Tanner Foust wraps up successful Global Rallycross season
with Top 3 result
Season record includes three wins in Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen
Beetle
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (November 5, 2015) — Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust finished a successful 2015 Global Rallycross charge in the top three in the championship rankings following a hard-fought season-ending race in Las Vegas.
“Since the debut of our new team at the start of last year, we’ve come a long way,” said Foust. “The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross squad is the team to beat and we’re just getting started. I’m already looking forward to 2016.”
In a wet final in front of a sell-out crowd under the lights of the Las Vegas Strip, Foust got a promising start but barely escaped a first-lap wreck that damaged the Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen Beetle. The two-time series champion battled to a ninth-place result in the Wednesday race, enough to score third in the 2015 championship rankings. Teammate Scott Speed finished third in the race to clinch the drivers’ title.
“It was a wild ride here in Las Vegas,” said Foust. “Congratulations to Scott and the whole Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team on a hard-fought championship.”
It was the successful conclusion to the second season for the team. Foust debuted the Volkswagen Beetle with a heat win a year ago in Los Angeles and the organization has shown impressive results in only its first full season with the new platform.
Foust earned a season-record three outright wins this year, including a sweep at the Barbados doubleheader last month and victory in Daytona in June. He finished second and third to teammate Speed at the Los Angeles doubleheader in September, while this year’s championship title was a first for Speed.
Two-time series champion Foust holds the all-time series record for podiums earned, with 17 — one more than rival Ken Block. And with seven race victories, including three this year, he is tied with teammate Speed at the top of the career wins chart.
Foust also earned the 2015 Fan Favorite Driver of the Year title, by fan vote. “I’m very grateful to our fans for cheering us on this season,” said Foust as he received the award Thursday evening. “The fans are the best part of doing what I do and none of this would be possible without their support!”
The popular season finale took place alongside one of the most important weeks in the automotive industry: the SEMA Show attracts more than 100,000 attendees to the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center. The race was a highlight of the week, with a sold-out crowd braving wet weather to take in the action. Among the fans were a number of celebrity drivers including Formula One champion Jenson Button, who Foust has met in competition at Race of Champions, NASCAR star Joey Logano and former World Rally Championship driver Mikko Hirvonen.
Foust started competing in European rallycross races five years ago and is the only driver to have taken part in every U.S. race since the foundation of the Global Rallycross series in 2011.
“It has been great to be a part of the sport since its inception here in the United States and I’m thrilled to watch it grow around the world,” said Foust. “There’s no other motorsport that matches the excitement and fan appeal of rallycross.”
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. It is emerging as the top youth-market motorsport in the world.
The successful Global Rallycross campaign was part of a packed season that also saw Foust pilot a Rockstar Energy Drink Pro 2 in a handful of short-course off-road races, a 900 horsepower Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen Passat in select Formula Drift events and the Rockstar Energy Drink Volkswagen Polo in World RX.
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 four X Games gold medals (2013, 2010, 2007), and two Formula Drift championships (2008, 2007).
He has also held multiple world records including for the astonishing Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare, which saw Foust drive 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.
A dominant driver in the sport of rallycross, Foust is the only American driver ever to win a round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. He made his rallycross debut overseas in 2010 with a select campaign and finished both 2011 and 2012 ranked in the top three. At home, Foust has been a leading driver in the sport since it was first introduced to the United States in 2010, and in 2014 won the New York round of the Global Rallycross Championship for the new Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team.
His varied competition experience includes multiple years of open wheel racing, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, rally racing, off-road truck competition, 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.
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. Episodes of his online documentary series, Life in the Foust Lane, are available on the Rockstar Energy Drink YouTube channel.
Foust also handles stunt driving in numerous popular films, TV shows and commercials. He is featured as a stunt driver in the 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.
ABOUT ROCKSTAR
Rockstar Energy Drink is designed for those who lead active lifestyles — from athletes to Rockstars. Available in over 20 flavors at convenience and grocery outlets in over 30 countries, Rockstar supports the Rockstar lifestyle across the globe through action sports, motor sports, and live music. For more information visit: http://www.RockstarEnergy.com
