FORT WORTH, TX (June 11, 2012) – Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust continued his podium streak for a third-straight race at this weekend’s Global Rallycross Championship “Hoon Kaboom” event in Texas.
“I am happy with the result. The course was tough on cars and drivers, with long straights and a massive gap jump on every lap,” said Foust. “Many cars couldn’t take that kind of beating.”
Drivers competed on a course laid out on the front stretch and pit lane of the Texas Motor Speedway oval. It featured narrow passing zones, chicanes, water hazards, and the first completely mechanical gap jump ever seen in competition.
“Hoon Kaboom was typical Texas style: Big!” said Foust. “The crowd was big, the track was big and the jump was big.”
The 65-foot leap of faith from a blind takeoff to the sweet-spot on the landing ramp proved a formidable obstacle. Several competitors were forced out of competition for being unable to navigate it.
But Foust holds the world record for the longest four-wheel vehicle jump after a stunt last year that saw him jump 332′ ramp-to-ramp for Hot Wheels at the 2011 Indy 500. He had no such problems.
Even while losing power due to an electrical problem on his final laps, he made one of the most spectacular jumps of the competition, flying nearly the entire length of the landing ramp. Rival Travis Pastrana badly damaged his vehicle in a similar long jump during practice a day earlier.
“Travis’s jump turned his car into a banana, so I think the Ford proved its strength by finishing that race on the podium.”
Foust earned a confident win in his first heat to advance directly to the Final in his Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta.
He made a strong start in the Final, but lost time to two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm when his car started losing power in the final laps. He crossed the line in second-place behind Grönholm. The podium was a Ford Fiesta sweep, with Grönholm, Foust and teammate Brian Deegan taking all three top spots.
Foust will next head to X Games, where he hopes to add another medal to his collection. The driver has more X Games Rally Car medals than anyone else, including three Gold. He earned a Silver medal in last year’s X Games Rallycross race.
The high-flying rallycross event this weekend was followed by the Texas IndyCar round. It was the first time a rallycross contest has been held in conjunction with an IndyCar event. The first event of the 2012 Global Rallycross Championship, two weeks ago, accompanied the History 300 NASCAR Nationwide race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Global Rallycross competition is broadcast on the ESPN family of channels.
The event included autograph sessions for enthusiastic rallycross fans, who proved younger than the usual IndyCar audience, meet-and-greets, and a pre-race event that saw Foust take track president Eddie Gossage for a thrill ride in the rallycross car.
Foust is in the middle of an intense schedule of European and American rallycross competition that sees him jetting back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean on alternating weekends.
He arrived in Texas directly after scoring a second-place finish at the Hungarian Round of the European Rallycross Championship. Following X Games in Los Angeles July 1, he returns to Europe for the Norwegian round of the European championship.
Rallycross is a blend of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. It promises intense crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment. As many as 10 drivers line up to start at once, piloting high-horsepower compact cars through race traffic over a challenging short course that features jumps, unbanked turns and changing track and surface conditions that can include dirt, gravel, and wet and dry tarmac.
ABOUT TANNER FOUST
Tanner Foust is a versatile and multi-talented driver known for his supreme car control and a proven track record of podium placements and national championships.
He is a three-time X Games gold medalist (2007, 2010), and two-time Formula Drift champion (2007, 2008). He has twice represented Team USA in the annual Race of Champions, teaming with NASCAR star Carl Edwards in 2008 and Travis Pastrana in 2009. He returned to the event in 2010 as teammate to Mick Doohan on the All Star Team.
His varied race experience also includes multiple years of open wheel competition, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, rally racing, various types of sports car racing and the SCORE Baja.
When he isn’t racing, the professional driver also performs in films and on television. He is an on-air host for the US version of the seminal BBC auto show Top Gear, produced by BBC Worldwide Productions and airing on the HISTORY channel.
His stunt driving includes performing as a lead driver in the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Bourne Ultimatum, Dukes of Hazzard, Red Dawn and Iron Man 2 movies, and he also handles stunt driving in numerous popular TV shows and commercials.
TANNER FOUST’S RALLYCROSS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY:
Rockstar Energy Drink (www.rockstar69.com); Ford Racing (www.ford.com); Etnies (www.etnies.com) and Motegi (www.motegiracing.com).
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit www.TannerFoust.com.
To arrange interviews or find out more, contact fred@beyondmg.com.
PHOTO: Tanner Foust gets air at Hoon Kaboom Texas. CREDIT: Jakub
Nitka/ERC24.com
