| BRISTOL, Tenn. (July 22, 2013) – Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust is looking to become the only driver ever to repeat an X Games Rallycross gold medal win when GRC action resumes in Los Angeles in two weeks. It was an unforgiving day of racing for Foust this weekend at the fifth championship stop in Bristol, Tenn., where the so-called “Last Great Colosseum” was transformed from a half-mile NASCAR oval into a rallycross battleground. “I was pretty hungry for it,” said Foust. “I had a great start to come back from the LCQ and thought I had a shot at the podium until I got caught up in a train of destruction that wrecked my car.” The iconic Bristol Motor Speedway track was reconfigured to accommodate the dirt, jumps and joker of the half-mile rallycross course for Saturday’s race. The layout included sharp transitions between the flat apron and the 30-degree banking. The competition saw two rounds of heats, with the first setting lane choice for the second. After a strong performance in the first round, Foust found himself stranded with a pair of flat tires and he was forced into the Last Chance Qualifier for the first time this season. There, he put in an amazing performance off the start, threading through traffic from the back row to finish second and advance to the final. Starting on the front-row start is an enormous advantage in rallycross and Foust, a regular top qualifier, is accustomed to being there. This time, though, he gridded up in the back and was forced to look through two rows of cars at the starting lights. The driver showed his experience with a smart tactical move off the start when he tucked in behind one of his rivals through the first turns, with a plan to make a move later in the 10-lap race. He never got his chance. A hard hit from behind sent him crashing into the car in front of him, damaging his intercooler and putting him out of the contest. “I had a great start and I thought, ‘I can take this,'” said Foust. “But when you get caught in a damage train like that there’s just nothing you can do.” Foust finished seventh, which preserves his championship hopes. He is currently third in the points standings, just one point behind teammate Brian Deegan. The next stop for the Global Rallycross Championship is Los Angeles, where the series again joins X Games, ESPN’s four-day action sport event. The race is set to take place August 4 at Irwindale Speedway and Foust is a medal favorite. With more X Games Rally Car medals than any other driver in the field he hopes to build on his successes by becoming the only driver to win a repeat X Games Rallycross gold. “X Games is such an exciting venue for rallycross and I’m excited to be competing at Irwindale,” said Foust. “It’s a track I’ve known for years and in a lot of ways, it feels like home.” The driver is also expected to take part in the inaugural Gymkhana Grid competition at X Games a day earlier. 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, hills and transitions between pavement and gravel. The two-time defending U.S. rallycross champion and a contender in the European Rallycross Championship, Foust scored his first Global Rallycross Championship podium result of 2013 just 10 days ago in Munich when he won a bronze medal at X Games. The Bristol Motor Speedway contest was the second domestic round of 2013, following international competitions at Global X Games events in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, and Munich. Foust is running an ambitious international rallycross campaign in 2013 that includes a select European rounds, international X Games rallycross events and the Global Rallycross Championship. He won the opening event of this year’s European Rallycross Championship in the U.K., and earned the top spot on the podium again last month in Finland. 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, national championships and world records. He is a three-time U.S. rallycross champion (2012, 2011, 2010) who has also won three X Games gold medals for rally (2010, 2007), and two Formula Drift championships (2008, 2007). He has also held multiple world records including for last summer’s astonishing Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare, when he drove a car through a 66-foot loop-the-loop. He also scored the indoor speed record for TV’s Top Gear USA, and set a distance jump record with Hot Wheels when he made a 332′ ramp-to-ramp leap in a truck at the Indy 500. His varied race experience includes multiple years of open wheel competition, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, rally racing, various types of sports car racing and the SCORE Baja. He has represented the USA in the annual Race of Champions three times, teaming with NASCAR star Carl Edwards in 2008, Travis Pastrana in 2009, and Mick Doohan in 2010. A year after making his overseas debut in the European Rallycross Championship in 2010 with a select campaign, Foust became the first American driver to win a round of that championship and finished both 2011 and 2012 ranked in the top three. The sport was first introduced to the United States in 2010, and Foust has swept the domestic championship titles since then. When he isn’t racing, the professional driver also performs in films and on television. He is an on-air host for the U.S. version of the seminal BBC auto show Top Gear, produced by BBC Worldwide Productions and airing on the HISTORY channel. The second season of his YouTube documentary series, Life in the Foust Lane, is on now with new episodes uploaded every other Thursday to http://www.youtube.com/RockstarEvents. Foust is also one of the stars of Ford Racing’s Octane Academy, which returns for a second season in 2013, and he handles stunt driving in numerous popular films, TV shows and commercials. He is featured as a stunt driver in the upcoming Need 4 Speed film, as well as other major releases including the Bourne Legacy, Bourne Ultimatum, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Dukes of Hazzard, Red Dawn and Iron Man 2 movies. TANNER FOUST’S RALLYCROSS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY: Rockstar Energy Drink (www.RockstarEnergy.com); Ford Racing (www.ford.com); ENEOS Motor Oil (www.eneos.us); Motegi Racing (www.motegiracing.com), ODYSSEY Battery (www.odysseybattery.com); Illest (www.illestbrand.com); and Horizon Hobby (www.horizonhobby.com) MORE INFORMATION: www.tannerfoust.com To arrange interviews, contact Fred Chang from Tanner Foust’s management team. E-mail: fred@beyondmg.com Office: 949.660.7972 x. 29 EFAX: 949.480.0638 Mobile: 714.623.1995 www.beyondmg.com |
