2.432
3	55	Lane Vacala	Bak40 Motorsports	6	+ 7.661
4	11	Ellis Spiezia	Team Faren	6	+ 9.373
5	21	Kainan Baker	Bak40 Motorsports	6	+ 15.527
6	17	Patrick Gruszka	Green APU	6	+ 15.949
7	9	Michael Leach	SET Loenbro	6	+ 16.352
8	36	Casper Jansson	OMSE	4	+ 2 laps

SxS

Finish	Number	Driver	Laps	Margin
1	27	Cash Lecroy	6	Leader
2	17	Kory Willis	6	+ .601
3	199	Travis Pastrana	6	+ 1.872
4	138	Nate Wessel	6	+ 6.806
5	28	Gray Leadbetter	6	+ 16.642
6	93	Jacob Geisendorff	6	+ 34.906
7	21	Kainan Baker	6	+ 55.551
8	31	Jacob Rosales	3	+ 3 laps

Baja Bugs

Finish	Number	Driver	Laps	Margin
1	1107	Donny Donovan	6	Leader
2	1153	Kyle Zirkus	6	+ .605
3	1157	Blake Wilkey	6	+ 1.441
4	1105	Nick Isenhouer	6	+ 3.558
5	1184	Josh Felix	6	+ 14.291
6	1122	Scotty Lasater	6	+ 36.082
7	1141	Jim York	6	+ 47.984
8	430	Lucy Block	6	+ 50.119
9	1142	Geg Shapiro	6	+ 53.395
10	1103	Tim Sletten	5	+ 1 lap
11	1143	Avery Remmereid	4	+ 2 laps
12	1101	Will Harris	3	+ 3 laps

Round #2

Group E

Finish	Number	Driver	Team	Laps	Margin
1	16	Oliver Eriksson	OMSE	6	Leader
2	35	Fraser McConnell	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	6	+ .759
3	31	Viktor Vranckx	VMV Racing	6	+ 3.366
4	4	Robin Larsson	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	6	+ 4.800
5	34	Tanner Foust	OMSE	6	+ 5.343
6	57	Lia Block	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	6	+ 6.528
7	21	Conner Martell	Vermont SportsCar	1	+ 5 laps
8	13	Andreas Bakkerud	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	0	+ 6 laps

NEXT EVO

Finish	Number	Driver	Team	Laps	Margin
1	87	Tommi Hallman	SET Loenbro	6	Leader
2	24	Mitchell deJong	Bak40 Motorsports	6	+ 2.554
3	36	Casper Jansson	OMSE	6	+ 3.475
4	9	Michael Leach	SET Loenbro	6	+ 8.032
5	11	Ellis Spiezia	Team Faren	6	+ 9.139
6	21	Kainan Baker	Bak40 Motorsports	6	+ 10.715
7	17	Patrick Gruszka	Green APU	6	+ 11.997
8	55	Lane Vacala	Bak40 Motorsports	6	+ 40.311

SxS

Finish	Number	Driver	Laps	Margin
1	21	Kainan Baker	6	Leader
2	199	Travis Pastrana	6	+ 5.551
3	17	Kory Willis	6	+ 6.213
4	143	Tyler Remmereid	6	+ 7.222
5	138	Nate Wessel	6	+ 8.768
6	31	Jacob Rosales	6	+ 32.637
7	28	Gray Leadbetter	6	+ 35.720
8	169	Banks Hovey	6	+ 45.075

Baja Bugs

Finish	Number	Driver	Laps	Margin
1	1157	Blake Wilkey	6	Leader
2	1141	Jim York	6	+ 7.916
3	1153	Kyle Zirkus	6	+ 8.246
4	1103	Tim Sletten	6	+ 21.214
5	1122	Scotty Lasater	6	+ 21.902
6	1142	Geg Shapiro	6	+ 25.625
7	1105	Chris Isenhouer	6	+ 35.926
8	1143	Avery Remmereid	6	+ 38.693
9	1107	Donny Donovan	6	+ 42.788
10	430	Lucy Block	5	+ 58.532
11	1184	Josh Felix	3	+ 3 laps
12	1101	Will Harris	2	+ 4 laps