VARX: LOS ANGELES RACE REPORT

Scott Speed has earned his second consecutive Global Rallycross Championship title today when he drove his No. 41 #PinkBeetle Beetle GRC to a second place in today’s final event on the 2016 GRC Calendar. The Championship battle came down to the final 10-lap event and when the checkered flag flew in the air, Scott Speed grabbed the points lead back from Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross teammate Tanner Foust, who crossed the finish line fourth. Foust grabbed the Global Rallycross Championship Runner-Up honors.

The VARX team started the day off fastest in the morning practice and continued that pace through the first round of heat races, where Speed and Foust both saw the checkered flag in first position for their respective races. Although both cars proved to be strong through their first heat races, Tanner Foust was penalized for rough driving during the semi-final round. The penalty forced the No. 34 Rockstar Perfectberry Beetle GRC to the Last Chance Qualifier, where he advanced to start the main event from the seventh position. Speed began today’s final from the first position.

With a dominate season now in the rear view mirror, the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross crews will head back to Indianapolis to prepare for another championship defending season next year. The Championship Celebration will be held tomorrow night where the Global Rallycross series will announce the Fan Favorite Driver, don’t worry, there is still time to vote! Head to redbullglobalrallycross.com/fan-favorite-driver-of-the-year to voice your choice and keep an eye on @followandretti via Twitter to see if Speed or Foust take home the Fan Favorite honors tomorrow night.

SCOTT SPEED
NO. 41 #PINKBEETLE BEETLE GRC
“Today was the most emotional day of racing in my entire career. I expected to come out and qualify pole and win my heat races and win out today. We have been so quick here. Then had troubles in qualifying -qualified fourth. Tanner qualified second, so now he is in the driver’s seat [for the Championship Title]. Then I had to race him and he won. During the semi-finals we were somehow able to make an on-track pass, which is quite random in rallycross, but we were able to make the pass on [Steve] Arpin and win it. It was a great relief that our car – and all of our speed – came back right around that time. Then Tanner [Foust] was hit with all of his troubles and then it turned to be all in my lap [for the Championship Title]. All I had to do was run around for a few laps and not break in the final, because of Tanner’s starting position was not the most ideal. When we got out of the first corner, I got the heads up that ‘oh by the way, Tanner is on your rear.’ I was shocked and just mind blown. I now have a slower car in front of me and all of the possibilities are running through my mind – getting held up and Tanner punching right by us. Luckily for us, Tanner ended up falling back and it gave us some breathing room and I able to get by [Patrik] Sandell. Everyone raced clean today and I was able to win it. It was just an emotional day.
“When thinking about the winning the Championship, back-to-back are my thoughts. I’m just going to get in the car and throw on some Drake – Back to Back – it feels so good!”

TANNER FOUST
NO. 34 ROCKSTAR PERFECTBERRY ROCKSTAR BEETLE GRC
“I’m just gutted. I’m gutted for our team, you know. I think it’s great for Scott [Speed] and for the team as whole to take one and two in the championship, but today was such a tease. We started the day leading the championship, had what I think was kind of a bad call on getting bumped out of the first corner and then got a penalty for bumping somebody else and that sent it into a downward spiral. Then in the final, I had nothing to lose, so I went around the outside of as many people as I could on the first corner and it paid off. We were in third position there. I gave everything I had and I just feel gutted for my guys who crank on this car and put it back together so many times this year.
“I congratulated [Scott Speed] on the season, and said he deserved it. We’ve been up and down. We’ve both had a year with very few mistakes and we both have something to be proud of there. At the end of the day it just came down to a matter of one or two points. We had some weird things in the season, but I’m so glad we had a good show for the fans today.”